The Pink Flamingo :: There Have Been 42 Other Presidents Than Reagan

George Washington redefined what it was to be "great".

He had bright red, naturally curly red hair.

He rarely wore a white powdered wig.

Washington grew marijuana on his Mount Vernon plantation, for hemp and soil stabilization. He was an advocate for it's propagation.

He was a devout Christian & Episcopalian!

He introduced the mule to America.

"..."There is a tradition that, on his return from France, Jefferson called Washington to account at the breakfast-table for having agreed to a second chamber. 'Why,' asked Washington, 'did you pour that coffee into your saucer?' 'To cool it,' quoth Jefferson. 'Even so,' said Washington, 'we pour legislation into the senatorial saucer to cool it.'"

He was very well mannered, a gentleman.

He had a fierce temper.

He rode into the middle of battle at least three times in the Revolutionary War to rally his troops.

During the French & Indians War he did the same thing at least once.

He did not approve of State's Rights.

He was ambitious.

He valued honor and decency above just about anything.

He did not approve of American politicians grasping for power or fighting over power.

He did not approve of political parties.

He was constantly taking laudanum for his gum problems and false teeth.

He was 6' 3.5" feet tall.

He married one of the richest women in the Colonies, for money, not love.

He ended up very much in love with his wife.

He was probably sterile due to several childhood diseases.

He believed the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

He did not approve of politicians who were out for their own power.

He believed to speak evil of any one, unless there is unequivocal proofs of their deserving it, is an injury for which there is no adequate reparation.

He literally started the French & Indian War.

He absolutely refused to kneel during the Episcopal service.

He did not like taking communion.

His diary from his early military service on the "frontier" became an instant best-seller during the French & Indians War.

He was a 'celebrity' soldier.

He was very good at training troops and turning rag-tag outfits into well oiled military machines.

The pay for the new POTUS was a huge (massive) $25,000 per year. One calculator says that amount would have the buying power of $434861.58 today. Another source says in wages it would be worth $10,795,945.95.

The six white horses in Washington's stables had their teeth brushed every morning on Washington's orders.

As a young man he was painfully shy and an absolute dork with women.

In 1775 during Braddock's defeat, he had 2 horses shot out from under him and his coat perforated by bullets 4 times.

He knew how to manipulate a crowd with a speech.

During the War for Independence, he became so angry at several of his officers having a drunken brawl that he slammed out of the building where he was meeting with people and knocked each man out with a single well-aimed punch.

When provoked he could curse like a modern R-rated movie.

His secretary once said the worst moments of his life were when Washington was riled and started cursing.

He had very large hands, with specially made gloves.

His feet were a size 13.

He was a man of strong emotions, seething under a glacial calm surface.

"....Few observers noting Washington's glacial calm later in life would have suspected that it was the product of a conscious effort; hence their surprise at his occasional outbursts of temper. Yet the painter Gilbert Stuart, who spent countless hours with Washington while executing his numerous portraits, detected the emotional nature that lay behind the dignified facade. "All his features were indicative of the most ungovernable passions," Stuart wrote, "and had he been born in the forests, it is my opinion that he would have been the fiercest man among the savage tribes." It was Washington's willful mastery of that savage temperament, and his ability to cope with hardship and defeat, that gave him his remarkable power as a leader of men..."

He was a talented actor, who used his acting ability to manipulate situations to his advantage.

He loved pineapple, Brazil nuts, and ate salt cod every Sunday night.

He was so ashamed of his lack of formal education that he self-educated himself. He did not hesitate to 'stretch the truth' about his educational background.

He spent every penny of his $25,000 salary as POTUS entertaining. He was a lavish host.

By the time of his Presidency, he was literally the most famous person on the planet.

As POTUS he traveled extensively, allowing himself to be seen.

He was an anal control junkie.

He was a political visionary.

He turned the office of the Vice President from what was imagined to be something of a Prime Minister to that of absolutely nothing, forcing the VP to serve at the whim of the President.

He spent a huge $10,000 redecorating the first Presidential residence.

He adored children.

He felt trapped by his own celebrity and grew to resent it.

One of his SOCTUS appointments, SC's John Rutledge, was rejected by the Senate because he was insane!

As a young person, he was infamous for his temper.

An actor, he could manipulate a crowd to his own advantage.

"...Still later he staged an emotional confrontation with rebellious officers angry over Congress's failure to provide back pay or future pensions. Appeals to their patriotism having failed, the commanding general retrieved from his pocket a congressional message promising early redress of their grievances. He fumbled with the paper a few moments before again reaching into his coat to fetch a pair of eyeglasses. Begging the indulgence of his men, Washington explained to a stunned audience, "I have already grown gray in the service of my country. I am now going blind." Instantly, rebellion melted into tears. It was a galvanizing moment, a brilliant piece of theater and a narrow escape for republican government. Never mind that Washington had used glasses for years. ..."

Physical description:

"... Imagine yourselves in the presence of George Washington in the spring of 1789. The man before you is fifty-seven years old, of noble carriage and an almost regal gravitas. At six feet three inches tall, he towers over most of his contemporaries by at least half a foot. His two hundred pounds are evenly distributed over a bony, muscular frame hardened by a lifetime of outdoor exercise and physical adversity. The symmetry of Washington's face is ruined by a blunt Roman nose and cavernous sockets in which rest eyes variously described as blue or gray, dull or flashing.

By modern standards Washington would be nearly eighty years old in this, the first spring of his presidency. The chestnut hair of his youth is turning white; contrary to popular imagery, he never wore a wig. The President's low, rather indistinct voice makes him anything but a Great Communicator. In fact, he is painfully awkward when delivering a speech. Elevating a shortcoming to the level of principle, he advises a nephew elected to the Virginia Assembly against becoming what he calls "a babbler." George Washington is no babbler...."

In his first Inaugural Address Washington said,

"... Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence...."