1 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:21,320 Speaker 1: I want to talk to you today about profiles in greatness, 2 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:24,280 Speaker 1: and I have behind me in the picture of Abraham Lincoln. 3 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:29,640 Speaker 1: For a reason. Lincoln represents one of the most tragic, 4 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:36,839 Speaker 1: brilliant characters of American history. And what makes this story 5 00:00:37,080 --> 00:00:39,839 Speaker 1: that I'm going to give you different of the thousand 6 00:00:39,880 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: biographies that you've had probably read, is that there's so 7 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,239 Speaker 1: much about Lincoln. I bet there's a whole bunch of 8 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: interesting little trivia that you never heard. I'm going to 9 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: give it to you, beginning with the fact that you know, 10 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:56,080 Speaker 1: I'll know the historic and if you ever read it, 11 00:00:56,360 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 1: there's a I remember when I was younger, my dad 12 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: used to have me see this poster that was in 13 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: his office about all the failures Lincoln experienced. He was, 14 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:08,919 Speaker 1: you know, defeated his postmaster, defeated for Congress, defeated for Senate, 15 00:01:08,959 --> 00:01:12,040 Speaker 1: the city the second time for Senate, ram for you know, 16 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,800 Speaker 1: vice president, was taking off the ticket ram for President elected. 17 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:18,640 Speaker 1: But it's like this whole miserable history of failure and 18 00:01:18,640 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 1: the book President. What's interesting about that is the fact 19 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: that it's well, obviously it's true, but the fact that 20 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:26,920 Speaker 1: when he became president, the only reason he became president 21 00:01:26,959 --> 00:01:33,040 Speaker 1: is because the infighting over Samuel Chase and Stewart, the 22 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 1: New York giants and the guys that really had profiles 23 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: in the Northeast. They just demonsterated each other. They clawed 24 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 1: each other. It was like if Elon Musk and Donald 25 00:01:43,560 --> 00:01:46,440 Speaker 1: Trump really went after each other and they both took 26 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:48,720 Speaker 1: each other out, and all that was left was, you know, 27 00:01:50,040 --> 00:01:52,559 Speaker 1: Governor Huckabee, he had been you know, that had happened 28 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: way back then. But the greatness of the of the 29 00:01:58,040 --> 00:02:01,240 Speaker 1: Lincolns in this world, or the Huckabies for that matter, 30 00:02:01,920 --> 00:02:06,720 Speaker 1: is the fact that God uses the opposition of others 31 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: to take someone who was relatively unknown. Nobody knew who 32 00:02:09,639 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 1: he was, and in the Midwest they did. But he 33 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 1: got elected with only forty percent of the country behind him. 34 00:02:18,080 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: Then by the time he gets into office and by 35 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:22,080 Speaker 1: the time the New York Times, oh yeah, the media 36 00:02:22,200 --> 00:02:24,840 Speaker 1: back then was as bad as it is today. Now. 37 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: I take that back. The media was bad, but they 38 00:02:28,720 --> 00:02:30,640 Speaker 1: were dropping down like twenty percent. I mean, it's like 39 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: eight out of ten people thought they had a buffoon, 40 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: a country bumpkin, a dummy, a failure in the White House. 41 00:02:39,600 --> 00:02:43,480 Speaker 1: At the moment of the nation's greatest prices. And that's 42 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:46,640 Speaker 1: part of what makes Lincoln so brilliant. It's that in 43 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:51,040 Speaker 1: his four years in the crucible of Washington, he revealed 44 00:02:51,360 --> 00:02:53,920 Speaker 1: that his life was already prepared for that moment. And 45 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:55,680 Speaker 1: this is part of what I want to communicate with you. 46 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:01,239 Speaker 1: These profiles I'm going to look at have a spiritual message. 47 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 1: That is that every one of them does. Didn't pop up, 48 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:08,720 Speaker 1: get luckier, have a pr spin campaign after their death 49 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: made him look good. These folks I'm going to talk about, 50 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:16,399 Speaker 1: beginning with Lincoln, they had to endure the crucible and 51 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,840 Speaker 1: they rose and triumphed above it. And I want to 52 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:23,600 Speaker 1: look at why that was, how that happened, who they were. 53 00:03:24,560 --> 00:03:26,600 Speaker 1: And to start with, I'm going to go with a 54 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:31,960 Speaker 1: couple of quotes that I think reveal insight into the 55 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:36,280 Speaker 1: unique psychological framework of these kinds of people. Let's start 56 00:03:36,320 --> 00:03:41,240 Speaker 1: with this interesting quote. He was only twenty two, but 57 00:03:41,280 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: if you read this quote, it's going to give you 58 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: insight into Lincoln at twenty two. Every man is said 59 00:03:46,560 --> 00:03:50,320 Speaker 1: to have his peculiar ambition. I have no others so 60 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow 61 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: men by rendering myself worthy of their esteem. How far 62 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: I shall succeed is yet to be developed. I want 63 00:04:02,560 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: to hold that thought for a second. Throughout his whole life, 64 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: he will deal with depression, He'll deal with heartbreak, he'll 65 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: deal with loss, he'll deal with devastating years of failure 66 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 1: in combat trying to hold the nation together. I mean, 67 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:22,880 Speaker 1: even in his reelection, up until weeks before his second 68 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:25,360 Speaker 1: bid to be president, he thought he wasn't going to win, 69 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 1: and he even wrote a letter, you know, to who 70 00:04:29,320 --> 00:04:32,320 Speaker 1: whoever was going to be in the oval office. So 71 00:04:32,960 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: he didn't always have, you know, the cheering self esteem 72 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:41,719 Speaker 1: corner in his head. But somehow God provided him with strength. 