PRESIDENTIAL FAITH

It wasn't January but April in 1789, in New York, when George Washington took the oath of office for the first President of the United States. A military hero, he was humbled by the task before him. He is reported to have said, “But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavorable to my reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honored with.” Even though he had helped fight other nations for the colonies' independence, he also once said, “Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all.”

Historians have speculated about Washington's faith—he was raised in the Anglican church and known to have prayed alone and with others—but events surrounding his death reveal a lot. Enough, in fact, that Campus Crusade founder Bill Bright—whose “Four Spiritual Laws” went around the world to tell people about faith in Jesus—called Washington his favorite historical person apart from biblical characters. In Bright's final book before his death of lung failure, Bright told of visiting Washington's historic home on the Potomac, Mount Vernon:

The guide took me to his (Washington's) bedroom and motioned to a chair at the end of his bed. Washington knelt there for an hour every morning and evening to read his Bible and pray. As he lay dying, he ordered that a tablet over the door of his tomb be inscribed with the promise of Jesus in John 11:25: 'I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.'”(1)

His death came ten and a half years after he took his Presidential oath of office. Once again running his estate at Mt. Vernon, he'd gotten chilled on a horseback ride that December day. He went to bed and soon local physicians were trying their “cures,” which included the “bloodletting” popular in those days along with what we'd today call quack medicines. They likely did more harm than good. He struggled to breathe, probably due to a severe throat infection. Barely able to speak, his last words to his doctor were these: “I have been dying a long time; my breath cannot last long—but I am not afraid to die.” He was 67.

As a footnote, some have criticized Washington as being a slave-owner. However, his will stipulated that all his slaves be freed upon his wife's death. She reportedly expedited that, freeing all in the year after his death—not waiting until hers.

An internet search yields poignant quotes attributed to Washington. Some worth considering:

“It is better to be alone than in bad company.” *It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.” “99% of failures come from people who make excuses.”

Such aphorisms sound a lot like the book of Proverbs, which no doubt Washington read, including verses about national conscience like this one:

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.” (Proverbs 14:34)

(1) Bill Bright, The Journey Home: Finishing with Joy (Thomas Nelson, 2003), pp. 23-24).