And one of the things i try to get across whenever i am talking about washington, is that washington is a bit of an enigma to a modern audience. Why . Because we dont really know who he was, how he was, how he looked. I mean, when i show you these images here, these images are of three of our noteworthy president s. Every 10 years or so, about 700 political scientists and historians across the country, they rank our president s. Now who knows how our current president is going to rank, but nonetheless, whenever those rankings come out, generally these three guys here rank at the top. Sometimes it will be lincoln. Sometimes it will be washington. Sometimes it will be fdr, but the interesting thing about this is we do not know what george really looked like. We have images of lincoln. Photographed images. And you can follow those photographs over time and see how he changed, how he aged. Of course we have images of fdr. We even have images of him in his wheelchair. Generally the press did not take images of him in his wheelchair. But with George Washington, he was there before photography, so we dont have photographs of him. What we have instead is artist representations. And those artist representations are not always very accurate. I mean, you look at some representational abstract art and does it really look like a cube . I dont know, maybe not. Well, George Washington, weve spent the better part of 14 weeks already addressing him, talking about him, we know that he is a famous man. We know he was commander of the Continental Army. We know that he has served in the Continental Congress for a short period of time before he accepted command. We know that he is subsequently going to become president , first president of the United States, so obviously he is a famous man in our history, but he is also a man who had faults. A man who had insecurities. A man who had devices. A man who was a human being, like all of us. Because he was a human being, he was also a complex man. A many sided man. The problem is they dont show that kind of complex character. What i want to do is spend a little time talking about the myths of George Washington and then we will talk about how he made choices that ultimately brought him to the point where he became the most revered man in america. Well, you probably know that george is considered the father of our country. Did you know, george, when he married martha, he wasnt able to sire children . He wasnt able to give martha children. And, could he really be the father of our country if he couldnt sire children himself . And think about when the country decided to make a monument to him. What did they choose to make . The monument, this giant, phallic shaped symbol, which is kind of ironic for a man who couldnt sire children himself. But even though he couldnt, here is George Washington with marthas children. When he married martha, he did accept her children and he became a paternalistic, loving father to her children. So in that respect, you know, it shows the character of a person who accepted her children. Paternalism, acceptance. Now, most of the stories that we have of washington came from the first real biography of washington, written by mason williams. It was published shortly after washingtons death. And the washington that weems talks about is a man that is like for her. A man who was larger than life. I mean, weems talks about George Washington throwing a Silver Dollar across the Potomac River. A couple problems with that story. The first is, anybody . There were no Silver Dollars. So that man can throw a Silver Dollar that didnt exist. The second, the Potomac River where mount vernon is is about a mile wide. I dont care if you are nolan ryan or roger clemens. You are probably not going to throw a Silver Dollar across a mile wide river. One of washingtons grandsons did say that as a young man, George Washington had thrown a piece of slate across the river at his childhood home, which is on the rappahannock. You know what happens when you throw slate, if you throw it right it will move and bounce across the river, so that mightve been possible. But, what weems is trying to do is give you an image of a man who is larger than life. A great physical ability and athletic prowess. We know that george is a large man. He stood about six foot three. About my height. He had a long, straight nose. High cheekbones. At his heaviest, he weighed significantly less than i am. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 220 or so and at his lightest he was probably about 175, 180. In that day and age they didnt have the obesity problems that we experience today. But virtually every school kid learns that George Washington had what kind of teeth . Wouldnt. Wooden false teeth. And that is just absolutely wrong. I mean here you can see his, a pair of his dentures. What is interesting about it, notice right here. That is a spring. It is a lead base, that is springloaded, so when you put this in your job keeps it shut and when your mouth opens, the spring pops it open. The teeth themselves are animal teeth. Human teeth. Pieces of ivory. And i am convinced if you had to wear that thing in your towel mouse, it would be far more uncomfortable than wooden teeth. It is the teeth that always play a central role in washingtons life. You will see right here, there is no tooth there. Even at the time of his presidency, george had one of his own teeth and the dentures slipped over his tooth, so he could highlight his tooth, as well. Well, that mouth and those teeth become a big part of the story about who George Washington is. Now, this portrait right here, this portrait, one of the most famous of washington, is done by the artist gilbert stewart. Stewart, when he painted washington at this time, he was a young painter. This was one of his earliest commissions and stewart was absolutely terrified