73 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:43,720 Speaker 1: And I think we need to see the motivation that 74 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:50,000 Speaker 1: really grabbed him was being truly esteemed of my fellow men. 75 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:55,719 Speaker 1: By rendering myself worthy, he wanted to challenge himself to 76 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: be worthy of the task. And by the way, when 77 00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,560 Speaker 1: we talk about a complex figure history like this, I 78 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: should also say that his wife, who he married, she 79 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: was quite the belle of the ball. And you see 80 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:09,440 Speaker 1: her in her kind of like Dowdy looking overweight frum 81 00:05:09,480 --> 00:05:13,200 Speaker 1: the you know, kind of Victorian era, big big gowns, 82 00:05:13,839 --> 00:05:16,360 Speaker 1: the pictures we have, but in her, in her youth, 83 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: she was the Southern bell. She was. She was the 84 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 1: flower that all the guys courted, and Stephen Douglas, even 85 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: his great competitor who he was debating and having to 86 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 1: run against and would lose against, uh she was he 87 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,320 Speaker 1: was suited the suitor for her. So Lincoln had an ambition, 88 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,280 Speaker 1: He had a sense that he could do things. And 89 00:05:44,440 --> 00:05:47,760 Speaker 1: I think this shows you that he had this. He 90 00:05:47,800 --> 00:05:52,480 Speaker 1: had a knowledge of his innate capacity and competence, even 91 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: if others didn't see it. He knew what he could do, 92 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:57,840 Speaker 1: and he would tell stories when he was younger and 93 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: enthrall people with his an and he was a great wrestler, 94 00:06:01,680 --> 00:06:07,480 Speaker 1: powerful man. One point in time they took this huge 95 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: sledge hammer or this axe that was used, which would 96 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:14,760 Speaker 1: take two hands to be able to swing, and Lincoln 97 00:06:14,800 --> 00:06:16,479 Speaker 1: picked it up with one arm and held it out 98 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:21,520 Speaker 1: straight in his death. At his assassination, the observation of 99 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: those who had to try to tend to him on 100 00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:28,000 Speaker 1: the bed that he was strewn out across perpendicular almost 101 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: because he was so tall, he was bigger than the bed. 102 00:06:31,560 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: They said what struck them was even at that age 103 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:39,720 Speaker 1: of his life, the strong strength and muscular, sinewy power 104 00:06:39,839 --> 00:06:43,560 Speaker 1: of his upper body. Now Lincoln was an interesting cat, 105 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:47,280 Speaker 1: there ain't no doubt about it. But he was motivated 106 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:49,479 Speaker 1: by this desire to be worthy of the esteem of 107 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: his peers, not to beat them, not to be the 108 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:57,280 Speaker 1: top of the pack. That he had ambition. It was 109 00:06:57,480 --> 00:06:59,880 Speaker 1: to have ambition that delivered that which in the back 110 00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:03,680 Speaker 1: of his mind he would give him honor as he 111 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:05,640 Speaker 1: finished the race, and others would look. And that's an 112 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: interesting he did exactly that. Now he dealt with this depression. 113 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,880 Speaker 1: How severe was depression, And a lot of these guys 114 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:18,440 Speaker 1: that I'm talking about in history, they dealt with serious melancholy. 115 00:07:18,520 --> 00:07:23,640 Speaker 1: I personally believe that Satan knows who's being used and 116 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:26,640 Speaker 1: who God is raising up in Providence to serve him, 117 00:07:27,160 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: and he unleashes hell against them. And many of them 118 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:36,760 Speaker 1: fought with the devil of depression. Lincoln said, and this 119 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,040 Speaker 1: is in eighteen forty one, so you got to figure 120 00:07:39,040 --> 00:07:41,520 Speaker 1: this. This his fifty one sixty one and twenty years before 121 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: he's in the White House. I am not the most 122 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,520 Speaker 1: miserable man living. If what I felt were distributed to 123 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: the whole human family, There would not be one cheerful 124 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: face on the earth. To remain as I am as impossible, 125 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: I must die or be better. I don't think any 126 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,720 Speaker 1: of you who have struggled with would question the fact 127 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:03,960 Speaker 1: that he's dealing with like a clinical case of depression. 