The WAY to WOW Shows
Make George Washington’s Birthday Meaningful!
February 21, 2025
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[0:00] [Music] who are you and where are you going what do you [Music] want hello and welcome to this special edition of the way to wow shows I'm your host Kevin bemel and this is one of those episodes that happen when there's

[0:37] a holiday or some type of celebration in this case it's George Washington's birthday now you may be wondering wait a minute I thought George Washington's birthday was celebrated on President's Day which would have been Monday and that is when it's celebrated but as I explained uh last week in my show uh celebrating Abraham Lincoln's birthday um I'm I'm not a big fan frankly of President's Day um not all presidents are um shall we say worthy of uh the

[1:15] same kind of uh celebration as uh President Washington and President Lincoln and and when I was a child we got two school holidays we got Lincoln's birthday and Washington's birthday and and I really think that's the you know the the the proper way to do it uh now uh today is you know Friday uh February 21 and Lincoln I mean Washington's birthday is actually tomorrow Saturday February 22nd I don't um do any broadcasts on Saturday I keep a

[1:51] traditional Jewish Sabbath and so I don't do such activities on Saturday so I'm I'm having this show on on Friday and uh and so that's that's why you're seeing it now uh and as is my practice on these days I'm going to talk a little bit about uh in this case George Washington's biography now if you saw my show on uh Tuesday business lessons from the military kind of in honor of Washington's birthday as well I did my show on business lessons that can be learned from George Washington's Rules

[2:28] of Civility which is a marvelous little book that George Washington wrote about how we should uh conduct ourselves and and so in that show I talked about his military career because that's the specific topic for business lessons from the military today I'm gonna talk about his biography sort of the his pre the pre-military part of his life and then uh the post-military time of his life where he was President Etc and then I'm going to read as I always do on these shows uh something that that uh the

[3:04] person wrote or that's appropriate for the celebration in this case I'm going to read Washington's fa farewell address that he gave to his cabinet uh before leaving a term uh after his uh after his second term as president so uh I I think there's a lot of ideas in it that are are worth considering uh these days um there's there's a lot of change going on uh especially in the federal government right now um and and there's some good debates I think that could come uh from

[3:41] those changes and so it's a it's an opportunity to uh get some wisdom from uh President Washington and and and and see how that could inform how we handle things today so in terms of his biography uh George Washington was born on February 22nd 1732 in West Morland County in Virginia to Augustine and Mary Ball Washington he was the eldest of six children um from his father's second marriage now you

[4:18] said oh how scandalous no no no you know spouses is is often times died especially women they they off many times died in child birth it was not unusual for someone to have more than one spouse um his F and and so you know the fact that um Mary Ball was was his father's second wife not particularly um unusual um his family was moderately wealthy um they owned land and they they U grew tobacco again very common thing to happen in Virginia in the early to

[4:56] mid uh 1700s and on into um you know even even the 1800s so um Washington had very little formal education he was primarily self-taught he studied subjects like ma mathematics surveying and geography um and um as well his father died when he was 11 and so he was raised primarily uh by his mother and um I don't mean this in any salacious way but but Washington had um a bit of a predeliction for women and maybe that

[5:32] was you know because he had been raised for his Mo by his mother I think he had um uh perhaps a more profound sense of um how to um interact with women than other men of his time uh might have had so um unlike many uh uh Scion of wealthy Virginians he did not travel to England for schooling so he was born and bred in what were then the colonies not yet not yet the United States of America so um

[6:08] at the age of 16 uh George Washington uh began working as a surveyor and uh he was quite skilled at this and he um he explored and mapped the Virginia Frontier um at the age of 17 in 1749 he was appointed the official surveyor for Co pepper County in Virginia um and and his work in the wilderness surveying land Etc really gave him valuable experience in leadership and land assessment and in Frontier

[6:44] survival um and so um shortly after that he began his military career which if you'd like to hear about that I invite you to go to my YouTube channel and you can uh watch my show from Tuesday on uh George Washington's uh uh rules for civility so after the uh American war for independence ended in uh 1783 um George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army and he returned to his estate Mount

[7:20] Vernon and and he really hoped to essentially retire from public life and and devote the rest of his life to farming and Land Management um among the things that Mount Vernon was famous for was distilling you got it my favorite beverage whiskey so grain was being grown in abundance and uh you know it could only be kept for so long before it especially it got got wet rained on whatever it would

[7:56] spoil and so one of the things that was done with overabundant grain was uh Spirits were distilled from it in particular whiskey and George Washington was a noted uh whiskey distiller um in his time um un unfortunately for George Washington's hope of retirement from public life um there were many people I think him included uh who felt the Articles of Confederation that had bound the colonies together um in the uh uh you know pre-revolution

