>> historian peter enriquez discusses george washington's relationship with continental army general benedict arnold. he looks at how washington's response to arnold's failed plan to deliver west wing to the british -- west point to the british illustrates washington's character. this event was hosted by colonial williamsburg and is about an hour. >> thanks so much for that warm welcome. i am really pleased to see as many people in the audience. when i was driving down through heavy rain from northern virginia, i thought i might start this out with a biblical quote where two or three are gathered together. [laughter] fortunately that is not the case. one thing historians learn and all of his need to remember is that you have to keep checking your assumptions. if your assumptions are incorrect, it can lead you to some very wrong conclusions. i would like to illustrate that by the following story, which i hope you will find somewhat humorous, although somewhat as well as.ribald the smiths were unable to conceive children and chose a surrogate father to start their family. on the day the proxy father was to arrive, mr. smith said to his wife, i am off and the man will be here soon. by chance, a baby photographer rang the doorbell, hoping to make a sale. hello, ma'am -- no need to explain, said mrs. smith. i understand. oh, really? he said, babies are my specialty. blushing, she said, that is what my husband and i hoped. where do we start? he said, leave it to me. i usually try two in the bathroom, three in the couch, and perhaps in the living room, we have room to spread out. floor?om, living room maybe -- no wonder it did not harry and me." [laughter] if we try several positions and i shoot from several angles, i am sure you will be pleased by the results. my, that is a lot, says mrs. smith. "ma'am, in my work, it pays to take your time i could be in and out in five minutes, but i am sure you would not be happy with that" don't i know it, said mrs. smith. "these twins turned out especially well, especially since her mother was so difficult to work with." "difficult to work with?" "people were driving around four or five deep to get a good look." "four or five deep," exclaimed mrs. smith. "yes, and when darkness approached, i had to rush my shots. finally when a squirrel begin nibbling at my equipment, and had to pack it all in." "you mean to say that they chewed on your equipment?" " that is true, ma'am. if you are ready, i will set up my tripod, we will get to work." "a tripod?" "yes, it is much too heavy to be held in my hand for very long." and with that, mrs. smith fainted. the moral is check your assumptions. it often puzzles me that there is often a debate among americans as to who is america's greatest leader. the evidence is overwhelming. george washington is america's atlas, the indispensable man in both the winning our independence and the creation and sustaining of our nation during its early critical years. in essence george washington made america possible. without his leadership -- there would've been no union for it from lincoln to save later on. foremost among his many talents it his remarkable judgment. lay close to the core of his genius. and this talent demonstrated itself in many ways, not the least of which was his ability to recognize talent and young men from various backgrounds and in using those gifted men to achieve the goals he had in mind.

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