128 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,000 Speaker 1: Right here, he's saying, man, if you distributed to the 129 00:08:07,040 --> 00:08:14,280 Speaker 1: whole world my grief, everybody would be miserable worth and 130 00:08:14,360 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 1: he wouldn't run out with another great quote from Lincoln. 131 00:08:18,960 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: And this is the genius of him. If I did 132 00:08:21,680 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: not laugh, I should die. It was his habit of 133 00:08:27,280 --> 00:08:30,960 Speaker 1: his life. He was a prolific reader, a profoundery, which 134 00:08:30,960 --> 00:08:35,840 Speaker 1: is probably what gave him that native education which accounts 135 00:08:35,840 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: for his eloquence and his lawyer's capacity for close consecutive argument. 136 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 1: Logic and argument both demonstrated masterfully when he was debating 137 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:56,880 Speaker 1: with Douglas. But he was once criticized for not taking 138 00:08:56,960 --> 00:08:59,960 Speaker 1: seriously imagine this, of all things God deals with depress 139 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 1: what's going on with the war. Because he would find 140 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:12,920 Speaker 1: things from contemporaries who were comedic in plays in theater 141 00:09:13,120 --> 00:09:17,120 Speaker 1: or even in Shakespeare that was funny, and he developed 142 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: a great sense of humor. And he explained to someone 143 00:09:19,400 --> 00:09:22,959 Speaker 1: once who thought he was being superficial. He said, look, 144 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: if I didn't laugh, I'd die. And this is an 145 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:32,120 Speaker 1: interesting insight for you. When you're dealing with heaviness. Put 146 00:09:32,160 --> 00:09:34,520 Speaker 1: on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. 147 00:09:34,679 --> 00:09:38,120 Speaker 1: That's what the Bible says. The joy of the Lord 148 00:09:38,360 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 1: is your strength. Do not weep. Neemiah said, there's some 149 00:09:42,320 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 1: kind of real powerful logic in this that the way 150 00:09:45,600 --> 00:09:49,120 Speaker 1: that you override that grim black dog of depression and 151 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,400 Speaker 1: heaviness is to do a shift that's called or a 152 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:56,200 Speaker 1: state change. A state change means you shift your attention 153 00:09:56,880 --> 00:10:00,400 Speaker 1: and your energy onto something different that can over rider 154 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,560 Speaker 1: resists that dark impulse. Because if Lincoln had given in 155 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:07,600 Speaker 1: to melancholy while he was dealing with the war and 156 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:11,079 Speaker 1: the death of his son Willie eleven years of age, 157 00:10:12,360 --> 00:10:16,800 Speaker 1: he would never have been resourceful or creative, or resilient 158 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,760 Speaker 1: or brilliant the way he was able to keep rolling 159 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:23,200 Speaker 1: over generals until he finally found the ones who could fight. 160 00:10:34,240 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: So the quote that Lincoln made at that time was listen, 161 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:39,800 Speaker 1: I'm going to hold McClellan's horse if he'll just give 162 00:10:39,880 --> 00:10:45,680 Speaker 1: us some victories. Talk about humility he said, man, you know, 163 00:10:46,000 --> 00:10:48,960 Speaker 1: I just need this guy to fight. And so there's 164 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:55,600 Speaker 1: a kind of Abraham Maslow, the great psychologist, to develop 165 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:58,839 Speaker 1: this kind of concept of a hierarchy of needs. I'm 166 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,239 Speaker 1: interested in Maslow. He was one of the few psychologists, 167 00:11:02,280 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: along with some others, that focused on healthy psychology versus 168 00:11:06,679 --> 00:11:11,880 Speaker 1: you know, therapeutic Freudian psychology for people with mental illness 169 00:11:12,679 --> 00:11:16,360 Speaker 1: or struggles. And what Maslow said was that Lincoln is 170 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:20,400 Speaker 1: the epitome of what he called self actualization, which is 171 00:11:20,440 --> 00:11:24,520 Speaker 1: a person that rises above the petty vulnerabilities of the 172 00:11:24,559 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: flesh in terms of their ego and needing to be significant, 173 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:31,400 Speaker 1: to put other people down, to build themself up, to 174 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:35,920 Speaker 1: have stuff or power or achievement and trophies in order 175 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,040 Speaker 1: to feel like they're better than other people. He said, 176 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: Lincoln transcended that because in Maslow's hierarchy, he said, Lincoln 177 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:45,960 Speaker 1: as a model of actualization, he moved past the self 178 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 1: esteem issue that men get stuck at than women too, 179 00:11:50,240 --> 00:11:54,280 Speaker 1: and he moved into something greater. He found a transcendent cause, 180 00:11:54,480 --> 00:11:58,200 Speaker 1: greater than himself that enabled him to subordinate his ego, 181 00:11:59,720 --> 00:12:04,360 Speaker 1: his thirst for significance, in order to serve a greater purpose. 