First president being sworn in at federal hall in new york city. That would have been in 1789, in april. How well where the duties and office that he was about to step into, how well where they defined at this moment when he was sworn in . They werent defined at all. There was a brandnew institution, certainly in america and really in the world, its a new experiment of an elected magistrate that would have at one point been the head of state, like a king, but also be the chief executioner of the laws, the chief executive in this case, the chief policy maker. And it wasnt exactly clear where the powers of the of the legislature and where thedefine. Powers of the president would be defined. And so washington really created that office. Reallmany of the precedents, mf the things that we come to think of as president ial really come downwn from his example in the office. He took the oath, what were his views at the time about expanding or restricting the power of the office that he was stepping into . Well, George Washington had already established the idea that civilians should be in control, that we needed to exercise restraint. On the other hand, he knew that this new government needed to succeed and he knew certain powers needed to exist to make sure that there wouldnt be, as he would call it, anarchy and confusion. So he knew that he wanted the ability to have one Foreign Policy that would be in his office. He knew that he wanted to have one military voice in the country that would be in his office. He knew that the government would have to be able to collect taxes, things like that, that couldnt be done. He also needed to represent the nation. The presidency is really the peoples office in an interesting way. Its the only office, of course, which represents everybody in the legislative branch. Representathe house of representatives, peoplete represent their districts. In the senate they represent the states. Andt, so as president , he is tht only elected officer that represents all the people. And so he also wanted totoa sort of embody and help create a National Identity at a time when there really wasnt much holding these states together. George washington and the presidency is our topic in this hour of the washington journal and we welcome in our viewers on American History tv on cspan 3 on this president sday. Were talking with Douglas Bradburn, the president and ceo of George Washingtons mt. Vernon, taking your phone calls as well as we talk about George Washington and the presidency. If youre in the eastern or central time zones, its 2027488000. Well also look for Text Messages as well. Douglas bradburn, if George Washington couldnt know at the time exactly how the office of the presidency would evolve over time, did he know that it would evolve and was he okay with that . There are 16 members of the cabinet today, the she writes a letter to an english historian, which was remarkable for the time, and she was a friend of the washingtons, a big fan of the American Revolution and George Washington in general, he writes an extraordinary letter to her, january 1790 where after the first session of congress actually, the new session is coming back, he read a letter to barr in which he says he walks on trodden ground, everything i do is subject to interpretation and creates a president. So he understands very clearly that his role in that office is going to set in train the next generation of how the presidency would function. So hes worried about that insight on the one hand, like all politicians, must but he really has his eyes on the long term vision, 30 years, what will the office be like . So he is very aware of how important it is he sets this precedent and works through them. So a lot of the things that we take for granted about the presidency, he had to create. So ill give you one example, which was the cabinet itself. In time to, time the chief executive can ask the opinion of the set of executive departments, the secretary of the state, the secretary of the treasury at the time, and it does not make any thing about meeting them regularly. So Washington State strict with the rules, so to speak, so the early period of his presidency, he gets advice from his executive officers in writing. He asks a series of questions to them, he has some respond and writing, and it really is only about 1793, so four years into his presidency, during the crisis in the french revelation gets really bloody and dangerous, in 1792 that he starts meeting weekly with the cabinet. So we think, well, its obvious that you would meet regularly with the cabinet, we think the captain as this consulting body. But the constitution is not clear about that at all, so washingtons management style and is innovations in that regard helped create this whole function of the cabinet. There are 16 members of the cabinet today, the president s cabinet. How many members were there for George Washington . Much smaller cabinet in his day. So he had the secretary of war, henry knox. He had the secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson. And then he had Alexander Hamilton as the secretary of treasury. And then edmond randolph, who was the attorney general at the time, also. Interestingly, john adams, who was the Vice President , he was not a member of the cabinet. He was kept out essentially. I mean washington saw him, since he was president pro tem of the senate, he saw him as a legislator and he didnt want to have the executive and the legislative branch mixed like that together. This is kind of interesting as well, because the constitution sort of implies that the senate is going to be the consulting body of the president. Like the treatymaking power. The president is supposed to get advice and consent to get a treaty ratified in the senate, so they share the power to make treaties. But in point of fact, the senate was something that was too political for it to be a very good consulting