Being George Washington
Page 1
THE stories you only thought you knew.
About an INDISPENSABLE general and president.
Who will forever remain the MAN against
whom all others are judged.
July 9, 1755, 7:45 P.M.
Banks of the Monongahela River
Had I not been witness, the colonel thought, I would not have believed it.
As he stared into the fire, the colonel took off his coat. Shaking it out, he found two holes, the shells having passed right through the fabric. He stared at them in disbelief, pushing a finger through each hole as if to convince himself that they were real. He slowly shook his head in disbelief.
A small group of officers was watching. One of them, a scrawny Virginian with jet-black hair, leaned forward on his knees, his face a pale yellow in the firelight. “There’s another one in your hat, sir.”
The colonel took his hat off and examined it. Yes, there was another hole.
Two shells through his clothes. Another through his hat. Two horses shot out from underneath him. He shook his head again.
His fellow Virginian watched him carefully. “Who are you?” the man wondered aloud, a deep hesitation in his voice.
The colonel turned to look at him, pushing the tattered officer coat aside. It almost seemed he tried to hide it, and he didn’t answer the other man.
“Who are you?” the officer repeated.
The colonel looked his fellow Virginian in the eyes before responding. “I am George Washington.”
“Few men have the virtue to
withstand the highest bidder.”
—GEORGE WASHINGTON
“For America to achieve the greatness
that George Washington achieved, we first
have to remember that it is achievable.
I am George Washington. You are George
Washington. We are all George Washington.”
—GLENN BECK
IF YOU THINK YOU KNOW
GEORGE WASHINGTON, THINK AGAIN.
This is the amazing true story of a real-life superhero who wore no cape and possessed no special powers—yet changed the world forever.
It’s a story about a man whose life reads as if it were torn from the pages of an action novel: Bullet holes through his clothing. Horses shot out from under him. Unimaginable hardship. Disease. Heroism. Spies and double-agents. And, of course, the unmistakable hand of Divine Providence that guided it all.
Being George Washington is a whole new way to look at history. You won’t simply read about the awful winter spent at Valley Forge—you’ll live it right alongside Washington. You’ll be on the boat with him crossing the Delaware, in the trenches with him at Yorktown, and standing next to him at the Constitutional Convention as a new republic is finally born.
Through these stories you’ll not only learn our real history (and how it applies to today), you’ll also see how the media and others have distorted our view of it. It’s ironic that the best-known fact about George Washington—that he chopped down a cherry tree—is a complete lie. It’s even more ironic when you consider that a lie was thought necessary to prove he could not tell one.
For all of his heroism and triumphs, Washington’s single greatest accomplishment was the man he created in the process: courageous and principled, fair and just, respectful to all. But he was also something else: flawed.
It’s those flaws that should give us hope for today. After all, if Washington had been perfect, then there would be no way to build another one. That’s why this book is not just about being George Washington in 1776, it’s about the struggle to be him every single day of our lives. Understanding the way he turned himself from an uneducated farmer into the Indispensable (yet imperfect) Man, is the only way to build a new generation of George Washingtons that can take on the extraordinary challenges that America is once again facing.
GLENN BECK is a nationally syndicated radio host, founder of GBTV, and the author of nine national bestselling books, seven of which reached the #1 position on the New York Times list: The Original Argument; Arguing with Idiots; Glenn Beck’s Common Sense; An Inconvenient Book; the novels The Overton Window and The Christmas Sweater; and the children’s book The Christmas Sweater: A Picture Book. His new holiday novel, The Snow Angel, is now available in hardcover from Threshold Editions.
Visit www.glennbeck.com.
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Dedication
To my son, Raphe, whom I fear we are leaving with an overwhelming amount of work to do to make things right. I hope you always remember that one man can make a difference. That you can make a difference.
George Washington struggled to become a better man every single day of his life. But, through those struggles, he ultimately gave mankind its first real taste of freedom since the Garden of Eden. Now it’s up to you and your generation to ensure that we don’t lose it. But you have one great advantage over me: you can start now. It wasn’t until after you were born that I found the man who I really want to be and finally got down to work.
