Passed Presidents - # 1 – George Washington

On August 8, I introduced The Dead Presidents Quest with Harry Truman (# 33).  Finding his last resting place inspired me to seek all the others and each will be presented here as this blogging adventure continues.  Unless some event calls for consideration of one of our 39 deceased Chief Executives, their stories will be told in the same order as their terms of service. 

When I decided to pursue this objective, it was fortunate that I lived in Maryland.  This put me within 90 minutes of five presidential grave sites.  If I lived in Seattle, chances are I would have chased after other things.

With well over 200 years of presidential activity and politics, one can’t help but notice the importance of precedence.  Doing something because someone else did it first is a primary justification for the modern day president.   George didn’t have that advantage since he was the FIRST president.  Every action and decision had to come with consideration of whether it was appropriate for this new position.  

Washington Blessing the Stock Exchange (23 March 2008)

A statue of our first president is at the location in 
New York City where he took the Oath of Office in 1789.

George Washington’s Mt. Vernon home is just down the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. and it’s a popular tourist attraction, drawing a million visitors a year.   I went there on a pleasant, autumn Friday and made the mistake of returning on a Memorial Day weekend…although it was nice to see folks in period costumes on the estate during the holiday.

Mt. Vernon, Memorial Day Weekend (2008)

I’m not much for touring the insides of old homes, certainly not when the line to get in stretches for blocks and especially when there are presidential graves to be photographed.  Our first president is one of seven who are buried at their homes.  It’s not surprising that four of our first seven presidents are still on their properties since they were rural planters with large estates.  However, two 20^th century presidents (FDR and LBJ) are also buried at their residences.

There are actually two tombs on the property.  George, Martha and twenty other family members were originally interred in a vault on the plantation. 

George Washington’s First Tomb, Mt Vernon (24 May 2008)

His will directed the construction of a new and larger tomb.  He has resided there since 1831.

George Washington

1^st President; Served 1789-1797

Born: February 22, 1732, Pope’s Creek, VA

Died: December 14, 1799, Mt. Vernon, VA

Grave Location: Plantation home, Mt. Vernon, VA

Dates Visited: 10/15/1999; 5/24/2008

Among the Founding Fathers, there might have been smarter, more capable guys to be the first president but I’m not sure there was a better man for the job than Washington.  He led the revolution yet resigned his commission to hand power to civilian authorities because he believed in the democratic ideals of the fight.  In a world full of monarchs and with even the venerable John Adams suggesting he should be addressed as ‘Your Highness’, Washington downplayed any reference to royalty and suggested he be called ‘Mr. President’.