George Washington Would Want Modern Americans to Bridge Divides: Historian

Fun fact today actually is not President's Day. The official name for the holiday is Washington's Birthday. The government considered changing it but that never happened. Despite that it became popularly known as President's Day. Most people now consider it a time to also honor other former presidents including Abraham Lincoln. The modern calendar puts Washington's birth on February 22nd. A 1971 law places the holiday on the third Monday of the month though and that's what brings us here today. So joining us to unpack the historical underpinnings of President's Day and the men they represent is Jane Hampton Cook, an award-winning author, presidential historian, and a former White House staffer. Great to have you with us today Jane. Thanks for having me. Happy President's Day. Let's get stuck into it. How many of the founders saw Washington as a model of virtue? They were all looking up to him in this way. So what can his legacy today teach us? Now he was a very virtuous man. He was very courteous. He was very respectful. He was known for being virtuous in his lifetime. There was a poem that Phyllis Wheatley wrote to in 1775 that was about his virtues and that his valor was known but his virtues were known more. George Washington died just less than three years after his presidency. It was December 1799 and then his birthday was about two months later and his will had been published in newspapers across the country. It was an ongoing news story and I think if people said hey we want to continually remember this great founder, this man who's the father of our country, and so that's really where President's Day kind of kicked off. There were balls that would be celebrated in his honor and different states would do different things and so yes that legislation in the 70s was to bring kind of some more uniformity to the calendar. And following on with this idea of the the virtue that he espoused, he often spoke about religion and morality as indispensable supports for a free society. How central were faith and personal responsibility to his vision for the new nation? He really believed that America needed to be a virtuous nation to be a free nation and he had enough confidence in what he believed about religion to let it be free. We have freedom of religion in this country but you know also George Washington frequently talked about providence. Providence meant God's presence in his day and age and like the walking of God the Holy Spirit and George Washington used the term providence 568 times in his writings. So you see that it was really something that he that meant a great deal to him and he told the American people on several occasions that we owe providence more than any other people on the earth you know to be um that our existence is because of the hand of God and so he really lived that and he spoke that out. And he really shared that uh perspective with Abraham Lincoln who also believed America had a God-given purpose and he often quoted scripture in his speeches. How did his and their shared view of providence shape the way that um you know they led the country and especially for Lincoln through the Civil War? You know Lincoln referred back to the founding quite a bit and I think as the um as the war began to to percolate and as he began to see Lincoln that the Civil War was going to happen he looked back at the founding and he believed it was his job to keep the union together long term and so he could have let the south go and we could have been two separate countries but instead Lincoln fought to keep America together ultimately and he you know looked to God for that strength and that hope and referred to that you know in his inaugural addresses and in his speeches. But Lincoln's birthday is February 12th and so you have places like Illinois and other parts of the country that began to celebrate his uh birthday every year. So there were state holidays and that's one reason that we look to Lincoln is because his birthday was in February so it was a way to celebrate both birthdays present day. Remarkably close together. So both Washington and Lincoln saw the U.S. as an experiment in ordered liberty you know a parting of ways with from chaos or rule by mob um which we're surely seen in other areas around the world but what warning signs do you think they might take note of in our culture and politics right now and and warn people about? Now George Washington talked about the spirit of liberty and he was worried though about the spirit of party. He really opposed political parties. If you go back and read his farewell address from 1796 it's on founders.archives.gov you can see that a lot of what he said George Washington's farewell address was really ripe for today. He wanted the name American to be above all other designations above being part of a state or county or city. The name American belongs to you in your national capacity and so he told the people that I think he would see the acrimony that's been brewing for years but he you know it's just it's just 24-7 now because of social media and our electronic ways of communicating. So I think they would be concerned about that just that where do we come together? When do we come together? And I think there needs to be more moments in our culture for that and I think this America 250 year is a great chance to to begin to look deeper into our nation's founding. I'm making short videos at America 250 Jane on youtube.com and at Jane Hampton Cook on TikTok and other outlets because I want Americans to just take a little moment to remind themselves about the history of our nation and the founding because I want the spirit of liberty to be alive on our 250th anniversary July 4, 2026. Wonderful and education is such a great way to remind us all of the history and you do so well with that. For viewers who may be worrying about America drifting away from its founding principles on this particular day what's one concrete way they can honor the legacy of the founding fathers? Yeah I think going back and reading George Washington's Farewell Address. It's easily available. It was in 1796. I think that's a really concrete way today that you could do something but I want to encourage people to choose to do one thing maybe once a month between now and July whether it's watch the movie The Patriot with Mel Gibson or a tv show called Turn that was on AMC. You know do something read books you know do something to reacquaint yourself and I think the more that people do that the more people will see we were a great and grateful nation and that's what we need to be you know moving forward. Great to hear your insights today and your passion for this. Thank you so much Jane Hampton Cook. Thank you so much.