182 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:07,400 Speaker 1: And you'll see that over and over again that Lincoln 183 00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:14,720 Speaker 1: subordinated his depression, He subordinated his hostile enemies, even he 184 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:18,839 Speaker 1: made them all come under the utilization of one hundred 185 00:12:18,880 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: percent of his capacity and potential for the purpose of 186 00:12:22,720 --> 00:12:27,559 Speaker 1: saving the Union and stewarding what providence or God gave 187 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 1: him as his responsibility as the President of the United 188 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:33,760 Speaker 1: States and commander in chief of the army. I mean, 189 00:12:34,280 --> 00:12:36,360 Speaker 1: this is not something to just jump over. This is 190 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:41,360 Speaker 1: an insight that you need to have a cause that 191 00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:45,160 Speaker 1: is greater than you, so that you can subordinate you 192 00:12:45,360 --> 00:12:48,400 Speaker 1: to that greater cause. John the Baptist put it this 193 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: way regarding Jesus, looking at his own imprisonment, he said 194 00:12:52,080 --> 00:12:56,559 Speaker 1: he must increase and I must decrease. That's a statement 195 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,319 Speaker 1: of greatness when you can say I need to get 196 00:12:59,360 --> 00:13:01,480 Speaker 1: out of the way so that you could do what 197 00:13:01,600 --> 00:13:04,559 Speaker 1: you've got to do. Because I care more about us 198 00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:07,680 Speaker 1: winning the race or winning the battle than I do 199 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:10,920 Speaker 1: about my position at the end of the race. That's 200 00:13:11,080 --> 00:13:16,520 Speaker 1: an actualized person. I'll hold McClellan's and now how did 201 00:13:16,559 --> 00:13:20,240 Speaker 1: he get there. I've been driven many times to my 202 00:13:20,360 --> 00:13:23,600 Speaker 1: knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no place 203 00:13:23,640 --> 00:13:28,280 Speaker 1: else to go. People question Lincoln's spirituality, and I guess 204 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:31,840 Speaker 1: they could because he never publicly affiliated with any particular 205 00:13:31,920 --> 00:13:33,680 Speaker 1: church of religion. This was at a time of Charles 206 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: Grantis Infini in the Great Second Great Awakening. We have 207 00:13:37,480 --> 00:13:42,880 Speaker 1: preachers and conviction and revival. Not enough to stop the 208 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 1: Civil War, mind you, lest we think it was awakening 209 00:13:47,600 --> 00:13:50,800 Speaker 1: even in America. Third grade awakening is ever that which 210 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: can overpower everything. But it was enough to create a 211 00:13:55,559 --> 00:14:00,760 Speaker 1: sense of moral alignment in the North, particularly so that 212 00:14:00,800 --> 00:14:06,839 Speaker 1: when slavery became crystallized as not just an issue but 213 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:14,640 Speaker 1: the perhaps defining battle of the Civil War, Lincoln was 214 00:14:14,720 --> 00:14:17,080 Speaker 1: able in the agony of having no place else to go. 215 00:14:17,240 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: Certainly the President encouraged me he had to read comedians, 216 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:22,280 Speaker 1: but maybe even didn't like him. In order to laugh. 217 00:14:23,240 --> 00:14:25,920 Speaker 1: He had to stay focused on the assignment and keep 218 00:14:25,920 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 1: his ego down, keep himself resourceful. But what he did, 219 00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: the pain developed the clarity in him, which is kind 220 00:14:34,520 --> 00:14:38,280 Speaker 1: of peculiar. The pain can break you and make you bitter, morbid, 221 00:14:38,760 --> 00:14:42,560 Speaker 1: could drive you to drink, as it did his predecess, 222 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:45,480 Speaker 1: as it did the guy that followed him after his assassination. 223 00:14:46,640 --> 00:14:52,520 Speaker 1: Was an alcoholic virtually, but Lincoln went to contemplation. He 224 00:14:52,560 --> 00:14:56,960 Speaker 1: would talk often with a certain pasture that especially after 225 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:58,840 Speaker 1: his son will he died at eleven years of age 226 00:14:58,880 --> 00:15:02,880 Speaker 1: because the typhoid fe because of the putrid condition of 227 00:15:02,920 --> 00:15:06,800 Speaker 1: the water in the swamp lands around Washington. We know 228 00:15:07,000 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: now that the stuff in the water can get you. Well, 229 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,280 Speaker 1: poor Willie didn't have came out from Illinois all the 230 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,120 Speaker 1: way out to Washington and was exposed to a fever 231 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,000 Speaker 1: that got into him and took his life. Lincoln was 232 00:15:19,040 --> 00:15:21,240 Speaker 1: beside himself on top of the wars. He has to 233 00:15:21,280 --> 00:15:23,400 Speaker 1: sit by the side of the bed of his dear darling, 234 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:27,320 Speaker 1: little Willie, who dies. He wept openly in his grave, 235 00:15:27,760 --> 00:15:34,680 Speaker 1: visited it alone. But the pain caused him to become 236 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:38,120 Speaker 1: contemplative because he saw the nation in pain. I mean, 237 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 1: think about this. The Civil War touched everyone's life. I 238 00:15:43,520 --> 00:15:47,720 Speaker 1: think it was one out of five men had been 239 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:50,600 Speaker 1: killed or maimed in the war. That meant that every 240 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:53,600 Speaker 1: family had someone who had died or was a walking 241 00:15:53,680 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: casualty of the conflict. So the uh A nature about 242 00:16:00,800 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: thirty five to forty million at that time, so five 243 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:08,600 Speaker 1: hundred thousands significant six orndred thousand certificate number of casualties. 244 00:16:10,120 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: What you have also there is the fact that the 245 00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:18,960 Speaker 1: pain crystallizes thinking of scripture, and he began to read 246 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: the Bible, and he read the Psalms. He said they 247 00:16:21,440 --> 00:16:23,640 Speaker 1: were his favorite because I think he could identify with 248 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: the emotional turmoil and torment that was in David's life. 249 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:29,720 Speaker 1: But driven to my knees by the conviction that I 250 00:16:29,760 --> 00:16:33,040 Speaker 1: had no place else to go, That's what happened to him. 251 00:16:33,440 --> 00:16:36,520 Speaker 1: It drove him there. And of course his knowledge of 252 00:16:36,520 --> 00:16:38,160 Speaker 1: the Bible was the only book he had when they 253 00:16:38,200 --> 00:16:40,920 Speaker 1: grew up in their schoolhouse. He never had a formal education, 254 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,920 Speaker 1: so he got acquainted with reading the Bible early on. 255 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,040 Speaker 1: It shows the power of the Word of God. It 256 00:16:46,080 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: created within him a sense of moral clarity that even 257 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:50,760 Speaker 1: though he didn't go to church, and he was kind 258 00:16:50,760 --> 00:16:55,160 Speaker 1: of curious about the revivals, but he also saw the 259 00:16:55,240 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: human nature involved in the revivals and it was interesting. 