In 1789, Americans unanimously elected George Washington as their first President. Since then, many presidents have come and gone; yet, Washington holds the honor of being the only president in the history of the United States to garner such loyalty and affection from the American public. Washington was an admirable man because of his excellent leadership qualities; but another outstanding quality of this great leader, often overlooked, was humility. Even at the pinnacle of his power, Washington maintained a humble stance towards his role as the President of the United States of America. As President, he never wavered from assuming the role of a public servant over that of a mighty ruler – a position that most modern presidents have often ignored.
Washington did not seek the presidency himself but accepted the honor as a service to his country. In his First Inaugural Address, Washington noted that, “I was summoned by my Country, whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love.” As such, the first President reflected a Statesman more than reflecting a Politician. Perhaps the most significant difference between a “statesman” and a politician is that the former wished to serve his country; the latter is more interested in serving himself at the expense of the country. Indeed, even when the opportunity presented itself, Washington was quick to decline from accepting “any share in the personal emoluments” or monetary gains for himself. For Washington, the opportunity to preside over the nation presented the chance to serve Americans instead of depriving them of their liberties.
To be sure, Washington had many flaws; but for the new Americans, his humbleness overshadowed any discrepancies he possessed. Indeed, his humility was as much, perhaps even more so, a part of his greatness. For example, he admitted that he had received “inferior endowments from nature” and was quite “unpracti[s]ed in the duties of civil administration.” Incredibly, even after winning the Revolutionary War against the greatest world power at the time, Britain, Washington remained “peculiarly conscious” of his many “deficiencies.”
Again, in his Second Inaugural Address, Washington maintained the same humility that was the hallmark of this great man. Instead of a flowery speech, he was succinct and stated that if he ever “violated willingly or knowingly the injunctions” of the Constitution during his term that “(besides incurring constitutional punishment)” he should “be subject[ed] to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present solemn ceremony.” Washington remained steadfastly faithful to the vision of the American Revolution throughout his presidency.
Of all American presidents, Washington most assuredly had the perfect opportunity to abuse his presidential authority. Yet, instead of getting intoxicated with power and destroying the nation, he maintained his humbleness throughout his term. Even when a deep political cleavage became apparent in his administration, Washington maintained a neutral position on most matters. His vision was always to keep Americans united in the principles of liberty. He managed to perform the arduous task of remaining above political factions by sheer determination and humility. Perhaps it was easy for Washington to do so because instead of being a duplicitous character, he was naturally humble in his personal and public life. For Washington, leading the country always remained an opportunity to promote the idea of liberty and not a chance to generate wealth for his own pocket.
Today, Washington remains mostly forgotten, or worse, criticized by those who feel the founding principles need to be reformed. Instead of trying to change the fundamental concepts of the nation, principles that once heralded the United States as a superpower, it might be more helpful for Americans to consider the vision provided by those who fought and died for our liberties. For those seeking to lead the United States today, a lesson in humility from George Washington would make a great start in uniting the nation in hope of moving forward.
Photo Credit: OZinOH (Creative Commons)
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OMG! Why Is Obama Still In Office. We The People, Apoligize For Being BLIND. We’re Ready To Fix Our Mistakes
“Today, Washington remains mostly forgotten…it might be more helpful for Americans to consider the vision provided by those who fought and died for our liberties. For those seeking to lead the United States today, a lesson in humility from George Washington would make a great start in uniting the nation in hope of moving forward.”
Way too didactic. You cannot speak for all of us in this way. You are telling all Americans to do something, while your assume they do not, some of us of which, might already be doing more of it than you! Don’t moralize to me dear Fielding. Moralize to the creeps in power who could care less aboput the points you raise, starting with Obama who, based on his daily actions and arrogant demeanor, seems to think he is THE president to the exclusion of all other presidents. He will fail and he will fall, we all know this. However, right now he is still there, destroying what we stand for each and every day, as long as it does not interefere with his golf or 17 vacations in 4 years. What a magnificent FRAUD he is. A jive turkey president. Preach to him dear Fielding. Not to all Americans!
Dear Dwimby-
The “Americans” the article is targeting are those who do not hold President Washington in good graces—the article ends with those wanting to lead the nation “in hope of moving forward.” Who do you suppose I mean by “hope” and “forward?”
Thank you for reading and your feedback.
