22228 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS July 1 O, 1975 EXTENSIONS OF REMARKS GEORGE WASHINGTON SHOULD BE He faced an impossible task. He had to fundamental philosophy and leadership to DESIGNATED GENERAL OF THE mold hundreds of loosely organized New the Revolution. ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES England musketeers and backwoods riiiemen Washington was chairman of the meeting into an army under the guns of the British in Alexandria, Va.., in the summer of 1774 army and navy. that adopted the Fairfax Resolves, the basis On discovering that his supplies amounted of the Continental Association through which HON. MARIO BIAGGI to no more than nine rounds per man, it is the Continental Congress began binding the OF NEW YORK reported that "for half an hour, he did not colonies into a nation utter a. word." It was while sitting in Congress that Wash­ IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES But somehow he did it. He created an army ington heard his name discussed as a. po­ Wednesday, July 9, 1975 out of chaos. Led it from one defeat to an­ tential military commander. He left the other. Kept it going when all others would room so his friends could discuss him with­ Mr. BIAGGI. Mr. Speaker, as we just have given up. And won the war. out embarrassment. recently celebrated our 199th birthday George Washington was a peculiar blend The discussion was political. Moderates and are rapidly approaching our Bicen­ of all that made Americans of 1775 cherish wanted a man without dangerous ambitions, tennial it is time for this Nation to begin their independence, fight to secure it and one not likely to take the army and make to honor some of our early patrio~ and win. himself a. dictator. But the man who led the leaders. There is no finer example of such He was truly a.n American creature. He war would be at times virtually a dictator, grew up in a. country that was still new and so he must be trustworthy. an individual than George Washington, raw. He was trained on its frontier, on its The South must be brought to the cause. Commander in Chief of the Revolution­ rich earth and in its business exchanges. A Southern commander might do the trick. ary War forces and first President of Washington as born in Tidewater, Vir­ But he must be one acceptable to the North. the United States. ginia in 1732 when it had passed the fron­ Washington did not openly seek the job, I have introduced a resolution in Con­ tier stage but was not yet as civilized as the which is one of the reasons he got it. Seek­ gress which would designate G~orge urban North. He knew wealth and he knew ing the job would have been immodest. But Washington as General of the Armies. of hard times. He had advantages and influen­ he did wear his military uniform to Congress. the United States. This highly presti­ tial friends, but he was largely self-made. Was that a signal of defiance to the British His father died when George was 11, leav­ or a reminder of his Inilitary record? gious honor has been afforded to only ing him in the care, of a. mother who was He wanted the command, but he wouldn't one other individual in our Nation's his­ protective, possessive, restrictive, jealous and ask for it. He thought it would come to him, tory, Gen. John J. Pershin~ .. Washing­ selfish. Her apron strings were smothering. but he expressed genuine modesty. He was ton's impressive career in m1lltary serv­ All her life, Mary Bell Washington resented, a man ready to be great but not if it meant ice to our Nation must be recognized rather than encouraged, her son's rising star. betraying his deeply felt sense of what a. and can be in no better way than by be­ She felt success made him neglect her-which gentle1nan should be. stowing this honor on him. I urge all of he never did. "Though I am truly sensible of the high my colleagues to join me in support of So George, as boys do, became restless. He honor done me in this appointment," he was a dutiful son, but he spent as much time said, "yet, I feel great dlstress from a con­ this resolution. as possible with his favorite brother, or with sciousness that my ability and military ex­ Mr. Speaker, at this point in the friends and relatives. perience may not be equal to the extensive RECORD, I would like to insert an article By the age of 15 he had become a compe­ and important trust." which appeared in June 29 edition of the tent surveyor who preferred the woods to life Washington began his military career in Long Island Press which outlines the with mother on the farm. Like most Amer­ 1753 with an expedition to a British post on the Allegheny River which had been seized developmen~ which led to Gen. George ican founders, he spent a portion of his life learning from the frontier. by the French. He did little more than bring Washington being named our first Com­ back the message that the French would not mander in Chief: As a boy, Washington almost accepted ap­ pointment as a midshipman in the British give up. But the winter expedition gained THE FIRST COMMANDER IN CHIEF-WASHING­ navy. He was already packed when he backed Washington, at the age of 21, a. reputation TON WAS MAN FOR JOB out "in consequence of the earnest solicita­ as a resourceful and daring leader. (By Don McLeod) tions" of his mother. The next year, during the French and In­ (It was a. quiet Sunday and there was no dian War, Washington ambushed a. French Probably at this early age Washington de­ patrol. He was later trapped at Ft. Necessity pomp and ceremony when George Washing­ veloped the spirit of controlled rebellion in Pennsylvania and forced to surrender. But ton rode into the rebel camp near Boston which also characterized the American na­ his reputation as a warrior, and his good on July 3, 1975 and became the nation's first tion as it sought independence in history's sense, were growing. Anny commander-in-chief. He met his of­ most orderly revolution. When Gen. Edward Braddock led a British ficers and the next day he got down to the Destined for a gentleman's education in army against the French, Washington went business of winning a. revolution.) England, Washington lost his cha.nee a.t the a.long as aide-de-camp. Braddock and most The Continental Congress needed a. man death of his father. He received only what of his men were slaughtered, but Washing­ who could be trusted with the first American would be a. grammar school education today. ton distinguished himself in saving what Army, a. man who was competent but most But he never ceased the process of self­ could be saved of the expedition. of a.11 politically acceptable. It chose George education. The massacre was a horror which Wash­ Washington. Washington's time on the frontier as sur­ ington never forgot, but he drew instruction The future father of his country was not veyor and soldier also gave him that typical from it. Washington had great admiration a dashing figure as he rode into camp 200 American love of the land, particularly the for the British officers, but little for the years ago this week to take command of the virgin forests of the west, which in those days British enlisted soldiers who broke and ran makeshift army besieging the British regu­ extended only to the Appalachians. while the colonials tried to fight. lars in Boston. British interference with the activity of Washington's military record was mor~ speculators and settlers on the western one of survival than victory. He was not frontier, often cited as a. leading cause of the bold, being given to doubt and self-depre­ Revolution, touched Washington personally. THE CHANCE OF ECONOMIC RUIN cation. He took reverses hard. He knew Eventually he inherited his beloved Mount melancholy and gloom. Vernon from his eldest brother, Lawrence, Choosing him as the nation's highest of­ and became a progressive farmer, concerned HON. ROBERT E. BAUMAN ficer was a political compromise at best, and with soil conservation and crop diversifica­ OF MARYLAND he knew it. tion-something almost unheard of in the But George Washington, Virginia. planter, America of his day. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES gentleman and part-time soldier, also was Unhappy with the handling of his tobacco Thursq,ay, July 10, 1975 proud, steady, determined, and he had a by British agents, who had a monopoly, sense of destiny. If he knew despair, he never Washington planted less tobacco, turned to Mr. BAUMAN. Mr. Speaker, since be­ gave in to it. simple manufacture, developed a fishery on fore the birth of this century, the Aegis He already had shown the traits that the Potomac River, planted wheat and oper­ has provided Harford County, Md., citi­ would win the · war for him and independ­ zens with comprehensive news coverage ence for the United States. ated a. mill. George Washington, despite the politics As befitted a rising young: man of property, and editorial commonsense. The Worth­ of his appointment, was the man for the job, Washington dabbled in polltics, until it be­ ington family has helped it to grow to be perhaps the only man in America who could came a consuming interest. He served in the the largest weekly publication in Har­ beat the best army in the world with a mote­ Virginia.