body for George Washington. First of all, he couldnt get rid of senators. You know, he had no control over their appointment. They werent secretive enough. It would be too easy for arguments to spread and get out into the world. And so the senate clearly was a deliberative body and not a consulting one. So its interesting to see how washington made the cabinet into this consulting body that the senate was sort of thought to be when the framers wrote the constitution itself. There on the grounds of not vernon, asking you to join us in this segment of American History tv, phone lines if youre in the eastern or central time zones, if you have a question, if you are in the mountain or specific time zones, 2 02 748 8001. We will explore some of the collections there, and i want to start with the copy of the acts of congress that George Washington owned and cared for, we visited the museum an Education Center back in 2012, after that copy of the acts of congress had been purchased 144 million dollars. I want to show you looks like, and what president George Washington did to learn aboutbout the powers of the presidency George Washington is very, very exacting with his books. Exactinithwe see that he takese of them. He has them in beautiful glass fronted shelves in his personal library at mt. Often putting a wonderful flourish of his grand signature in the upper righthand corner of thee up title page which he s with this volume. Important papers, puts a book plate. This is a book plate washington ordered from england, engraved in london. This volume was pretty special because it has his hengraved signature onhis the title page, but what is even moreore distinctive and moe unusual is that washington makes notes in the margin, and we almost never see washingtonig writing any marginalia. In several places he very carefully brackets his powers pr and his role as president. We see him, for instance, in article 1 of the constitution here bracketing and writing the words worpresident next to tho duties that he is to follow ande how he is to follow the enacting of legislation. How you have bills that are ratified by congress in the ou havhat a and intivesn the senate and then sent on to George Washington as president for eitherherval approval or ve. And then again in article 2, you see him bracketing not only putting president but also s aners which is an interesting word that he uses, and it shows the powersses, thae has to appoint justices to the supreme to tcourt, to ratify treaties, tooc appoint ambassadors. So hes really sort off oint understanding exactly those powers that are his and those ey that he must delegate to the other important branches of congress. Doug bradburn, interesting seeing the first president s handwriting there in that clip. Talk a little bit about how else he learned about this office that he was stepping into. Yeah. Well, so George Washington of course had been in positions of command and leadership since he was a young man. He had been the colonel of the virginia regiment at age 21. In the military position healed been in these roles. He also, of course, served as the commander inthe chief of the American Army for eight years, which was as much a political as auch h in that role he basically represented the cause, the American Revolutionary cause as the face of it and he had to deal with all the different state governments as well as the Continental Congress. A lot of local committees of safety. So he was a hes really probably one of the greatest politicians generals we have ever had. He and eisenhower really come to mind as the great ones who were political generals, so to speak. Of course he was also the president of the constitutional convention, so he was there when the office of the presidency was being created. One of the things i think thats interesting to remember about the constitution is that article 1, which lays out the legislative branch, you know, eccentrically enumerates the powers that congress has. Congress is not in session all the time, it only does its work certain periods of time. Article 3, which is all about the judiciary, of course, theres only narrow jurisdictions of federal laws that the judiciary, the federal judiciary will have the power to decide. Its very restricted. When it meets as well. Whereas article 2 which defines the presidency is actually quite wide open. You know, the president is on 365 days a year all the time, has this power to execute the laws of the nation. And so George Washington understood that he was entering a potentially very powerful role. Theres a lot of latent power in that office that washington was very careful to try to constrain not only by a strict attention to the way those powers are laid out in the constitution, so the constitutionality of the office itself, but also in his decorum in office, in his method of appointments, how he would choose to appoint people to positions. You know, he he made very careful study not only of the connections of the people that were being put up for office, but also as he would say their character. And if people violated his trust, he would get rid of them. He would immediately remove them. So he wanted to make sure that the early government didnt have a reputation for corruption and wanted to use his office to set that standard early on. So washington understood power. He understood leadership. But it was a new office. And i do think the acts of congress, that extraordinary copy of the constitution that he writes in really shows the way washington at the height of his powers worked. Every great leader understands where they fit within the organization, where they fit within the trajectory of the organization and where they want to take it going forward. We can see that at the moment washington is writing in that book, its a great moment because its on the eve of the first state of the union address. So its after he had been president already for ten months or