By Sam Johnson  George Washington's birthday was once celebrated with great fanfare and eloquent speeches about the man who was "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." It has been a long time since we have so honored this founding father, because the observance of Washington's birthday has been relegated to a generic government holiday called "President's Day." It's difficult to say exactly what the cultural results of this generic holiday are, but ask young people what they know about George Washington and you will likely get responses such as: "he chopped down a cherry tree," "he couldn't tell a lie," "he's on the dollar bill," "he's the father of our country," "he was our first President," "he threw a silver dollar across a river." The legend looms larger than the man. Though George Washington did not single-handedly win the war for independence, enact the Constitution, or establish our democratic system of government, he was at the very center of those developments and played an important role in bringing them about. Perhaps he deserves more attention from us on "Presidents' Day." CHECK BELOW FOR MORE INFO ON GEORGE WASHINGTON: "The Evolving Biography and Myths of George Washington" (US News Website) http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2011/02/10/the-evolving-biography-and-myths-of-george-washington Official Short Biography of George Washington from the White House http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/georgewashington George Washington's Papers at the Library of Congress http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html Library of Congress George Washington Web Page http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/feb22.html Historic Mount Vernon Official Interactive Web Page http://www.mountvernon.org/ American Holidays - Washington's Birthday - Presidents' Day (U.S. Diplomatic Mission to Germany) http://usa.usembassy.de/holidays-presidents.htm (These Services and Products May Be of Interest to You. Use Back Button to Return here). |
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