260 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: And I want you to know. Before his death, his 261 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:07,920 Speaker 1: pastor and various other historians have confirmed that Lincoln said 262 00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:12,119 Speaker 1: that as his relationship with God deepened in the crucible 263 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:15,479 Speaker 1: of the Civil War, he said that his wish was 264 00:17:15,600 --> 00:17:18,440 Speaker 1: to He told Mary, as are on a carriage, he said, 265 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,679 Speaker 1: I really want to go to the Holy Land. I 266 00:17:21,760 --> 00:17:24,640 Speaker 1: really want to go to Jerusalem when we when we're 267 00:17:24,640 --> 00:17:27,920 Speaker 1: out of office, second terms over, let's go to Israel. 268 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:30,920 Speaker 1: He had a longing to be able to go walk 269 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:33,320 Speaker 1: in those steps that Jesus walked in to see that land. 270 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:35,119 Speaker 1: Imagine that he would have loved to have done that. 271 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:39,520 Speaker 1: He told his pastor that he would wasn't going to 272 00:17:39,520 --> 00:17:42,680 Speaker 1: talk about it publicly, but that he planned on being 273 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: baptized in the Presbyterian Church. Because Pastor Gillies, who had 274 00:17:46,760 --> 00:17:49,359 Speaker 1: been consoling him and talking to him through his questions 275 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:54,200 Speaker 1: about eternity, about suffering about about the Bible, he began 276 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,080 Speaker 1: to develop a theological conviction that Christianity was indeed a 277 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:01,119 Speaker 1: valid religion, that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world, 278 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:03,639 Speaker 1: and that he should make a public profession of that. 279 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:05,720 Speaker 1: He wasn't able to do that public baptism because he 280 00:18:05,760 --> 00:18:08,159 Speaker 1: was assassinated, just like he never was able to go 281 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:10,879 Speaker 1: to Israel. But so you have to look at him 282 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:14,720 Speaker 1: over the continuity of his life to really appreciate that. 283 00:18:15,040 --> 00:18:19,119 Speaker 1: There's different pictures of him, but it explains why his 284 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:24,320 Speaker 1: comments in his inaugural address like this, the judgments of 285 00:18:24,359 --> 00:18:27,879 Speaker 1: the Lord are true and righteous. Altogether, he saw the 286 00:18:27,920 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: Civil War through the eye of a prophet in office. 287 00:18:32,760 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 1: He said, I just believe that it might be that 288 00:18:35,600 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: this terrible ordeal that we are experiencing will not end. 289 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: That for every lash of a slaveholder, there'll be a 290 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: slash of a sword, and blood will be answered with blood. 291 00:18:46,560 --> 00:18:50,240 Speaker 1: And what can we say till God satisfied that we've 292 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:54,440 Speaker 1: we paid the price for what we've done. The judgments 293 00:18:54,480 --> 00:18:57,480 Speaker 1: of the Lord are true and righteous. You'll never see 294 00:18:58,040 --> 00:19:05,280 Speaker 1: a president after Lincoln whose inaugural address is like a 295 00:19:05,480 --> 00:19:11,439 Speaker 1: sermon from the pulpit regarding a national crisis and rooting 296 00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:15,679 Speaker 1: it in Bible theology and Bible language. I'm telling you 297 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:23,120 Speaker 1: a wild proposition he is regarding the issue of slavery. 298 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:25,720 Speaker 1: He began to feel more and more like that was 299 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: the defining issue in his moral compass, as he's going 300 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:33,480 Speaker 1: through his own crucible. If my name ever goes into history, 301 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,879 Speaker 1: it'll be for this act, the Emancipation Proclamation, and my 302 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:41,199 Speaker 1: whole soul is in it. Asked about why it was 303 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 1: that he was pushing this when nobody in his cabinet, 304 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 1: nobody else really wanted to do it. He said, look, 305 00:19:47,320 --> 00:19:50,199 Speaker 1: I've made some vows to Almighty God. Now think about this. 306 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:55,679 Speaker 1: I've made some vows to Almighty God that if he 307 00:19:55,800 --> 00:20:00,360 Speaker 1: stands by our men, I'm going to stand by this. 308 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:04,119 Speaker 1: In other words, there was a side to him, and 309 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:08,240 Speaker 1: it was a mystic side where he believed that God 310 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:12,919 Speaker 1: heard his prayer. And Antietam was He felt that he 311 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:15,119 Speaker 1: had to have at least one victory, or a close 312 00:20:15,240 --> 00:20:18,000 Speaker 1: victory or close to victory, and he got that close 313 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 1: to victory an Antietam, which should have been a total 314 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:26,560 Speaker 1: victory but for the incompetence and timidity of McClellans. Matter 315 00:20:26,600 --> 00:20:31,280 Speaker 1: of fact, God himself gave the victory to the North 316 00:20:31,320 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: and they fumbled him. There was all of the Roberty 317 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:39,399 Speaker 1: Lee's disposition, of all of his troops, and his battle 