so, and yet here he is sitting down and rereading the constitution, rereading all the laws they passed at the last session and marking up the margins around those areas of his responsibilities. I particularly like the part in article 2 under the take care clause where it says he shall take care the laws be faithfully executed. George washington writes required next to that. Hes writing in the constitution like hes using a highlighter. Youre just seeing a mans mind in focus there, its not a commentary on the constitution. Its like we do, we highlight the passage. I think him writing required in the context of trying to understand what laws had been passed and what his duties were really gets an insight into why he was such an effective leader at the creation of something. As the crowds gather at George Washingtons historic mt. Vernon this morning and the reenactors are there as well on the grounds on this president sday, the crowds have gathered on our phone lines as well to chat with you. Tom is up first out of hampton, connecticut. Good morning, tom. Caller good morning. How are you doing this morning . Sir, im a history buff and also a former member of the governor Samuel Huntington trust. Samuel huntington was president of the Confederation Congress when washington was still general. President is quite different. Im trying to do research on Samuel Huntington without papers and im wondering how to use George Washingtons papers online to find out more about Samuel Huntington, John Witherspoon and some of the other members of the Continental Congress. Great. Thats an excellent question. There are tremendous resources, if you go to founders on line and you can see all the papers that are digitize there. And washingtons, case i think you are little him front because the revolutionary word are not done yet. They are done up through about 1780, so you dont get the whole entirety of the war, but the story of the Continental Congress was fascinating, and incredibly important. Obviously, for the future growth of the Political Institution and that another great resources as writing delegates to the First Congress available, plus all of the formal records of the congress are there as well, also double all digital and online and i had to go to the library and dig everything, out and thats why you have the benefit now to use the great things that have been digitized and available. Melbourne is a part of that work, we have one of the documentary editors that works here at our president ial library, working in Great Partnership at the university of virginia who are systematically, not only transcribing but annotating and publishing all of the papers of George Washington. Its a remarkable thing when you think about that project starting in 1968. And we had the 50th anniversary of that project the year before last, and i think its going to take another ten years before they finish all the correspondence of George Washington. We should talk about the museum and Education Center, how long have been around and what do you do there . Yeah, so i came to mt. Vernon in 2013 actually, when the Ladies Association opened the president ial library for George Washington. I had been a professor of history up at Suny Binghamton university in upstate new york. Porwhen the Ladies Associations opening thiswas library, they wanted an academic to come down. D ana couple years ago i was mae the president over the i whole shooting match. Mt. Bec vernon is a remarkableabout bece institution because its fully private. Were not one of the smithsonian museums, were not part of the National Park service. The led we came about because ap of women in the 1850s led by Ann Pamela Cunningham saved the house of George Washington from destruction really and made it a museum, made it open for the public. So we are celebrating our 160th year of being a public history site Whose Mission is to preserve mt. Vernon and educate people about his legacy. Now, we educate folks on the grounds. Today im happy to say were going to welcome somewhere around 15,000 visitors to mt. Vernon because it is washingtons birthday observed, president sday as you call it out there. And we are really excited for that. But not only can people see the mansion and see his tomb where he and Martha Washington are entombed, but they can come into this structure, which is our museum and Education Center. The museum itself is an extraordinary exhibit right now called lives bound together which is the story of the enslaved at mt. Vernon. Not only George Washingtons changing attitudes about slavery but also biographies of some of the people enslaved here at mt. Vernon themselves. And the Education Center where we are in right now is basically a biography of George Washington. We feel that folks dont learn enough about George Washington in their traditional history classes. When they come to mt. Vernon, we want to make sure that they have the opportunity to learn as much as they can. Were going to show ourn,ewat viewers a picture of mt. H s avernon in near ruins just before the civil war in 1858. When did the effort to ivil reay save, preserve mt. Effvernon begin . Yeah, the effort really began in the 1850s, around 1852, 1853. There was a woman, south carolinian on the potomac on a steamboat heading home who saw mt. Vernon in moonlight and saw that it was basically basical dilapidated, that it was ind, tt danger of falling down. She asked her daughter to begin a movement to try tog do save m. Vernon. The family, the last washingtons who owned mt. Phevernon was a family John Augustine washington iii whocenu was George Washingtons great grand nephew. So he could no longer maintain the place. It was expensive, old wooden structure built in the middle of the 18th century, never intended to last for 70 years, let alone hundreds of years. Inn work. So it was in dire need of what was remarkable is that these women were he tried John Augustine washington tried