to meet the great general. So during this setting, he tried to make washington more at ease. He said something to the effect to washington, general washington, you must let yourself forget that you are general washington and i am the painter. Well, washington gave a well intentioned reply. He said something to the effect that there is no need for me to forget that im general washington and that you are the painter. It kind of insulted stuart. He felt washington was giving him a backhanded slap. Well, because of that, Gilbert Stuart got to portray washington. One of those images we have of him, and this is one of the most famous. When you look at that, what is the feature of that painting . What is it . The mouth. Look at it. It is kind of clenched and it looks like he is in some discomfort. Some kind of pain. And from that image, the view that we have of washington is that he is glum, that he is awkward, he is unapproachable. He is grumpy, perhaps. And that is not so. He wasnt a square job to stiff shirt, as this image of washington by stuart portrays him. The George Washington that we know that historians have documented was a George Washington who loved to have a good time. But you remember what i told you about washington, is that he believed there is the personal man and the public man. And those people who had the personal relationship would not display that personal relationship in public. The private man had a public persona and you stayed outside of arms reach. Well, this is the George Washington who enjoyed playing cards. He enjoyed fights, horse races. This is the George Washington who loved to dance. It was reported that george was the best answer in all of virginia. This is the George Washington who loved to hunt and fish. He loved going to the theater. In fact, his favorite play was tragedy of cato. If you know anything about this performance, it is the story of a young, selfless patriot, who sacrifices himself to the greater patriot cause. Washington felt as though he was that guy. He also liked hamlet. He also liked julius caesar. Those were a couple of his favorites. This is the George Washington who had an eye for the attractive women. In the 1860s she was considered an attractive woman. Not only was she an attractive woman, she was the widow of a gentleman and she was very wealthy. So, george, is going to end up marrying up. He is not this square job stuffed shirt. He is not unapproachable. But he is the man who is going to keep himself in proper rapport. Ive mentioned this several times to about how he couldnt control his anger. He always had trouble controlling his anger. This particular episode happens during the Constitutional Convention and we will reference it again on thursday. How governor morris, a new yorker, a man of questionable virtue, was good friends and drinking buddies with Alexander Hamilton and morris was boasting that he could treat washington just like you would treat any others of his best friends. And morris and hamilton made a wager. Hamilton said if morris could treat washington like any other friend in public, then hamilton would buy dinner and wine for morris and 12 of his friends. Well, on the night in question, a public event. George washington, as we know, will become the president of the Constitutional Convention. And he was hosting an event that evening. And morris comes in. It was a public event, a big crowd. Morris comes in and he immediately reaches out his hand to shake georges hand. A gentleman would do that. But as they shook hands, morris took the second hand and brought it up and began patting george on the shoulder, saying general washington, my good friend, it is so good to see you looking so well. When it happened, that familiarity, washington pulled his hand back. He took three steps back and just glared at morris with this evil, angry stare. And the people who were there, froze. They simply stood and watched. And morris slinked off into the crowd. Morris later told hamilton that, i had won the bet, i will collect my wine and dinner, but that is nothing i will ever do again. Because morris and washington would never be close enough that morris could come up and pat him on the shoulder and treat him with the familiarity that you would treat a close, personal acquaintance. Well. That is because washington maintained that dignity. That personal space. Now, did that mean washington had an uncontrollable anger he could not control . No. It just means he believed in proper decorum. Now, probably the greatest or most famous image of george, which was not done during his lifetime, this image here. Does it look familiar . Where is the original . Down the street at the amon carter museum, absolutely. Go down and take a look at it. But this came in from the story of mason weems. Weems says that the young george, for his sixth birthday, his father gave him a new hatchet. And the young boy was so excited about getting this gift that he ran her hand and began marking, literally, every tree he could find. And he marked one of his fathers favorite english cherry trees. When his father approached him, according to weems, young george simply threw his hands up and said, i did it, father. You know i cannot tell a lie. Well, that is the image that school kids for the last 200 plus years have been told. This 1939 painting by grant wood, which as i said, is down at the amon carter museum, just an hour or so away from here, shows mason weems pulling back the curtain and it shows the young george, being truthful to his father. But the thing i find particularly interesting about this image is, look, the same head, as you have on the dollar bill. That is the young head, this is the old head. They essentially look the same. Now, the interesting thing about this story, and never happened. There is no evidence that this ever happened. Weems had simply made the story up to