318 00:20:39,440 --> 00:20:45,000 Speaker 1: plans for Antietam were wrapped up around a cigar in 319 00:20:45,040 --> 00:20:49,120 Speaker 1: a Confederate hat by an officer who carried his hat, 320 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:56,520 Speaker 1: and evidently he lost his hat in a charge, and 321 00:20:56,560 --> 00:21:00,840 Speaker 1: the Union soldiers came up with the plans wrapped around 322 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:06,000 Speaker 1: the cigar, and there it was unfolded generally's entire map 323 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:08,880 Speaker 1: of what he was going to do, and it wasn't 324 00:21:08,960 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: utilized to advantage anyway. Lincoln felt that after the Emancipati proclamation, 325 00:21:15,359 --> 00:21:19,440 Speaker 1: that was that was his that was his success. But 326 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:22,280 Speaker 1: once again, I want to go back. I know it 327 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:23,919 Speaker 1: sounds like I'm jumping around, but I gotta tell you. 328 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,879 Speaker 1: The two characteristic things that I love about Lincoln is 329 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:30,000 Speaker 1: the fact that he was able to take the pain 330 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:33,639 Speaker 1: and the pressure and the stress of his role and 331 00:21:33,680 --> 00:21:36,640 Speaker 1: through that actualization that he had that was unique to him, 332 00:21:37,440 --> 00:21:45,280 Speaker 1: he stayed focused, almost like with perfect equilibrium on what 333 00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:48,199 Speaker 1: he needed to do next. And he never allowed his 334 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:53,120 Speaker 1: emotions to get the best of them when and his 335 00:21:53,200 --> 00:21:57,480 Speaker 1: and his joy, which was strange that God given gifts 336 00:21:57,680 --> 00:21:59,879 Speaker 1: of humor, was what enabled him to see him in 337 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:04,399 Speaker 1: means almost sympathetically. He saw them with an irony. He 338 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: looked at them with a wisdom, almost of a sage. 339 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:09,399 Speaker 1: You can see in his worn out face and the 340 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:12,000 Speaker 1: final photograph of me, he looks like a like an 341 00:22:12,000 --> 00:22:17,600 Speaker 1: old mystic. But walking down the I remember debating once 342 00:22:17,640 --> 00:22:20,800 Speaker 1: he had a debate with Douglas, and Douglas accused him 343 00:22:20,800 --> 00:22:23,960 Speaker 1: of being two faced he's here a two faced hypocrite. 344 00:22:24,520 --> 00:22:30,480 Speaker 1: And Lincoln's response was, let's see if I had another face, 345 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,400 Speaker 1: do you think I'd be wearing this one? I mean 346 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: that it's characteristic of the wit of Lincoln at all 347 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 1: stages of his life that he could step out of 348 00:22:40,480 --> 00:22:43,199 Speaker 1: the crucible and have a kind of a sense of 349 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,479 Speaker 1: irony in the moment. And I think that's just it's 350 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 1: worthy of knowing that these are the characteristics of greatness 351 00:22:52,200 --> 00:22:54,560 Speaker 1: that I encourage all of you to maintain. I don't 352 00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:57,720 Speaker 1: care what goes on out there. Can you maintain a 353 00:22:57,800 --> 00:23:01,480 Speaker 1: sense of humor in the midst of it? Can you 354 00:23:01,640 --> 00:23:08,119 Speaker 1: be forgiving to your enemies? And can you handle the 355 00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:13,320 Speaker 1: both the applause and the critique and stay focused on 356 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: your assignment and subordinate your ego to a greater cause. 357 00:23:17,800 --> 00:23:36,320 Speaker 1: That's the essence of the Lincoln lesson in leadership. Well 358 00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:40,600 Speaker 1: in our pantheon of great Americans. Of course, we just 359 00:23:40,640 --> 00:23:44,600 Speaker 1: talked about Lincoln. I got so much more we could 360 00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,639 Speaker 1: have talked about regarding Lincoln, But I wanted you to 361 00:23:47,640 --> 00:23:53,080 Speaker 1: catch the idea that Providence serves up these leaders. You 362 00:23:53,119 --> 00:23:58,639 Speaker 1: ever think about this, your prayers may not make you 363 00:23:58,720 --> 00:24:01,240 Speaker 1: a central figure in history. But when you get to 364 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:06,639 Speaker 1: the other side, you'll find out when it's all like 365 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:09,600 Speaker 1: the tapestries turned around and you see all the weaving 366 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:14,520 Speaker 1: that went into creating that history. Your intercession, your prayers, 367 00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,320 Speaker 1: your obedience, your humble faithfulness to do what you're called 368 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,080 Speaker 1: to do, feeds into the process. I believe that God 369 00:24:21,320 --> 00:24:24,119 Speaker 1: serves up in our history. I can certainly see that 370 00:24:24,160 --> 00:24:27,520 Speaker 1: in the United States, a Washington for what we call 371 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:32,640 Speaker 1: a crucible. That's what in fourth turning language is the 372 00:24:32,680 --> 00:24:35,400 Speaker 1: cycle of every eighty years or so seventy years where 373 00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:38,600 Speaker 1: we hit a moment, a defining moment of national crises, 374 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:43,679 Speaker 1: and at that moment, the collective temperament and morality of 375 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:49,600 Speaker 1: the people serves up in desperation. A hero who kind 376 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,160 Speaker 1: of like gets the hail Mary ball thrown to them, 377 00:24:52,640 --> 00:24:55,680 Speaker 1: and Providence puts it in their hands and they, against 378 00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:59,720 Speaker 1: all the odds, have to score a touchdown. That's perhaps 379 00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:03,119 Speaker 1: a mixing of metaphors here, but it's what it is. 380 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:06,520 Speaker 1: I want you to catch this, that America's first great 381 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:12,240 Speaker 1: awakening served up with George Whitfield and Edwards and Mathis 382 00:25:12,040 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: and the various others, Thomas Cotton and various other known 383 00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:20,679 Speaker 1: and lesser famous circuit riders. They prepared the soil of 384 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:24,199 Speaker 1: America so that the intercession and the piety of the 385 00:25:24,240 --> 00:25:29,480 Speaker 1: country was sufficiently healthy, so that the prayers of the 386 00:25:29,560 --> 00:25:34,439 Speaker 1: saints could produce a new nation. And Washington was the 387 00:25:34,560 --> 00:25:39,360 Speaker 1: critical asset that we look at as the one who, 388 00:25:39,600 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 1: more than anyone else, enabled the United States to exist. 