One on One: Will Trump remember Washington on Presidents’ Day?

Will President Donald Trump remember George Washington when we celebrate Presidents’ Day next week?

Here is some help for him with thoughts from a column I wrote earlier.

When I was growing up, February 22, Washington’s Birthday, was a major holiday. Its replacement, Presidents’ Day, just does not have the same personal connection. There are no longer cherry pies or axes to help us remember the legends of his honesty and character.

Washington’s name is still everywhere. In a general way, we remember that he was great. Our nation’s capital is named after him. His face is on dollar bills and quarters. He has been made an important character in the Broadway production, “Hamilton.”

Like some people’s God, Washington is worshiped in an institutional way, but is not known very well.

That is a shame. His leadership skills, military successes, common sense, wisdom, and willingness to sacrifice merit our admiration.

This country’s government works thanks to his management of the Constitutional Convention. His even-handed administration bound this country together in its first days.

He was a genuine hero.

George Washington’s many successes are important to remember. We should be grateful for them. They should inspire us to higher standards of service to our country.

But I am not thinking so much of those successes today. More important to me now are his failures and disappointments. There were many. In romance. In his military service. In politics.

Miss Betsy Fauntleroy rejected him twice. She was not the only one who broke Washington’s heart. He also fell in love with Sally Fairfax, the wife of his friend, and he suffered because she could only be a good friend.

He began his military career in embarrassment. In the frontier country claimed by both the French and the British before the French and Indian War, Washington was put in charge of a force of British Colonials. He had a fort built to defend his troops — in a creek bottom surrounded on three sides by higher ground. It was a stupid mistake. Soon the French had him surrounded. He surrendered after a short siege and was tricked into signing a confession that his forces had “assassinated” a French officer who had been killed in an earlier skirmish. When this became known, he was demoted and lost his command.

In politics, he started out as a poor public speaker and never got much better. His first election to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1758 came only after he treated voters to rum, wine, brandy, beer, and “cider royal.”

Why think about these failures and disappointments? Why not focus on Washington’s accomplishments?

Why? Because Washington’s successes were built on the foundations of these disappointments and failures. The lesson of his life should not be that he was a perfect person who never failed at anything.

All of us, Washington included, have terrible disappointments in romance, in our work, and in our attempts to lead others and persuade them to do the right thing.

What made Washington special was his strength in getting past those tough times.

His broken heart in romance did not stop him from finding a happy marriage to Martha. His early military reverses did not prevent him from becoming a great general. He worked around his political deficiencies and became our country’s most successful political leader.

What we should remember about George Washington is that he overcame his disappointments.

So, the next time somebody breaks your heart, or you make a bad mistake in your career, or you have problems persuading people to do the right thing, or when there is some other roadblock in your path, just remember, it happened to George Washington, too.

So, President Trump, think about Washington these next few days and learn from him.

And don’t forget that cherry tree story.

D.G. Martin hosts “North Carolina Bookwatch,” which airs Sundays at noon and Thursdays at 5 p.m. on UNC-TV. Preview the upcoming program on Preview the upcoming program on UNC-TV’s North Carolina digital channel (Time Warner #1276) on Fridays at 8 p.m.

This Thursday’s (February 16) guest is Fred Chappell, author of “A Shadow All of Light Next week’s (February 19, 23) guest is Sara Foster, author of “Foster’s Market Favorites: 25th Anniversary.”

One on One: Will Trump remember Washington on Presidents’ Day?

D.G. Martin hosts “North Carolina Bookwatch,” which airs Sundays at noon and Thursdays at 5 p.m. on UNC-TV. Preview the upcoming program on Preview the upcoming program on UNC-TV’s North Carolina digital channel (Time Warner #1276) on Fridays at 8 p.m.

This Thursday’s (February 16) guest is Fred Chappell, author of “A Shadow All of Light Next week’s (February 19, 23) guest is Sara Foster, author of “Foster’s Market Favorites: 25th Anniversary.”

To view prior programs: http://video.unctv.org/program/nc-bookwatch/episodes/

For upcoming programs: www.unctv.org/ncbookwatch

Thursday 5pm February 16 Fred Chappell, author of “A Shadow All of Light”

Sunday noon February 19 and Thursday 5pm February 23 Sara Foster, author of “Foster’s Market Favorites: 25th Anniversary,”

Sunday noon February 26 and Thursday 5pm March 2 Tony Early, author of “Mr. Tall”

Thursday 5pm March 9 John Hope Franklin author of “Mirror to America”

Thursday 5pm March 16 Charles Frazier author of “Thirteen Moons”

Thursday 5pm March 23 Pat Conroy author of “The Death of Santini”

Sunday noon March 26 and Thursday 5pm March 30 Ralph Hardy, author of “Argos”

Sunday noon April 2 and Thursday 5pm April 6 Renee Ahdieh, author of “The Rose & The Dagger”

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