Thursday- July 4th, 2013

Motivation

Hanging over my desk in my office at the gym is the “Prayer at Valley Forge” painting depicting George Washington. The only President unanimously selected by the electoral college.  Washington could have been a king. Instead, he chose to be a citizen. He set many precedents for the national government and the presidency: The two-term limit in office, only broken once by Franklin Roosevelt, and then later ensconced in the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment. He crystallized the power of the presidency as a part of the government’s three branches, able to exercise authority when necessary, but also accept the balance of power inherent in the system.He was not only considered a military and revolutionary hero, but a man of great personal integrity, with a deep sense of duty, honor, and patriotism. For over 235 years, Washington has been acclaimed as indispensible to the success of the Revolution and the birth of the nation. But his most important legacy may be that he insisted he was dispensable, asserting that the cause of liberty was larger than any single individual.

Enjoy your 4th of July and remember the freedoms we now enjoy were at the sacrifice of others.