to sell mt. Vernon to the government, tried to sell it to the state of virginia, but none of them would have anything to do with it. There was no National Park system at the time, there was no Smithsonian Institution at the time. And so these women came together under the leadership of Ann Pamela Cunningham, a national movement, and they said, well, if the men of america wont save the father of our countrys house, then the ladies shall. And they did. The mt. Vernon Ladies Association still manages this place. They were able to raise 200,000 from all over the country at the time. You know, they raised it in 1 and 5 and little bits and pieces here and there. They raised it with a lecture series. They raised it by selling flowers. They raised it in all the different ways people raise money today. And ultimately they were able to purchase the house. They came to a final agreement with the family in 1858, and they opened for business for tourists essentially in 1860, right on the eve of the civil war. Back to your phone calls here on the washington journal and cspan 3s American History tv live on the grounds of George Washingtons mt. Vernon. This is reginald from houston, texas. Good morning. Caller good morning. Id just like to know if George Washington and these other president s had any remorse and any regret about slavery, saying some of them may have but they were strong advocates of slavery. To this day we dont have a museum thats talking about reparations, talking about repentance or remorse. Id like to know in all of these president ial museums where do they stand on that, because today we still have another form of slavery thats still going on in the prison industrial reform and military Industrial Complex which eisenhower talked about that was going to be the root and the hurt of america following that. So are there any remorse and how do you stand for knowing what these president s did with slavery and last year about some type of repair work got your point, reginald. Well, thank you. Thats a good question. George washington, of course, was born in a world in which slavery was legal and common all throughout the atlantic world, inherited his first slaves when he was ten years old and he came to see the institution as a problem. Not only in economic problem which he was very early on as an institution, but also as a moral problem. The American Revolution was its highest aspiration, the great ideas that we all have with equality and liberty, and there were a lot of officers in his command, like lafayette, Alexander Hamilton, who were very much anti slavery and pushed washington to speak out against slavery. George washington in the 17 eighties did write about slavery being an institution of great regret. An institution that he thought should be ended by legislation, but of course, the new constitution we create a new union of some states that are now free states, which did not exist before the American Revolution, the first emancipation movements in those early constitutions and 1782 which freed all of the slaves in massachusetts, that wouldve never happened without the American Revolution. You have a situation where the unit was created, built on compromise. Some were getting rid of it slave free, some which had no, slaves and washington understood that the union would not have existed in that form and moment if slavery did not still exist. So there were compromises made at the very beginning of the country that washington and its political life and public life felt that he could not attack the institution. Because of those constitutions and the constitutional convention. When he came back to modern, and he only lived for another two and a half years after the presidency, he did write a new will in that time, in what became his last year of his life, in which he freed all of the slaves that he owned. Hes the only president that owned slaves, and i think we had seven slaves on and president s in this country that freed the slaves that he owned and is well. Clearly, washington was concerned about his own legacy, for sure, but also about the freedom of those individuals. He not only freed them, he provided for the education of young slaves. He provide for the maintenance and care of older slaves. As the state was paying out pensions until the 18 forties, the washington did not do enough from the perspective of the 21st century person, but at the time, washington did what he thought he was able to do. And it is an important legacy we have to talk, about both the good and bad as part of what we are as a nation. I think this debate about what are the lasting legacies of slavery is an important one that americans need to have, and a forthright manner. They need to do it with education, and that is one of the reasons that we tell the story of slavery every day. If you give slave tours in melbourne, and we have a a m Memorial Service for thee enslavedd every day at our one b memorial which was built toaved celebrate enslaved peoples. Stit so i think that these institutions, not vernon, want to cello, want people here, these important institutions of our president s but also sites of slavery need to be forthright and to help educate folks so that we can have useful conversations about this important issue. Brian is next. Good morning. The morning, thanks for letting me ask a question. I had, George Washington was a that greyhound, i think the implication might have been that he might have been involved in greyhound racing. What were some of the other sports, did he attend cockfights . And its like to hear your opinion on what that was all about. Mr. Brad parent, did you get that . I think it is a question about blood sports, did George Washington go to cockfights and greyhound racing. This is a question, and all my time here, ive never gotten this question. Its very interesting for me to think about i think you did go to cockfights, baton about greyhound racing. I dont