portray washington as a man of great honesty. That even when the trouble might bring problems for young george, that he had to be honest to his father. Well, weems also tells us another story about the young George Washington, the surveyor, who is out on the frontier and bad weather is setting in. He finds a local tavern, where he can spend the night. He goes in and orders a dram of whiskey. And the barkeep gives him a dram of whiskey and george offers a skin in payment. Well, the barkeep takes the scan and in return, gives washington 158 rabbit skins. That is a lot of rabbit skin to carry around. Well, according to weems, george began buying drinks for everyone in the establishment and during the evening, he turns 158 rabbit skins back over to the barkeep. What weems is trying to tell us in that story is that this is the George Washington who was generous. The George Washington who is kind. This is the George Washington who we want to remember. So you think of these images that weems has been telling us. He is honest. Great physical skill. He is generous and kind. He has a temper, but he can control it. Well, this is the man that has come down to us as more or less the savior of mankind. This is the story of the man, remember how we talked about providential inspiration . This is george as providential inspiration and even some years later, chief Justice Joseph story, made the comment from his commentaries on the constitution, that george was the boast of all america. The first in war, the first in peace and the first in the hearts of his country. So what makes him first in the heart of his countrymen . Well, george, as a young man, before the scope of this course, you know, george is born on february 11, 1731. Is that the day we celebrate as his birthday . No. That was the julian calendar. And in the early 1750s, they changed to the gregorian calendar, so it moved his birthday 11 days ahead. So, february 22, 1731. And as a young man, he was obsessed with becoming a gentleman. What did the gentleman entail . It meant having wealth, owning property. Potentially owning slaves. Having a spouse. Being successful. Well, the young george, when he was 11, his father died. Young george ended up having to live with his older half brother lawrence. Now lawrence was a gentleman. He had a grand home that he named after admiral vernon, who he had served under in king georges rule. And from that, young george saw what it meant to be a gentleman. He saw that status equated to wealth, so he wanted to become wealthy. You remember time and again i have said that george is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he does learn from others. While he was staying with his halfbrother, he learned that he, too, could become successful if he made the right choices. So as a young man, he became a surveyor. At the time, being a surveyor was on par with the doctor, a lawyer, because surveyors were always going out on the frontier to survey land and if you are good at it, you have a trained eye, you see the land that is advantageous, the land that is not, and often times you could take your payment in land. Land is something that could bring wealth for the future. So the young man began acquiring land. Now, the problem is, in 1752, lawrence died. And the question was, who would inherit mount vernon . Hopefully one of lawrences daughters inherited it. She died shortly thereafter and it passed down to young george. So by 1753, there was a guy who had this grand plantation. This is the view that most of us have of mount vernon. That view is the view from the veranda, the porch, looking out onto the Potomac River. Is that the front of the house . Or is that the front of the house . That is the other side. Well, you know, it is interesting. When lawrence was alive, he considered the front of the house, this. Because it was there on the Potomac River. The potomac was a highway to the sea. The sea took you to england and he saw himself as an englishman. As george takes over the home, george will consider this to be the front of the house. Because this faces to the frontier. That faced to the land. That he would eventually own. Well, i think that is a huge difference for lawrence and for george and it helps define who george is. George saw himself not so much as an englishman, but more as an american. George also had the good fortune, in 1758, to mary martha dandridge. Reportedly the wealthiest woman in virginia. And by marrying her, he married the widow of a gentleman. So, by marrying her, george became a gentleman. With her wealth and with his drive and determination to secure wealth, the washingtons would become one of the wealthiest couples in america. He was a plantation owner, farmer. Initially growing tobacco. But coming to the realization that tobacco was a leeching crop that was declining in value. But by the time of the revolution, what was he starting to cultivate . Wheat. Remember you guys read greenes book, Tobacco Culture. How the Tobacco Culture was playing out. Well, this is the George Washington who, by the time of his death, will own 11,000 acres. He had this ambition for wealth that made him inquisitive. Made him sometimes contentious and even after he established himself, he would insist on exact payment of every doubt debt owed to him. In his youth, young george wanted to be a British Military officer. In the beginning of this course, remember we made reference to how young george was the guy who started the sevenyear war . At human ville glenn, when half king had killed the young french diplomat. And then george rescued the remaining french prisoners. But then, he himself would be captured at Fort Necessity in july and with that, he was forced to sign a document written in what language . French. Which george does not read. And in that document he accepts responsibility for the death well, because of that, george