[8:33] and and and and revolutionary period were just they were found to be too weak and so in 1787 a constitutional convention was convened and George Washington was unanimous unanimously elected president of that convention and his leadership really helped shape what became the United States Constitution two years later in 1789 uh George Washington was unanimous

[9:08] unanimously elected the first president of the United States the only President of the United States to be elected unanimously he served two terms from 1789 until 1797 and he set many uh precedents as president perhaps among the most well not perhaps I mean not among perhaps the most important of which was that a president would serve to turns now there was there were people who wanted George Washington to

[9:44] essentially become a Perpetual president and and uh John Adams for example wanted him wanted the president to be addressed as his majesty the president of the United States similar to the way that King George was addressed uh Washington ested all of that he did not believe that the President should be treated in a Royal fashion uh he number one and number two he definitely did not think he should have should be uh elected for Life uh and that's why he he uh declined

[10:20] to run for a third term so uh th those were very those were very important precedents uh he um he also um stabilized the new country he established the First National Bank and he kept the United States neutral in the European conflicts that were going on including the war between in the the Napoleonic Wars between England and France so in 1797 uh he he retired again from public

[10:56] life uh warning against of interestingly enough political parties which a warning that uh we didn't take and foreign alliances a warning that we did take uh for for quite some time uh George Washington uh spent his final years at Mount Vernon managing his estate and he died December 14th of 1799 at the age of of 67 um and his leadership in war and in

[11:31] peace really so solidified his legacy as the father of his country or the father of our country so um you know that that's a a a somewhat um brief you know biography of of George Washington's life there of course are many many wonderful books uh about George Washington and I I encourage you uh to to check them out um there is an association that oversees Mount Vernon as a museum and again they

[12:06] have uh several wonderful books if you go to their uh website and and and want to learn more about uh George Washington's life um his his Farewell Address is uh I think his best known uh Speech and and again it it it set forth uh not just the the the two um issues that I mentioned I.E avoiding political parties and foreign entanglements it really set forth his philosophy uh for the uh you know for

[12:42] for the new the new country the United States of America so um this is I mention this each time um I do one of these special editions this is a book called The American reader uh words that moved a nation uh it's edited by Diane ravic and uh as I have in the past I will put a link to this book in the show notes of this episode after it posts on on our my YouTube channel and it's it's a a really amazing book for understanding our nation's history uh

[13:19] mostly because it's it's a way of of getting behind the the the strict history and getting a sense of the people involved who really created that history who were instrumental in the development of our country and I think it's as important to understand that as it is the events themselves because we really cannot separate the people involved from the events and so to hear the words that

[13:55] were spoken from those times is is very important so this is a little bit longer reading than I um typically do um but you know again going back to what I said a little while ago about the the changes going on in our country right now I think that George Washington's words are important for us to hear as we engage in these debates and and and there are many uh good debates that I think should be

[14:30] had and and and uh you know people in of of of you know good faith across the political Spectrum um you know would that you know they would engage in these debates collegially and for the best interests of our country uh re really would you know as a rabbi which uh you may know that I am that would be my my blessing for our country uh and and and and so here we go this is George Washington's Farewell Address the period for a new election of

[15:07] a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with the that important trust it appears to me proper especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice that I now apprise you uh of the resolution I have formed to decline being considered among the

[15:43] number of those out of whom a choice is to be made the unity of government which constitutes you with one people is also now dear to you it is just so for it is the main pillar in the edifice of your real Independence the support of your Tranquility at home your peace abroad of your safety of your prosperity and that of that very Liberty which you so highly

[16:18] prize but as it is easy to foresee that different causes and from that that from different causes and from different quarters much pains will be taken many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth as this is the point in your political Fortress against which barriers of internal and external enemies will most will be most constantly and actively though often covertly and insidiously

[16:54] directed it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your National Union to your Collective and individual happiness that you should cherish a cordial habitual and immovable attachment to it accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety and prosperity watching for its uh for its preservation with jealous anxiety

[17:29] discount discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest or to enfeeble the sacred ties which Now link together the various parts for this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest interest citizen by birth or choice of a common country that country has a right to

[18:07] concentrate your affections the name of American which belongs to you in your National capacity must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appalation derived from local discriminations with slight shade of difference you have the same religious manners habits and political principles you have a common cause fought and triumphed together the independence and Liberty you possess are the work of