President Washington was the man of his time, he set a precedent for wisdom and humility that few presidents could match…….I wonder how would feel if he knew his birthday and that of President Lincoln’s were tossed into the same basket and used to give govenrment workers another day off….Personally I would have liked to have my mail…government uninons..go figger.
President Washington was everything that the little tiny shadow of a man in our White House is not: Washington was an American. Washington was intelligent. Washington was brave. Washington was most of all noble and there is not the smallest indication of nobility in the shallow petty insignificant self-absorbed unimportant pretender that the slime of our society put into our White House. We can only hope that he doesn’t kick all of the screens out of the windows.
I did not take a commentary on our first President, Washington. I enjoyed reading about him and his humility. That is up lifting and should be to all, as it portrays exactly how our Founding Fathers felt about their New America. However, like you and so many, I realize Obama is still here, destroying everything he puts his hands on. I guess since he and Michelle are now taking separate vacations, we will be paying for 34 vacations a year. Seems it is only We The People, the paying part of America, that is feeling this financial crunch. Not the Obama’s, they can not spend the money we do not have fast enough. But there is hope, God promised us in 2 Chronicles 7:14 “If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, change from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” We have allowed all of these crazies to take God our of everything, made same sex marriage a law, which is an abomonation to God, abortion on demand is a law, Planned Parenthood killed over 350,000 babies last year and now Obama is demanding the schools to teach our children that “allah is the almighty god”. All of these things have angered our God greatly, but he will forgive and heal America, all we have to do is pray asking forgiveness, ask Him to help us change these things and He will heal America. Really very simple, but to our loving Heavenly Father it is the ultimate, He wants us to freely love and obey Him, as He loves us.
You forgot the part of that verse that says to “seek His face” and “turn from your wicked ways.” You said all we have to do is pray, but there is more to it. A lot of people tend to omit that part for some reason. Just saying.
America has rejected God for the past 40 years while murdering the most innocent of all life through abortion, yet they cry for the abused animals. This is the most corrupted society that has came out of a Christian based nation…. God judged his children in Israel most severely because of their rejection of Him. He clearly warned the Israelites that He was going to remove them from the land and destroy Jerusalem but they refused to listen to Him…. God has clearly warned America since the late ’80s that He was going to destroy America and Americans has refused to turn away from the abominations of homosexuality, abortion and the reject of Christ…. America will reap what she has sown for the last 40 years or more which is death and destruction for this nation. He will not save or heal what He has cursed…. BUT, He will save those that turn back to Him and accept Christ as their LORD. You don’t have to look very hard to see that this is a very dangerous world that we live in and it is about to get a lot worse according to God’s WORD.
To read God’s judgment for America’s future or lack thereof, google: “The Message For America, Hand of Help Ministries.” For how I was led to this google: “Watchman On The Wall, America ~ Mystery Babylon?” For America’s 2nd major terrorist attack, google; “The Eagle and the Serpents, Hand of Help Ministries.” And again, what I believe will be the location of the 2nd attack, google: “Watchman On The Wall, The Eagle and the Serpents (Part 2).”
George Washington became President DESPITE the fact that he did not belong to ANY political party, and he even openly criticized political parties in general. Accordingly, I perceive that an important part of his greatness was due to his being a NON-POLITICIAN. We need more of his kind right now. We’ve seen far too much of what happens when political parties (and those who PULL THEIR STRINGS) get their way, and we AFFIRMATIVELY need to have NO MORE OF IT.
[[[ Washington maintained a humble stance towards his role as the President of the United States of America]]]
Obama doesn’t know the word ‘humble’…… it doesnt seem to be in his dictionary… but LIAR is in his dictionary… sad… really sad…
People, please go to the link I provide and sign the petition to Congress to investigate of the Criminal-in-chief’s use of forged IDs. 33,796 Americans already signed it. Clock is ticking. Act now!
Please pass on to all your e-mail contacts. Thanks.
http://www.petition2congress.c…
P.S. The Supreme Court of the United States does not state whether the Orly Taitz case was granted or denied, no answer yet, NO TREASON YET by the justices of the Supreme Court. Go to the Orly’s website and look for the Reports.
Orly Taitz’ Website is: http://www.orlytaitzesq.com/
“Fiat justitia ruat caelum” – “Let justice be done though the heavens fall”