The Washington thread.

[Bluce Wee]

In addition to asperhes excellent post, most of the portraits we now have of the man that were done during his lifetime were generally carefully sculpted to carry across that image of the senatorial "Father of America". Busts and sculptures too: all designed to convey a sense of grandeur, honor, and to deflect attention from things like his jutting jaw due to his ever-increasing reliance on dentures. Later in his presidency he would be quiet during dinners and parties because of his teeth and it furthered this image of the stern but self-sacrificing leader and he wouldn't counteract this perception. He was not above using a little bit of what we might consider now to be propagandizing.

And it worked. In addition to being almost unanimously elected both times to the office, he quelled an incipient rebellion in the Continental Army by giving a speech and was really the only place where there was much much of a sense of national unity during the darker periods of the war. Man's really a fascinating person and any American, inculcated in the myth of Washington, should try and learn about the man behind it.

 

[asperhes]

Busts and sculptures too: all designed to convey a sense of grandeur, honor, and to deflect attention from things like his jutting jaw due to his ever-increasing reliance on dentures.

It should be pointed out that all of these portraits and sculptures were heavily influenced by classical Roman art. All the American elites were extremely familiar with classical Greece and Rome and were heavily influenced by these ideas. Since the Americans were establishing a "republic," they read everything they could about the Roman Republic and why it succeeded and why it failed. So a lot of Washington's image was built on these values. It was a collaboration between Washington himself and those who admired him--everyone tried to portray Washington as the reincarnation of a Roman general. In particular, Washington was compared with a guy named Cincinnatus, who was famous for taking power during a crisis but then willingly giving up power when the crisis was over, because he cared about the people. Washington was nicknamed "the American Cincinnatus." "The Order of the Cincinnati" were American veterans who basically worshiped Washington. Since many of them were granted western land for their service, they were extremely influential in early Ohio, hence the name of their town. Cincinnati is named after Washington.

So anyhow, artists loved to draw Washington in profile because as luck would have it, he had a big "Roman nose," which had enormous symbolic significance. By the way, artists often drew Roman noses on people who didn't have them, because it made them look more honorable. A hilarious example was the artist George Catlin, who drew Roman noses on Native Americans, to emphasize that they were "noble savages."

Sometimes the Roman stuff could go too far. In the 1840s a sculptor was commissioned to carve a statue of Washington for the capitol rotunda. This is what he came up with:



This created an enormous scandal because Washington was half-naked, and basically looked as ridiculous then as it looks now. So the statue was hidden away in the capitol basement for the next 100 years.

 

[Picklechu]

A lot of the imagery was done in that way in order to help unify the country post-Revolution. There was a, for a lack of a better term, "Cult of Washington" which was an early form of nationalism/patriotism. If you've ever been to the U.S. Capitol (or just googled pictures of the interior), then you've seen the huge mural on the dome, which is titled The Apotheosis of George Washington. It depicts Washington, surrounded by female figures representing liberty/justice/etc, ascending into Heaven dressed like they belong in the Sistine Chapel.

Another fun Washington fact related to the Capitol is that the lowest level below the dome, the Crypt, is referred to a such because it was intended to be Washington's burial place. Washington, however, wanted to buried at Mount Vernon, so those plans were scrapped.

 

[Ahffline]

Sometimes the Roman stuff could go too far. In the 1840s a sculptor was commissioned to carve a statue of Washington for the capitol rotunda. This is what he came up with:

View attachment 15898

This created an enormous scandal because Washington was half-naked, and basically looked as ridiculous then as it looks now. So the statue was hidden away in the capitol basement for the next 100 years.

Conspiracy buffs have a field day with that sculpture, given its resemblance to Eliphas Levi's Baphomet sketch:

Spoiler

For historical accuracy RE: George, nothing beats this :

In all seriousness, Washington is quite an intriguing figure - as are all the Founding Fathers - given how some people try to lionize them as the epitome of Libertarianism, while they quashed the Whiskey Rebellion.

 

[cypocryphy]

I'm near Princeton battlefield and the Delaware River and stuff, it's pretty cool.

My friends and I went looking for ghosts at the battlefield one time too.

Spoiler

we didn't find any

 

[asperhes]

In all seriousness, Washington is quite an intriguing figure - as are all the Founding Fathers - given how some people try to lionize them as the epitome of Libertarianism, while they quashed the Whiskey Rebellion.

At first I misread you as saying that crushing the Whiskey Rebellion was a good example of libertarianism. Anyhow, if I were a libertarian, I would look for inspiration more from the Jefferson-Jackson Republican tradition, not the evil Federalists. Hamilton was a proud statist. I would hope that more intelligent libertarians would make distinctions among the founders. Sharp disagreements emerged almost immediately upon GW taking office. By the election of 1800 there was a clear two-party system.

I hadn't been aware that GW had mad rapping skillz; you might find this of interest as well:

 

[AnOminous]

In all seriousness, Washington is quite an intriguing figure - as are all the Founding Fathers - given how some people try to lionize them as the epitome of Libertarianism, while they quashed the Whiskey Rebellion.

This is one of the things I use to laugh at sovcits and anti-tax nuts who rant about the Founding Fathers. They don't know how to deal with the fact that when confronted with people exactly like them who refused to pay taxes, the real Washington personally led troops to put them down.

 

[Skeletor]

Washington was just a brilliant military leader and not in that he was a tactician so much as his having charisma and organizational skills. The US army was utterly disorganized, under-equipped, and demoralized at the start of the war. Guys were willing to defend their home state but didn't want to fight to defend other states. Just remarkable that he kept the whole thing from falling apart; he's one of those historical guys who really does live up to all the lionizing we put on him.

 

[Ron_Swanson]

Was it Washington or Lincoln who is quoted as to have sat down with a mad bowl of

 

[Carlos Thin]

Was it Washington or Lincoln who is quoted as to have sat down with a mad bowl of

Washington, but it's because he grew hemp. Hemp and are two different things.

 

[Ron_Swanson]

Washington, but it's because he grew hemp. Hemp and are two different things.

I actually was thinking about a quote attributed to Lincoln, about smoking hemp http://wafflesatnoon.com/lincoln-hemp-quote/ too bad it's likely false, haha. I didn't knew that Washington grew the industrial hemp, but it makes sense, back then everybody appreciated its usefulness.

 

[Trash Tier Waifu]

I agree. I read a pretty interesting biography of Washington that asserted that among other things, Washington was freakishly strong, and that a great deal of his leadership abilities stemmed from the fact that most men were physically intimidated by him. I'm wondering if this is mentioned elsewhere?

When all the cool guys with big egos got together to write the Constitution, they'd take breaks to watch George Washington crack walnuts with his freakishly strong fingers cuz none of the rest of them could do that and George brought his own walnuts. From that alone, you can see how he scared everyone into wanting to make him king of America, a job he didn't want because he was sick of walnuts.

In his spare time, he was good at maths (1st autist preznit), he didn't wear wigs, he spent his own money to fund the government when the federal budget ran short (ha-ha, Mista Trump, we revives dis tradition for yaz), and he eventually freed his slaves, the only founding fadda to do so.

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