There's More to George Washington Than Wooden Teeth

Presidential fact of the day:
“George Washington had a speech impediment and was not good at spelling. He would often mix up i's and e's when speaking and in writing.”
--The Writers’ Almanac

Many of our past presidents positively glow in the aura of history. Actually, it’s more in the aura of legend than of history.

For example, most of us now know that George Washington didn’t really chop down his father’s cherry tree. It’s a very good anecdote, but it’s not history.

We don’t like to hear too much about the real history of our legendary presidents because we think the aura we love gets diminished.

Our “forefathers” had their brave and brilliant moments, but they were also political calculators. If we were to watch the Declaration of Independence being ratified, and certainly if we were to watch the real constitutional convention, we would witness many not-so-noble and even ugly moments.

The thing is, we can’t watch either of these things. And so the legend grows and history fades. A few of these men we have made into our heroes.

That’s rightly because of their accomplishments. It’s not because of how they got to their accomplishments.