Raphe, there will be many struggles ahead; many years of sacrifice and hard work. The only advice I can offer is that if you spend your life in pursuit of becoming the man you read about in this book, you will never go wrong.
Contents
About the Writing of This Book
Author’s Note
Introduction: Had I Not Been Witness
Chapter 1: Victory or Death
Chapter 2: The Harder the Conflict, the More Glorious the Triumph
Chapter 3: When None Expected Much, He Did the Unexpected
Chapter 4: A Valley Forged of Despair
Chapter 5: A Good General, a Great Author
Chapter 6: Whom Can We Trust Now?
Chapter 7: A Tale of Two Founders
Chapter 8: The War Turns at Yorktown
Chapter 9: Yorktown Falls
Chapter
10: The World Turned Upside Down
Chapter 11: Gray in Your Service
Chapter 12: A Moment of Crisis, a Lifetime of Preparation
Chapter 13: To Please All Is Impossible
Chapter 14: Little Short of a Miracle
Chapter 15: A Final Farewell
Chapter 16: A Humble Agent of Heaven
Conclusion: True Greatness Dwells in the Soul
Glossary
Cast of Characters
Timeline
George Washington, in His Own Words
About the Writing of This Book
It would be nice if Twitter and Facebook had been around during the Revolutionary War. We’d have minute-by-minute accounts of every battle and historic decision that Washington ever made along with photos of the Delaware crossing, the trenches outside Yorktown, and the misery at Valley Forge. Instead, we have to rely on history books to tell us what really happened and our own minds to visualize how things really looked.
In crafting these chapters we tried our best to rely on published historical accounts and other reference material, taking dramatic license when necessary, so long as it did not change any of the major facts. Generally speaking, we simply added plausible details that have been lost to history in an effort to turn extraordinary events into readable stories.
There are, of course, disagreements among reasonable people over many of the events of this era. Like a two-century-long game of telephone tag, rumors become fact and facts become rumor. Whenever we encountered one of these disputed stories we attempted to make note of it so that you can do your own homework and make your own determination.
I also want to offer special thanks to the experts who helped with research and accuracy, including Mary V. Thompson, Research Historian at Mount Vernon. And I am grateful to the National Center for Constitutional Studies (NCCS) for its permission to use portions of The Real George Washington in the creation of this book.
Finally, it should go without saying that any errors or omissions outside of dramatic license are mine alone.
Author’s Note
My name is Glenn Beck, and I am George Washington.
I am the leader of men. I am fearless. I am the person others will aspire to be for generations. I am the indispensable man.
I am also … nothing special. I am average. I am flawed. I am fallible. I am emotional. I am awkward. And I am way too fond of ice cream.
Right now, in a café that a corporation has designed specifically to look independent of corporate influence, a blogger is typing furiously. He or she is sipping briskly from an eight-ounce can of lightly carbonated energy drink in an effort to stay awake for just a few more minutes to complete work on their newly discovered but soon-to-be mega-controversy-of-the-day.
Glenn Beck thinks he’s George Washington! He has a Washington complex! He’s actually named his book “Being George Washington.” His ego is out of control! He must be threatening to start a revolution? I knew the Tea Party was dangerous!
The news of my self-elevation to national fatherhood will likely spread from blog to blog, then to news sources and pundits, all of whom will be more than happy to spread the news that Glenn Beck’s messianic complex can no longer be contained.
None of them, of course, will take the time to realize the irony of the situation: they are literally judging a book by its cover.
So, what’s the truth?
Simple, I do believe I am George Washington.
But I believe that you are, too.
I don’t believe this because I have an extraordinarily high opinion of myself. I believe it because I have a real understanding of who George Washington was.
Contrary to popular belief, George Washington was not born as a 555-foot, 5-inch monument. He was never a painting or a statue or a city. He was just a man, albeit one who happened to see his principles as immovable objects rather than minor inconveniences.
That’s what is truly inspiring about George Washington: He was human, a capeless superhero. He faced many of the same challenges in life that we all face. Yes, he was given the responsibility to deal with historic challenges on a scope that is difficult for us to imagine today, but the reason he was given enormous responsibilities is that people admired how he handled the small ones. He lived his life in a way that impressed and inspired others, so when the most trying times arrived, they all looked to him. Over and over again, he was willing to sacrifice his own happiness for the good of others.