[18:43] joint councils and Joint efforts of common dangers sufferings and successes in contemplating the causes which may disturb our nation it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations northern and southern Atlantic and Western whence designing men may Endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and Views one of the expedients of party is

[19:18] to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts you cannot Shield yourself too much against the jealousies and heartb burnings which spring from these misrepresentations they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection to the efficacy and permanency of of your union a government for the whole is indispensable no alliances however strict between the parts can be an

[19:54] adequate substitute they must inevitably experience the infraction and interruptions with all alliances in all times have experienced sensible of this momentous truth you have improved upon your first essay by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated than your formal for an intimate Union and for the efficacious management of your common concerns this government The Offspring of our own choice uninfluenced and unwed adopt upon full investigation and mature

[20:31] deliberation completely free in its principles in the distribution of its powers uniting security with energy and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment has a just claim to your confidence and your support respect for its Authority compliance with its laws acenes in its measures are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty the basis of our political system systems is the right of the people to make and to alter the

[21:07] Constitutions of government but the Constitution which at any time exist exists till Changed by an expli explicit and authentic sense authentic Act of the whole people is sacredly obligatory upon all the very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government toward the preservation of your government and the permanency of your present Happy State it is requisite

[21:44] not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged Authority but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles however specious the pretexts one method of assault may be to affect in the forms of the Constitution alterations which will impair the energy of the system and thus and and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown in all the changes to which you may be invited remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to

[22:21] fix the true character of government as of other human institutions that experience is the shest standard by which to test the real tency of the existing constitution of a country that facility in changes upon the credit of mere hypotheses and opinion exposes to Perpetual change from the endless variety of hypotheses and opinion and remember especially that for the efficient management of your common interests in a country so extensive as as ours a government of as much vigor as

[22:59] is consistent with the perfect security of Liberty is indispensable I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations let me now take a more comprehensive View and warn you in the most solemn manner against the banful effects of the spirit of party generally this Spirit unfortunately is inseparable from our nature having its roots in the strongest passions of the human mind it exists under different

[23:35] shapes in all governments more or less staffed controlled or repressed but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly the worst enemy it serves to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration it agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms Kindles the animosity of one part against another ferments occasionally Riot and Insurrection it opens the door to foreign influence and Corruption which

[24:10] find a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passion thus the policy and will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another of all the dispositions and habits which lead to itical Prosperity religion and morality are indispensable Parts in vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness these firmest props of the

[24:47] duties of men and citizens the mere politician equally with the pious man ought to respect and to cherish them a volume could not Trace all their connections with private and public Felicity let it simply be asked where is the security for property for reputation for life if the sense of religious obligation desert the Oaths which are the instruments of Investigation in courts of

[25:22] justice and let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion whatever may be conceited to the influence of refined education of minds of particular of peculiar structure reason and experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can Prevail in exclusion in exclusion of religious principle

[26:02] it is substantially true that vuture that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government the rule indeed extends with more or less Force to every species of free government who that is a a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundations of the fabric promote then as an object of primary importance institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge in proportion of the

[26:37] structure of a government gives Force to public opinion it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened as a very important source of strength and security cherish Public Credit One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating Peace by remembering also that timely dispersements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater

[27:13] dispersements to repel it um avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt not only by shunning occasions of expense but by Vi vigorous EXT exertions in time of peace to discharge the debt which unavoidable Wars have occasioned not ungenerously throwing a Prosperity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear I'm I'm I'm sorry throwing upon uh yes okay against the Insidious WS of foreign infu influence I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens the jealousy

[27:49] of a free people ought to be constantly awake since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most banful foes of Republican government but that jealousy to be useful must be impartial else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided instead of a defense against it excessive partiality for one foreign nation and ex excessive dislike of another cause those cause Those whom

[28:25] that excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause Those whom that actuate to see danger only on one side and serve to Veil and even second the Arts of influence on the other real Patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favor favorite are liable to become suspected and odious with it while its tools and dupes usurp the Applause and confidence of the people to surrender their

[29:00] interests the Great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign Nations is in extending our commercial relations to have them to have with them as little political connection as possible so far as we have already formed engagements let them be fulfilled with perfect Faith here let us stop Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none or very remote relation hence she must be engaged in

[29:35] frequent controversies the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns hence therefore it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves to artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics or or the ordinary combinations and con collusions collisions of her friendships and emities our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course if we remain

[30:11] one people under an efficient government the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external from external annoyance we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resol upon to be scrupulously respected when belligerent Nations under the impossibility of making Acquisitions upon us will not lightly Hazard the giving us provocation when we may choose peace or War as our as our interest Guiden by