think there was a lot to talk racing in virginia, horse racing was a huge thing. And he was a great horsemen im self, he was the greatest and fr being a gentleman farmer in virginia be and not only buy and sell horses and was an important part of filling that role in washingtons oh was very nor is saying about horses themselves. He stopped gambling around the time that he and martha got married. I think he did a few more efforts after. That i dont think he won very often. I think he rained him in a little bit, but that was pretty common for the virginia planner class, and the colonial period, gambling at horse races its always a big country day. The big colony Wide Meetings in williamsburg when the emergencies came together, theres always house Races Associated with that. Thats where we see washington. The other great sports he was a part up at his age was fox hunting, and fox hunting was imported from Great Britain. And lived in the Shadow Valley that looked next door to him just kept towns until the 17 nineties. These are the sports that we know washington was a part. Of with just under half an hour left from George Washingtons historic mt. Vernon, were joined by Douglas Bradburn on this president sday, though known as washingtons birthday officially in u. S. Code. Washingtons birthday is actually february 22nd. So what should we be celebrating today . Well, i think that the federal code is its a National Holiday and its called washingtons birthday observed. I think we should be celebrating George Washingtons birthday. It doesnt hurt to celebrate it again on the 22nd. But i do think that president sday itself is sort of an effort to create a National Holiday around George Washington and lincolns birthdays, which are close together. I dont know if i care for a holiday that celebrates all president s. You may know a lot about Chester Arthur and think that he deserves a lot of our time. William Henry Harrison was only president for 40 days so i dont really know that his impact on the nation has been great enough to merit time off for everybody. But George Washington certainly was, so we can give him two days. I dont think its the end of the world. I do i love the fact that mt. Vernon is able to be free on this day. We have to charge admission here at mt. Vernon. We dont receive Government Funds or any tax dollars to do our work here, but it is nice to be able on a National Holiday to allow families and, you know, all these folks to come to mt. Vernon to learn about George Washington and have a great time together. It is one of my favorite days of the year. And kind of you to allow cspan cameras there as well and to join us. You can see, i think, some folks floating around behind me here so this is exciting. Already on the museum and already on the grounds checking out the exhibits as we hear from mark in the bronx. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you very much. A lot of my questions have been answered. I was wondering what your background wise. And you said he was the greatest horsemen. Yes, i read that and they said if he was the greatest horsemen, then mr. Lee would have been the second greatest horsemen, because he had to keep up with him. Do we know, something that youre battling with, but we know any idea what happened with him after the many mission where washington let him down . Yes, thats a great question. William lee was George Washingtons enslaved valiant for most of his life, and through the american resolution, he is one of the great heroes of the american resolution. He was there through it all, with washington in the tenth. He probably knew him as well as any man and, knew him intimately. He helped address him every morning, he kept his horses for him. He was injured at mount vernon and i think broke his kneecaps, or broke one at least, and then injured the other knee later on. It became more and more difficult for him to have his difficult role, so by the 17 nineties, he was helping to make shoes around these dates. He was freed on the moment George Washingtons well became law, so he was the only enslaved person that was freed automatically. His death or execution of the will, and he was given the opportunity to leave mount vernon or to remain and receive a pension for the rest of his life. He chose to remain, and receive a pension for the rest of his life, and he was here and told stories about the general when people came. Mount vernon had already been a pilgrimage site for americans since the 17 eighties, since the moment after american independence when George Washington was the most famous man in north america, people would come. That continued after George Washingtons death, so william lee would serve as one of the early tour guides, telling stories about the general and the war, and was often visited by his old comrades in arms as he pointed out himself. So he is a remarkable figure in our history and an important one. Staying in new york, this is dan out of home or, new york. Good morning. Good morning, thanks for doing this this week. I read a lot about George Washington. I like to read that stuff, and i read a story one time that, after he retired from the presidency, he would sit on the porch in mount vernon and the men that he had served with during the revolution in their travels would pass by, and just come up the long drive there and sit down and talk to them. They would chat and i always thought this was a remarkable image to think of, someone that had been the president and founded the country, just chatting with these guys that served with them. I wonder if mr. Brad vergne knew that story. Yes. That is a very good question. George washington was visited regularly, as he complained in a letter to his mother, he said that matt vernon was like a well resorted tavern, because there was no great hotels around this area, and people in the old tradition of virginia hospitality, if you could get a letter of introduction to