George Washington wound up at the top of every insurmountable mountain he came to because he never acknowledged that there was an insurmountable mountain in front of him. Sure, he knew the enormity of what he was facing, but he saw each decision as just another step and he used his principles and faith (yes, sorry, critics: the man clearly believed that God’s hand was guiding America) to constantly maintain sure footing.
The Washington Monument tells this story, albeit unintentionally, as it towers above Washington, D.C. From a distance, it is a perfect structure. It owns the skyline. It is bigger than life itself in a city filled with people who think they’re bigger than life itself. But as you walk up to the structure and view it up close—you can’t help but notice all of its imperfections.
In 1854, six years into its construction, work on the project ground to a halt. There was simply no more money left for the monument. (Yes, amazing as it seems, the government used to actually stop projects when they couldn’t fund them.) When construction began again, the quarry that provided the stone for the first half could no longer be used because it had been exhausted building bunkers for the war.
Today, when you stand close to the monument you will notice that it is two-toned. The marble, granite and stone used for the lower half is clearly a lighter shade than those used on top. It is the monument that life and war got in the way of. But those imperfections serve as a perfect tribute to Washington. He was that monument. From the distance of hundreds of years, he appears superhuman, able to soar to heights that you and I cannot. In reality, however, his life was a series of challenges, handled with honor, firmness, and faith, brick by brick.
Many times he succeeded in facing those challenges, but sometimes he did not. Slavery is one frequently cited example. Yes, it’s true: George Washington owned slaves. You can make all kinds of excuses for it (it was the norm of the time, he strongly advocated for the practice to be abolished, he treated his slaves well, he freed them upon his wife’s death, etc.), but you cannot ignore it. It is a flaw, an imperfection, a part of his life that, were he around today, I am sure he would regret. But it’s also proof that this man really was just a man.
Throughout the coming pages, we will not fall into the trap of exclusively gazing at the final monument from a distance. Instead we will get up close and examine some of the most important stones—how they were laid into place, and what quarry they came from. And, most important, we will use these events to help sketch a blueprint of how to inspire the next George Washington, and millions more like him.
This book’s title will serve as our guide through that journey in two different ways. First, you will experience some of Washington’s major exploits in a way that perhaps you never have before. Too often, the stories of our founding are told in a way that makes you feel like you are reading boring anecdotes about old men in powdered wigs. But, for those of us who aren’t academics, that kind of historical accounting simply doesn’t work.
I don’t want you to just read about Valley Forge or Yorktown, I want you to live it. I don’t want you to just read about George Washington, I want you to know him. I want you to be him.
Second, this book will attempt to show that all of us can be the next George Washington. We all have a role to play. No one, not Washington, Lincoln, or anyone else could do it alone. America will only change for the better when more of us believe this to be true instead of simply dismissing it as meaningless self-help pseudo-psychology.
George Washington was just a guy. Before that, he was, like many of
us, a young man who navigated personal relationships like an awkward teenager in an after-school special. He asked a young woman named Betsey Fauntleroy to marry him. She said no. He asked again. She said no again. He wrote poems to her. He became the old-timey version of John Cusack standing outside of the bedroom window of the girl he loved holding a boom box playing Peter Gabriel over his head—except, in this movie, there was no happy ending. Betsey’s parents saw the man who would eventually be the father of the greatest country to ever grace the earth as too low-class for their daughter.
While he was president, Washington’s mother accused him of abandoning her. She claimed she was starving while he was spending tons of money on ice cream, which was one of his vices. She claimed he neglected her and tried to get a law passed mandating that presidents not neglect their mothers.
Imagine how that would play on cable news today?
None of the accusations of neglect were true (although Washington did spend the equivalent of $5,000 in today’s money on ice cream during the hot summer of 1790), but Washington dealt with the same crushing and ridiculous family drama that everyone does at one time or another.
Yet the way most people remember him flies in the face of the lessons we should learn from his life.
We remember a normal-sized man with a giant monument in his honor. We remember a man who was too poor to impress the parents of the girl he loved because he didn’t have much money by putting his face on our currency. We remember a man known for his honesty with a fabricated story about a cherry tree.