The Many Principles of George Washington

George Washington, our first president and the man whose birthday we celebrate today, strengthened and defended the principles that have always defined the American story. Our shared memories are full of men and women who defended the principles of liberty, prosperity, and beauty, both in their personal lives and on the national stage, but his contributions to the American cause are hard to understate. After he was elected president in 1789, many of his fellow countrymen expected him to hold that office for life, to become a sort of elected monarch.

This wasn’t an unreasonable expectation: as the former commander of the Continental Army and president of the Constitutional Convention, Washington was the most well-known and respected American hero to emerge from the Revolution. Washington’s devotion to the principles of liberty and prosperity, however, made such a notion unthinkable. Through his study of the governments of ancient Greece and Rome and the Enlightenment principles of just government, Washington was equipped with the time-tested knowledge that power corrupts, and he’d already willingly relinquished power several times during his esteemed career.

When Washington returned to Annapolis to resign his commission to the Continental Congress at the Revolution’s conclusion, King George III reportedly said, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world." Near the end of his second presidential term, Washington refused to run for a third and set a precedent that was made Constitutional law by the twenty-second amendment and broken only once in American history. His political ambitions and life of service were in large part driven by his fear of tyranny and unwavering dedication to liberty, prosperity, and the American cause. Washington, who despised the ordinary drama of politics, never wanted to be a “politician.”

But whether he was camped at Valley Forge or residing in the executive mansion, Washington never lost sight of Mount Vernon, his beloved farm. He was humble and shy and had little love for cannon smoke and political squabbles. Once, in response to criticism directed at his presidency, Washington wrote, “I’d rather be on my farm than be emperor of the world.” His sincere love of the agrarian way of life and his desire to sit in a rocker overlooking the Potomac after a long day reflected his deeply-held devotion to the principle of prosperity. His fight for liberty made American prosperity possible. Without the prosperity he helped secure, Washington would not have been able to spend his final years at Mount Vernon. 

But what is less known is Washington’s devotion to the principle of beauty. The next time you walk through Washington, D.C., take some time to admire the city’s civic art. You have our first president to thank for that. In 1791, President Washington directed Pierre L’Enfant to create a master plan for a capital worthy of the republic. Washington’s grand scheme included radiating streets and avenues whose geometrical arrangement symbolically focused on the Capitol and the White House. (To learn more about Washington’s architectural legacy, download Common Sense Society’s free educational resource “The Architecture of Democracy”.)

We can also see Washington’s legacy of beauty in Mount Vernon. When Washington inherited the estate in his mid-twenties, the land consisted of two-thousand acres and a simple, two-story dwelling. Over the next twenty-five years, he expanded the acreage and added onto the house, building the Mount Vernon estate that we know today. At the time of his death, the estate's picturesque location along the Potomac consisted of over eight-thousand acres of natural woodland. This natural sanctuary was the perfect canvas to paint his masterpiece. 

Built in a British Palladian-Style, Mount Vernon was inspired by several neoclassical design elements; simple features that created a more pleasant aesthetic. These elements include beveled wood and sand-cast siding to emulate stone, Palladian Venetian Windows, and a cupola. Such design features were both aesthetically pleasing and convenient. The cupola simultaneously drew attention away from the house’s asymmetry while also serving as an air conditioner by drawing warm air out of the ceiling. In addition to being a surveyor, soldier, and politician, Washington was an amateur architect; he delighted in designing beautiful architectural motifs that were distinct from orthodox classical tastes. He designed his estate to create a sense of true European gravitas that would capture the eye of anyone fortunate enough to see the home, even centuries later. 

It’s no coincidence that every president since 1848 has had an unobstructed view of the Washington Monument outside of his bedroom window. The idea was that each president needed to have a daily reminder of the man who wanted to leave politics to enjoy the world’s natural beauty, who wanted to come home to embrace his family and live in peace, and who served his country not out of self-interest, but out of love for the American people. 

This Presidents’ Day we reflect on the man who has and always will remain America’s undisputed champion of liberty, prosperity, and beauty. 

Happy birthday, Mr. President.