389 00:25:43,119 --> 00:25:47,440 Speaker 1: And I went to Valley Forge Military Academy. My dad 390 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,119 Speaker 1: is a military guy. In the Second World War, he 391 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:52,440 Speaker 1: felt in a military education. As a Southerner, he felt 392 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:54,680 Speaker 1: in a military education is what a young man needs, 393 00:25:54,720 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 1: get him away from well my mother and girls, or 394 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: two things he was in your model interferes were discipline. 395 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:06,240 Speaker 1: And so the Southern Virginians, which my dad was a Virginian, 396 00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:11,160 Speaker 1: they really have a belief in military as an aspiration, 397 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:14,639 Speaker 1: a place where characters formed, an opportunity allows you, on 398 00:26:14,680 --> 00:26:17,920 Speaker 1: your marriage to be able to rise. And I need 399 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,640 Speaker 1: to give you this little piece. At Valley Forge where 400 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:25,520 Speaker 1: I was, it was freezing cold during the winter, and 401 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:30,480 Speaker 1: Washington was tested. His soldiers were tested. In fact, as 402 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:32,960 Speaker 1: much as thirty to forty percent of his troops at 403 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:38,160 Speaker 1: any point were dying not from combat but from disease, 404 00:26:38,640 --> 00:26:44,560 Speaker 1: and common among that was the various plagues that like smallpox, 405 00:26:44,640 --> 00:26:49,960 Speaker 1: that would afflict the troops in the camps. Washington could 406 00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: have easily been taken out, but the hand of providence 407 00:26:53,880 --> 00:27:01,280 Speaker 1: catch this. His brother, his older brother, had contracted smallpox 408 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: and so tuberculosis. And so it's actually his half brother, Lawrence, 409 00:27:08,400 --> 00:27:11,160 Speaker 1: and so George, when he was young, accompanied his brother 410 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,119 Speaker 1: to take him to Barbados. Take you down to a 411 00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:17,760 Speaker 1: southern Caribbean climate, someplace where you could breathe and dry 412 00:27:17,800 --> 00:27:21,480 Speaker 1: out and maybe and maybe strengthen your lungs. And while 413 00:27:21,520 --> 00:27:28,600 Speaker 1: he was there in Barbados, Washington himself contracted smallpox. He 414 00:27:28,680 --> 00:27:33,879 Speaker 1: got it bad, but he survived. Why is that interesting, Well, 415 00:27:33,920 --> 00:27:36,320 Speaker 1: because during the Revolutionary War, when one third of his 416 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:40,440 Speaker 1: army died from smallpox, Washington was immune. He visited the troops, 417 00:27:40,800 --> 00:27:43,399 Speaker 1: he visited them while they were sick. He was among 418 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:46,240 Speaker 1: them and never caught it. You know why he got 419 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:47,879 Speaker 1: it when he was young trying to take care of 420 00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:51,639 Speaker 1: his brother. Now, the hand of providence is interesting. In 421 00:27:51,680 --> 00:27:53,960 Speaker 1: your life. You could see moments that look to you 422 00:27:54,080 --> 00:27:57,080 Speaker 1: like that's a terrible you know, you know, turn in 423 00:27:57,119 --> 00:27:59,480 Speaker 1: the road, that's a bad deck of cards. But then 424 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:01,920 Speaker 1: if you play the full deck out, you'll find out 425 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:05,440 Speaker 1: later on the benefit of what happened to you here 426 00:28:05,640 --> 00:28:13,440 Speaker 1: paid off there. That's where providence comes in. He also, 427 00:28:13,480 --> 00:28:16,159 Speaker 1: by the way, because of that, he ordered mass inoculations 428 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:19,240 Speaker 1: for all of his troops, because he believed that they 429 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:23,040 Speaker 1: needed that in in order to survive. Now, he had 430 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: a love that he lost. These are the interesting things 431 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 1: you don't know about these. I'm trying to give you 432 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: some information you don't normally hear. The love that he lost. 433 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:36,240 Speaker 1: He had a real crush on a girl he wanted 434 00:28:36,240 --> 00:28:40,239 Speaker 1: to marry, and the girl really liked him. But in 435 00:28:40,320 --> 00:28:43,680 Speaker 1: Virginia society, you kind of had to have a certain 436 00:28:43,800 --> 00:28:47,880 Speaker 1: level of social status in order to claim the attentions 437 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:52,480 Speaker 1: of someone's daughter at their level of social status. And 438 00:28:52,560 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: so Washington's best friend was a couple of levels above 439 00:28:56,640 --> 00:29:02,080 Speaker 1: him in prestige, aristocracy and finance and standing. And the 440 00:29:02,160 --> 00:29:05,600 Speaker 1: families got together and he walked off with Washington's girl. 441 00:29:06,840 --> 00:29:09,360 Speaker 1: You say, so, what you know, I'd stop and think 442 00:29:09,400 --> 00:29:13,560 Speaker 1: about that. I'm talking about the things that formed him 443 00:29:14,520 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: providentially into the person that he ended up being. Washington's 444 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,880 Speaker 1: fell in love with Sally Fairfax ended up marrying his 445 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:30,520 Speaker 1: best friend, George William Fairfax. She was elegant, witty, and 446 00:29:30,560 --> 00:29:35,360 Speaker 1: as I said, unattainable. But they had a great correspondence. 