Celebrate George Washington, not a parade of presidents

On February 17, we celebrate Washington's Birthday.

Not Presidents Day, but Washington's Birthday.  That is the official U.S. government designation of the day, and it ought to be.

George Washington, vaguely remembered as "the father" of our country, is fading from consciousness. Because we want to remember Abraham Lincoln and other presidents as well, the holiday honoring Washington has all but disappeared.

It’s time to remind ourselves about this exceptional man.

During the war for independence, Washington alone embodied the United States. It was a heavy responsibility, and he knew it.

During the war, Washington was a better politician than a general. His strengths were his unwavering commitment to the idea of the United States and to civilian control of the military.

When he assumed the presidency, he understood that almost everything he did would set a precedent for history. Each step -- from how he was addressed to the creation of a functioning government to his relationship with Congress -- required careful thought and preparation and showed deep respect for the popular will. The long-lasting results are a testament to his wisdom.

Between 1776 and 1789, the United States was composed of a collection of independent and sovereign states. Washington faced the task of bringing and holding the country together. His experience as the only truly national figure during the war, dependent on voluntary state contributions of money and soldiers, taught him that a strong national government was essential.

But there was strong opposition from those whom worried that the national government would override states’ rights and individual freedoms.  Washington came to accept the Bill of Rights as an essential part of the deal to make a new country.

Washington, a slave owner, agonized over slavery. He recognized that the two parts of the country had deep differences about its future and that the country might break apart. If it did, a friend reported in 1795, "he had made up his mind to remove and be of the northern."

Washington believed that slavery would end as the nation's economy developed, though he was excessively optimistic about the timing and ease of the transition. He recognized that the future lay in the development of "manufactures" produced by wage labor, as was beginning to happen in the North.

Thus, 70 years before the Lincoln's defense of the Union in the Civil War, Washington used his national standing to hold the country together, even against opposition from Virginia, his home state.  His will provided for his slaves to be freed after his death.

Washington found that Thomas Jefferson bitterly opposed him on how to deal with the rest of the world. The president subscribed to a view later formulated by a British statesman: "Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests."

For Washington, it made sense to sign a treaty with England rather than France, America's wartime ally but then in the throes of a bloody revolution. Jefferson and his group disagreed, later launching the disastrous War of 1812 against the British.

Because of Washington's willingness to establish a working relationship with the British, the Jefferson group charged that he really wanted to create something like a hereditary monarchy in the United States. Yet they could not produce a scrap of evidence against him, and he had no child who might succeed him.

Washington might have taken more power, but he carefully avoided making his position regal and always deferred to Congress.

He was disappointed at the development of political parties, and he split completely with Jefferson, who had formed an opposition party.

Unlike other Founding Fathers, Washington had a deep religious belief. Many others were deists, believing that God's role was limited to creating the universe, while Washington was a practicing Christian who often prayed.

Yet he did not believe that the United States was a Christian nation, writing that "All possess alike liberty of conscience and immunities of citizenship." He opposed religious "toleration," saying it implied that "it was by the indulgence of one class of people that another enjoyed the exercise of their inherent natural rights."

Perhaps his most amazing action was to resign first as general and then decline to serve more than two terms as president.  When Britain’s King George III was told that Washington would walk away from high office, he said, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”

Washington was an amateur soldier, a general, a president and, above all, a man -- a great man. We should not forget him.