5PoF wrote:George Washington should be a "saint" to all Americans, sadly he's mostly forgotten.
No he didn't have wooden dentures, it's a myth.
But what he was, was a decent man who knew that power would corrupt him if he let it, so he did step down after 2 terms. Amazing.
Furthermore, he was a great Freemason and embodies those ideals.
If only more US presidents were Freemasons, the best having been Freemasons. GW, Andrew Jackson, Lincoln was to become one but was killed, Harry Truman, the Roosevelts.
And George Washington still was the best of all, and the best president.
Everyone should check out the "George Washington Masonic Memorial", it is a grand tower structure towering over 5 floors, grand collumns of marble, and stain glass windows which show reliefs of Masonic nature pertaining to GW, amazing memorial to an Amazing man.
lincoln became disinterested when he ran for the presidency.
my favorite is JFK. if only more US presidents were knights of columbus.
Thomas Jefferson
Great president, Architect, provided the balance when the nation was about to fall apart.
Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter for his decency.
George Washington stands alone. He was a man and had his faults, but so very few individuals in all of our long history as a species can reach the tops of his shoes ... even standing on tippy-toe. Washington should be the measuring stick against which we measure our leadership. We've woven legends about Washington that make him seem too distant and unapproachable. He's become almost a cariature and easily ignored as not quite real. That's too bad, for Washington's character and inner strength made him the essential ingredient for winning our war of independance. When the newly independant States began to founder and "democracy" began to fail, the Constitutional Convention dervived much of it's authority and credibility from the presence of that great patriot. Washington's prestige and power were so great that he might easily have defined his own role in terms that most successful revolutionary leaders have done; he might have been dictator, king, for life. Instead, he molded the Presidency in his own farseeing vision of what that office might be, should be. Washington kept the infant republic from overreaching it's grasp during a time that a misstep might easily have been disaster.
Washington was wrong on many things. He believed that the Executive Branch should be made up of the best minds and leaders, regardless of their own political philosophies. Factionalism existed, Washington hated it and political parties. In hindsight, having Jefferson in the administration was a terrible mistake. Even with Jefferson's obstructionism, Washington was able to achieve the fundamental goals of his own Federalist party. Washington, in retrospect, may have been too trusting and blind to the faults of some of his subordinates, Hamilton comes to mind. Washington during the Revolution was stunned that Arnold could be a traitor. He wasn't a great military genius, but he was a supurb leader of men.
This sort of question isn't one that I particularily like. Each of our Presidents had their own strong points, and their own weaknesses. Some were challenged by historical events and were crowned with glory. Other administrations were unmarked by any dramatic event, and those Presidents become little more than footnotes ... even when the men may have been gifted and worthy if they had been called upon to make momentus decisions. Presidents closer to us in time are better remembered than those whose gravestones are now worn almost smooth. The passions that once burned brightly are now cold and forgotten. Teapot tempsts that are reported hourly on CNN are center stage, but these headlines will also be forgotten in a hundred years if our nation survives. Any honest historian can find greatness in most of the Presidents who have served, even the least popular. The human propensity for error, for losing one's sense of proportion, and all those other little personal faults and quirks are present in all of our leaders ... and in ourselves.
The Presidency isn't a popularity contest, but is instead the gravest responsibility we can collectively bestow on a man. We look for character and vision. Wisdom, strength and courage to stand alone if need be are what we want. It does not matter if a President's popularity polls fall to 2%, so long as he acts to protect and defend the Constitution and the ultimate well-being of the nation. Washington is the standard against which we measure all later Presidents.
couldn't agree more 
