George Washington an Old Fuddy-Duddy?

What was he really like?

George Washington an Old Fuddy-Duddy?

 

By Elton Camp

 

What image of Washington comes to mind?

In with your money is the one you will find

Right there George is, on the one-dollar bill

And looking humorless, old and extremely ill

 

No worse portrait could anyone possibly pick

It is showing a man who is aged, ugly and sick

Some fuddy-duddy is just what he appears to be

But that image of him is wrong, as we will see

 

Most of what we know of him is really incorrect

Now Parson Weem’s lies we’ve come to detect

“George Washington couldn’t possibly tell a lie

No matter if he wanted to, there’s no need to try.”

 

The parson told us about the chopped cherry tree

That story is just as false as it can possibly be

The Founding Father had traits good and bad

So, exaggeration and lies there’s no need to add

 

Handsome as a young man as well as quite tall

In a group of men, he towered above them all

In picking a wife, Washington really did excel

Martha was so pretty and also very rich as well

 

A young army officer, he was ambitious & bold

But not always successful, if the truth be told

Washington lost far more battles than he won

The Fort Necessity surrender surely wasn’t fun

 

That record didn’t stop his advancement, of course

He became commander of the Revolutionary force

Rather than hole up in a mansion in some big town,

Living with the troops with his wife he was found

 

After founding a country, he did an amazing thing

By serving as leader, but wouldn’t become a king

After two terms, the presidency George did yield

Return to Mt. Vernon & manage his land and field

 

Perhaps an amazing fact most folks will now find

Part of his living was from the making of moonshine

How does this fit with all the stuff we’ve been told

About the grim-looking guy inside your billfold?

 

Another thing about him that gives him greater charm

Washington introduced the mule to the American farm

He was the first president who could be considered green

To him, the advantages of manure as fertilizer was seen

 

Those Washington stories are enough to make one quiver

Like him throwing a silver dollar across the Potomac River

So no old fuddy-duddy was he or did he ever come to be

It’s that awful dollar bill picture that in our minds we see

 

 

Reviews

[Neva Flores Smith - Cha..]

Oh wow! This poem of history is not only wonderful but enlightening. I love it!