[30:47] Justice shall counsel why forgo the advantages of so peculiar a situation why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground Why by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition rivalship interest humor or Caprice though in reviewing the incidents of my Administration I am unconscious of

[31:23] intentional error I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors whatever they may be I fervently beseech the almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with Indulgence and that after 45 years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright Zeal The Faults of incompetent abilities will be

[32:00] consigned to Oblivion as myself must soon be to the manions of rest relying on its kindness in this as in other things and actuated by that fervent love toward it which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several Generations I am anticipate with pleasing expectations that retreat in which I promis myself to realize without alloy

[32:37] the sweet enjoyment of partaking in the midst of my fellow citizens the benign influence of good laws under a free government the ever favorite object of my heart and the happy reward as I trust of our mutual cares labors and dangers I think several things uh become clear from uh Washington's

[33:13] Farewell Address uh one is the great humility of George Washington which is a lesson that we all can learn or or perhaps re need to relearn periodically another is that the some total of what he was after was a country where every citizen would look for what was good for the country and for his fellow

[33:50] citizens not merely for himself and his neighbors so in doing so it inevitably means that sometimes we will suffer discomfort in order that a larger number of people um may be more comfortable perhaps and when I say Comfort I I don't literally mean Comfort I mean um something benefiting far more people would mean that we may have a reduction in benefit that's the nature of of a free

[34:27] government of a government of the people and and George Washington recognized that I think his discussion of being involved in foreign influences foreign entanglements um he he spoke particularly about Europe of course which was um the the the dominant power um that that the The Early Republic had with had to deal with uh has been expanded today right we we deal with Powers across the globe um but how when

[35:02] and how and with whom I think all of those are questions that are informed by what George Washington had to say and finally his belief that a free government cannot continue to exist without a moral citizenry and a morality rooted in religion I think Rings very strong today so we have a lot of things going

[35:37] on in this country that have taken on essentially a quasi religious status and in so doing have replaced the religion the religions of our fathers and mothers our forefathers and foremothers and I think we've mistaken those things for Morality as as I discussed in in my show uh last week jiggers is place on uh Thursday afternoon on when I talked

[36:14] about relationships our politics are not our values our values are our values our values should come from that moral core that each one of us has and that should inform our politics and when we seek to deal with those with whom we differ on politics we should hearken back to our core values those deepest within ourselves and as Washington felt was the case and I think is still largely the case I think most Americans share very

[36:51] similar core values uh be they Jew Christian Muslim non religious um I I I think we we we share a a moral Gestalt in this country and what happens is that those uh those values those morals get covered over by political differences and we dig in our heels and and and and create conflict

[37:26] where it need not be and and this was the final thing that George Washington not the final thing he spoke about in his speech but the final idea that I I want to address um coming from George Washington's Farewell Address our tendency to separate ourselves into groups um and and and to um hold falty to the group as being

[38:01] the the central pillar of Our Lives is corrosive of a country where people live in Liberty and freedom and where they live in uh hopefully an attitude of patriotism in its best sense of doing what's best for the country which really is another way of saying what's best for the citizenry as a whole and and so George

[38:37] Washington's uh Legacy as president as the father of our country I I I I I hope it lives on uh I don't know if it's being taught in schools the way it was when I was uh a child more than half a century ago um but but there is wisdom there and and we deny that wisdom at at a very very high cost so uh I thank you very much for joining me for this uh George Washington's birthday celebration

[39:12] I hope you have a meaningful day tomorrow actually um on his actual birthday I wish you a wonderful uh evening or wonderful day wonderful rest of the day wonderful evening and uh um a very rest restful and restorative weekend and um if you have thoughts that you'd like to share with me uh please do all of my social all the social media links for the show will be in the show notes after the show post and I I I really look forward to hearing them uh

[39:48] always interested to hear what what what's on your mind what you have to say and um and it's I think uh particularly apt my sign off um because Marie was was a bell of the South and and George Washington was a Virginia a southerner himself uh and uh Marie was was a deeply religious and patriotic woman um I I I think she is the kind of woman that uh George Washington would have admired and and I have no doubt that um that

[40:26] although sh I as far as I know she's not related to George Washington in any way that uh Marie was was proud to be in know in essence a legy of uh of of the values that that George Washington held most dear so signing off as I always do Marie darling you are my bell and in these especially um difficult times while we figure out the direction of our nation for the future I pray for you the blessing of

[41:03] Courage at all times my friends