1787 – George Washington

Excerpt from Young Patriots: The Remarkable Story of Two Men, Their Impossible Plan and the Revolution That Created the Constitution – I’m halfway through it and having a great time with it. Much more to be said. But for now, I like this bit:

Paradoxically, George Washington’s desire not to participate actively in the discussions and maneuvering at the Constitutional Convention seemed to enhance his role as a leader. He could occasionally be an impressive speaker, but this depended on considerable preparation and something approaching stage management. At other times, a stolid silence was his most impressive tool, as when he had chosen to head America’s first wartime army. He had more of a military background than anyone else who was available, and his silence had enhanced the impression of strength.

What made him an ideal choice for the top leadership role was a trait that would develop in the course of the war: A capacity to adapt. Almost as amazingly as his friend Henry Knox intuitively learned how to use artillery by readin books, Washington quickly developed the multiple capacities of a true supreme commander – strategic planning, intelligence and espionage, guerrilla tactics and other clandestine operations, the difficult art of conducting an orderly retreat, and perhaps most of all, he exuded the “attitude of command” that made other men follow his lead. He was not a “great general”, like the few whose tactics are studied by military schools around the world. But he was the perfect commander for Americans fighting in a revolution, because he pinpointed what was essential and made it part of him. Among other specially acquired traits, he was unsurpassed in the delicate skill of integrating many foreign officers into his forces, and this played a large part in American success.

Washinton also had the rare gift for remembering the lessons of past defeats and continuing to profit from them. As long ago as 1754, when he was the twenty-two-year-old commander of the Virginia Regiment in what came to be known as the French and Indian War, he had been forced to surrender after heavy losses in the Battle of Fort Necessity, a small stockade in Pennsylvania near the forks of the Ohio River. Forever after that, the date July 3, 1754, seemed to persist in his mind even more strongly than July 4. He spoke of his grateful remembrance for having escaped, and he remembered not only the errors that had caused defeat, but also the helplessness of a loser, which would later make him exceptionally attentive to his own prisoners of war.

Even with all the prestige and aura brought by his great victory, however, he did not develop an easy manner of standing out in a large meeting. On several occasions, with careful preparion for a specific appearance that was deemed to be critical, he prepared and even stage-managed a magic moment. But it was not an ability that he could use at will, and certainly not in an all-day session. This deficiency misled the hotheaded John Adams, who sometimes jumped to premature conclusions, to write in a diary a cutting opinion of Washington’s preparation for his task: “He is too illiterate, unread, unlearned for his status and reputation.”

Adams was, in a sense, correct in calling Washington ‘unread”, for he had little or no interest in reading for pleasure. Looking through Washington’s diary pages over the years, it is clear that his hours were seldom devoted to anything beyond practical reading matter that touched on surveying, farming, or governing. But while he would not have studied ancient history as Madison did, he was not at all unaware of its merits. His way of tapping these benefits was to listen carefully and respectfully to the men who knew them best, and here Madison was at the head of the line.

One facet of the General’s great wisdom was that he clearly understood his own shortcomings. He avoided prattling on with extemporaneous talk that would have declined in quality. He was careful not to speak often, and this purposeful silence gave the appearance of depth and penetrating thought.

What an interesting personality.