George Washington, you could stay at mount vermin. They would give you the run of the place. A lot of folks who served in the American Revolutionary war had met George Washington at one for another, and that was enough to have any kind of acquainted with him to come and visit. Now, what they talked about when they visited, i think that many people were frustrated because George Washington really saw himself first and foremost as a farmer. He love to talk about his wheat crop and his has and fly, which was destroying his wheat crop, and we have a number who visited George Washington and complained all we want to talk about was the war. He did not reminisce about battle, which a lot of combat veterans do not. He also did not talk politics very often unless he knew somebody very well, because he knew that what he said it would be repeated and would end up in newspapers, would end up all over the place. He was very careful revealing the innermost man, particularly to strangers, essentially. We do have some nice stories when he was with people that knew him very close acquaintances that would stay up, have a few glasses of champagne or monday are after dinner and tell stories and he would enjoy himself. He was the most talkative person at a party, that was not his way. He has no teeth left by the end of his, life very self conscious and intended to stay mute. And overlooking that apart, of the Visitor Experience there. Yes, we call it the piazza, which is what washington called it. Yeah, its a great porch that extends the length of the building. That view is of maryland, of course, right across the potomac river. But its important to recognize that view has been preserved by the mt. Vernon Ladies Association. In the50s when there was a lot of growth going on in d. C. After world war ii, there was a danger that there might be a big Sewage Treatment plant or oil Holding Areas right across the river there. And the Ladies Association successfully helped create a National Park across the river to preserve that view. And so many hundreds of people actually live across there but it sort of looks like a forest because there are conservationy. Easements so people cant cut down the tree or build a giant pink building so that people can experience that view in a way that George Washington and the millions of people who visited mt. Vernon since his time have experienced it. I do think its a remarkable example of conservation and preservation and the power of place to really help people connect with each other through time in a way that were really proud of our leadership and that view shed defense. Live pictures from George Washingtons mt. Vernon. As we hear from dena, goshen, ohio. Good morning. Good morning. Thanks for taking my call this. Morning i have two questions. In the picture behind mr. Brad burn, who is that giving George Washington the oath of office, and do we have the bible that he used to take the oath . And second quick question, while he was in president , who managed melbourne for him . Thanks for the question. That is three questions, and the first giving the oath, and i believeli it is chancellor livingston,e. The bible is owned by i, cant remember the exact name but is owned by a Masonic Lodge in new york city. It was taken from that latch since it was a big, grand bible. They landed for the use of the inauguration there and the other question was about who managed not burden when George Washington was away . It was a series of different people. During the war, it was a manned name london washington, he was supported very ably by Martha Washington as well, who was here during the war. He was one of his nephews and cousins, i dont know much about him, i admit. Its a strange first name, but then one managing mount vernon in the late eighties and nineties. He unfortunately died and washington where it regularly correspond with his different estate managers and overseers weekly, on sundays when he was president he would write correspondents, and a lot of that had to do with the daytoday, weekly operations of mount vernon. He always thought that he was running as well as he was on hand, and i think that is pretty true. He was very meticulous with his home state, always looking for things new. When he came back he started a distillery, about his that he was a large distiller in the country, and innovation as well as leadership. And pennsylvania, john, good morning youre on with doug brad burn. Good morning, and thank you for taking my call. As a child growing up in the sixties and seventies, i had washingtons birthday off, which was great because i was born on february 22nd not that that gives me any special identification or anything, but recently a friend said, well, maybe he was born on february 11th. He said google it. So i googled it. I was so deflated. A little confused. So what best estimate is it, february 22nd or february 11th . Thats a great. Question it is february 27th under the calendar that we are under today, when George Washington was born Great Britain used the julian calendar, maybe they were going in calendar. You may have to google it. I think its the jillian calendar, which was during his own lifetime, they switch to the grigorieva under, which meant that all the dates had to go forward by 11 days to match up. So that is why february 22nd is under our current calendar, but when he was born he would have written it down, when he first would have written that berry 11th, so thats an interesting thing for a man who have to birthdays. We have two days to celebrate his birthday now, on president sday and his actual birthday. So it fits. Too slippery rock, pennsylvania. Mary, good morning. Good morning. Thanks for taking my call and we went to a visit in 2000, and right in the middle of the bush gore we dont know who the president was going to be, and my question is how long did it take for the news to travel to announce, and i want to thank you for mentioning the view across the. River i thought that was very interesting and forward thinking. Thank you very much. I think one of the remarkable things, you mention your family 20 years ago, youve been coming to mount bryant since 1860, or even before. But coming, and i think its something that each generation has shared, and childrens, children children going back. Thats a powerful continuity of the work we are proud of here at mount vernon. The question about how long it would have taken news to travel, that would depend on what you. Were but it wouldve taken a month to reach everybody in the whole union. If you are out in far west kentucky at the time, when a new president was elected, to say, in 1796, when john adams was the next president. That would have taken about one month to get out west. But most of the east coast would have traveled that about a week. It didnt happen instantly, that would take some time, we would not have the first telegraph until the 18 forties, so its remarkable the difference in travel, in the speed of communication and technology, and if they had more in common technologically with the president day. They still used when power, muscle power, animal power, that where the things that propelled people as fast as they could go. It was no better than the ancients had, and in some ways they had better roads, so it really is a very different world that George Washington inhabited. On the grounds of not vernon, plenty of rain actors as theyre often is. How many people get to play George Washington and mount vernon, and is there any special trading that you require for those folks to come and reenact that general and the president . We only have one person that is contracted to play George Washington. We like that kind of consistency, and in fact, we dont use a George Washington daily. Our guy is a wonderful actor named dean melissa, he lives in philadelphia, he comes down to do a special events for us for birthday dinner, 4th of july events and it is not a daily thing. We do have character actors every day in mount vernon, and both full and part time that portray people from washingtons, life including the bias leader, his secretary, james anderson, one of his estate managers who created the distillery, and all these are professional actors and inhabiting people who experience history in a different fashion. Were proud of our character actors. Today, its very fun because they perform ceremonial duties, dressed in traditional 18th century uniforms that were common in George Washingtons time and suit off some muskets and things like that, so its even more rich with the spirit of 1776 when you come to melbourne. We see a stage this morning, what else is going to happen . On the grounds, today theres a lot of replayings, thats how it begins. A lot of local political figures, heritage societies like the dollars of the American Revolution and the president sends a wreath as well which will be laid at the time, i probably already has happened, or is about to happen right now by Major General who is a command old guard and will be a ceremony there at the tomb. Then, we will do an event on the Bowling Green. Immediately after i get off air with you i will be out on the Bowling Green talking about George Washingtons legacy. Will have a performance of the old guard, they will attack the states, hopefully, they wont take the stage, ill be on the stage and it will be a lot of fun. This birthday cake for everyone here as well we have George Washington, the actor George Washington give a host on that piazza and wander around. Theres a lot going on today. Its a wonderful chance to get families here from all over the country to see this special place on a really exciting day. And it was just about a half an hour ago that President Trump sent out his tweet this morning. Happy president sday from the president at about 9 15 a. M. To barry in virginia, good morning. Caller good morning andthank you so much for this wonderful intervention on president sday. I had the opportunity to live in several states and countries, developing countries around the world and noticed that the great bane of democracy are two great democracy two things corruption and selfenrichment at public expense and bureaucracy. Too many people are not necessarily carrying out the wishes of the chief executive. Im wondering what was the experience of George Washington with those two things, corruption in his own administration, much like Thomas Jefferson had . Or bureaucracy, people just not listening to his dictate . Thats a great question. George washingtons time, the whole bureaucracy had to begin. There was no civil service, and had to appoint a lot of the First Federal officials, that was a lot of the hard work he did and the potential for the potential for any potential for eruption. He had this rigorous standard that he would figure out who they were, and not only that they knew the job, but that they had the character of a gentleman, which meant, for him they will be honorable in their position. They would not take money from the public without proper reason. And he was so concerned about even the appearance of corruption he was like a caesars wife. He would not allow anyone to be charged with rumors before he would let them go. For instance, they went on to become secretary of state after johnson. He got involved in a scandal having to do with the british and whether not he was taking money from the british, and rand off argued that none of this was true. But washington fired him without letting him go through the process of proving himself innocent, and this would have an impact, and he would go back to their youth, he had been the personal attorney, so washington was so concerned about the reputation of this new experiment and government and the idea that it would be seen as no better than monarchy. That he was pretty rigorous in trying to keep it as clean as possible, even being unjust to his own friends, i think in this case. So washington was concerned about reputation, and i think that helped to help create an efficient government. But, lets be honest. The presidency that George Washington had in the 70 nineties was no moment of perfection. He had his own cabinet members, or Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton at each answers throat, creating the First Party System around him while keeping him together and compromising. He had a terrible military defeat, he sent an army out into the ohio country which was destroyed by native americans, in part because of corruption around the quality of the muskets that were provided for that army. So, washington dealt with a lot of the same challenges that any democracy deals with. And i do think there has to be a long perspective on our own challenges today. To understand that they are not new. That history really gives us some perspective that should allow us to be confident. People have dealt with difficult things in the past, and have found times to rise to the challenge and keep this great experiment going. Just a little over five minutes left here on cspan, and cspan 3s American History tv, we are live from George Washington spent vernon on this president s day. Doug brad, burn president and ceo of not vernon with us. An image and the scene outside their. One of our viewers tweets in, the George Washingtons slave buried at melbourne . We believe that he is buried at melbourne. And we dont know where. There is no gray stone that is marked, there is no record of a position and we do have an African American burial ground, with a memorial to the enslaved people that worked in about vernon. The first one was created in 1929, very early at a time when these kind of stories we are not readily told. And it was a leadership of one member of the, board one of the vice regions of the association that made that happen. That memorial stone was placed in an area that had traditionally been known as a place where formally enslaved people were married and known as the enslaved burial ground. We know that a lot of formerly insulate people and not vernon were buried there, and we did some archeological work to study and understand that burial ground. We dont actually dig into the tomb, but we reveal the topsoil to show where the chefs are, so were able to document the number of shafts and their orientation as a way to understand that place and all of our visitors are welcome to go there and learn about. We have this wonderful memorial that was bill in the 19 eighties, designed by architects from how are universities. And it was the only people to enslave people anywhere. We are proud of that story but somewhere in there it is where i would bet that william lee is buried. Time for one more question. Robert, canada virginia. Good morning, thanks for waiting. Thanks for taking. Michael great program. My question is not about his presidency but about your thoughts on his remarkable mother and his remarkable sister betty. And their influence. They were probably his longest female relationships, even including his wife, and id be interested in your thoughts. Thank you. For i didnt get the third part, asking about George Washingtons mother, but did not hear their. Part let me just lie about his mother. Mary washington was really an extraordinary figure in her own right, who was hard to get out because theres not a lot of resources to understand. And was raised by a single mother. George washington was only 11 years old at the time, so she really gave him a tremendous strength of character. She taught him a lot of things about how to manage and estate, she was known to be very religious, so i think its clear that she read them books, not only the bible, but books on religion. She had to be a very strong woman and i know George Washington was quite like his mother. She seems to be a no nonsense figure herself. Now, she has had an interesting reputation throughout American History, because on the one hand, in the 19th century, Mary Washington was held up as the great model of womanhood in america because she was the one who raised the greatest citizen. So in this democracy in the 19th century, if you want to have a great citizens, we need to have great mothers like Mary Washington. In fact, the First National monument to a woman in this country was created for Mary Washington unfair trick spurred, before the civil war. It was in the 18 thirties. But by the 20th century, interestingly, Mary Washington started to get a bad reputation. This had a lot to do with historians who were heavily influenced by the news science of psychology. Segment for it had argued that people who grew up with a strong mother tend to grow up to be weak men and some cases if eminent men. We couldnt have eorge washingtons most important figure be his mother, so Lawrence Washington took on more of it. A very important figure in her own right. With just under one minute to go, you you mentioned that the reenactor plane George Washington will make a toast later today. What would be the toast that he would raise on this washington birthday . Well, id raise a glass to do is washingtons memory, and i would ask everyone to say three cheers, hip, hippos off, three times in honor of his great legacy. Doug background is president and ceo of George Washingtons not vernon, burywe appreciate yr time and the good folks there who invited us in this. Morning we appreciate it. Thank you very much, and thanks for being here. Good luck. Raised during the battle. Up, we had flag went no when the flag went up, we were thousand yards of the beach we had nono 1000 yards. Was going on. We had no idea what was goingteo on. We were too busy in our own little realm to Pay Attention to what anybody else was doing but suddenly around, me and i did not know what was going on, i had my back its the only thing i could come up with, butg suddenly marines around me. Am raceding