447 00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,280 Speaker 1: She loved talking to him, and it was kind of 448 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 1: like a special relationship, like a soul mate, and she 449 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:43,280 Speaker 1: could tell him things that she knew he'd understand other 450 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,080 Speaker 1: people couldn't get. In Washington knew this was an infatuation, 451 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,360 Speaker 1: this was an a fair in correspondence, and he cut 452 00:29:51,400 --> 00:29:55,920 Speaker 1: it off. He just knew it ain't going to end well. 453 00:29:56,760 --> 00:29:59,040 Speaker 1: But think about that in the day and age where 454 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:04,680 Speaker 1: there's so many, you know, scandals all around Washington. He 455 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:09,800 Speaker 1: has this characteristic of he wants to be a gentleman 456 00:30:10,480 --> 00:30:13,720 Speaker 1: and a great man, and he makes this his goal. 457 00:30:13,840 --> 00:30:21,040 Speaker 1: He really aspires to this. There's this emotional restraint that 458 00:30:21,040 --> 00:30:25,480 Speaker 1: would break off all correspondents. To master his emotions is 459 00:30:25,520 --> 00:30:29,040 Speaker 1: an act that mirrors his political restraint and his military 460 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:31,680 Speaker 1: restraint over and over. He could be a severe disciplinarian, 461 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:36,600 Speaker 1: but he was also he knew how to restrain himself 462 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 1: from over use of power because he had a remarkable 463 00:30:40,880 --> 00:30:50,920 Speaker 1: self control during his early life in the frontiers. This 464 00:30:51,000 --> 00:30:55,840 Speaker 1: guy really was like a man's man out in the wilderness, hunting, 465 00:30:56,240 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: living in the wild. And he worked as a surveyor 466 00:31:00,840 --> 00:31:03,080 Speaker 1: in Virginia. He was trained, and he went out west 467 00:31:03,640 --> 00:31:09,960 Speaker 1: and it was working basically to clear territory. And during 468 00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:12,840 Speaker 1: the French and Indian War, at the Battle of Monongahela, 469 00:31:14,160 --> 00:31:18,160 Speaker 1: Washington rode into heavy fire and two horses were shot 470 00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,640 Speaker 1: out from under him, and four bullets tore through his coat. 471 00:31:21,720 --> 00:31:24,560 Speaker 1: Yet he was untouched. And that was during the French 472 00:31:24,600 --> 00:31:30,600 Speaker 1: and Indian War. So he's working with the French obviously 473 00:31:30,640 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 1: at this point. But to have horses shot out from 474 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:37,440 Speaker 1: under you and to come back and see hold through 475 00:31:37,480 --> 00:31:42,000 Speaker 1: your coat gives you this sense that there's an over 476 00:31:42,800 --> 00:31:47,160 Speaker 1: seeing hand of providence on your life. I think Donald 477 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:50,480 Speaker 1: Trump has that same sense. He says he does. Why 478 00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:53,360 Speaker 1: he would move his head like that suddenly when a 479 00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:56,959 Speaker 1: bullet is about to shatter his gull and to have 480 00:31:57,000 --> 00:32:01,960 Speaker 1: it literally cut through his ear. That throb that he has, 481 00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:04,480 Speaker 1: he says, he comes back to them a lot that pain. 482 00:32:05,400 --> 00:32:09,600 Speaker 1: It's a reminder of how the hand of providence spared 483 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:14,520 Speaker 1: his life, not once but twice. And the same several 484 00:32:14,560 --> 00:32:20,760 Speaker 1: weeks Washington knew he was protected. Later, an Indian chief said, 485 00:32:20,800 --> 00:32:27,240 Speaker 1: it seemed like the Great Spirit was watching over him. 486 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:29,680 Speaker 1: The other part of his personal history that I want 487 00:32:29,680 --> 00:32:33,520 Speaker 1: to share with you is, and this is often overlooked, 488 00:32:34,880 --> 00:32:40,880 Speaker 1: it's the insult to his pride. He strove to become 489 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,640 Speaker 1: a great man. He had a book of Common Manners. 490 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:46,120 Speaker 1: I think that was what it was called. But it 491 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 1: was a book of one hundred things that he and 492 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:53,360 Speaker 1: his brother would read every night. Things that gentlemen do 493 00:32:53,400 --> 00:32:55,480 Speaker 1: you know the gentlemen, How they walk into a room, 494 00:32:55,520 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 1: how they talk, they when they show their teeth when 495 00:32:58,200 --> 00:33:00,440 Speaker 1: they don't, how they greet women. I want you to 496 00:33:00,480 --> 00:33:03,880 Speaker 1: catch this because as rugged as he was as a 497 00:33:03,920 --> 00:33:09,000 Speaker 1: frontiersman out there in the wild, he carried himself with 498 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:17,200 Speaker 1: a stately kind of aristocratic elegance. That and I'm going 499 00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:18,920 Speaker 1: to talk about the British stub in a second, I 500 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:21,200 Speaker 1: want to give you this. Washington was known as a 501 00:33:21,200 --> 00:33:25,720 Speaker 1: graceful and skillful dancer, not exactly the image you have 502 00:33:25,760 --> 00:33:31,240 Speaker 1: with George Washington admired at balls and social gatherings. Women 503 00:33:31,280 --> 00:33:34,040 Speaker 1: love to dance with him because he was a very skillful, 504 00:33:34,280 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 1: tall six foot two two and a half tall, angular, 505 00:33:38,680 --> 00:33:46,320 Speaker 1: muscular man, and perfect posture and a great dancer. Abigail 506 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:49,760 Speaker 1: Adams remarked this, I grabbed this quote for you. He 507 00:33:49,840 --> 00:33:52,720 Speaker 1: has a dignity and ease and politeness about it, and 508 00:33:52,800 --> 00:33:56,040 Speaker 1: that leaves nothing to be desired, meaning there's a dignity 509 00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:00,680 Speaker 1: and ease about him. He learned. He forged that personality 510 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:05,680 Speaker 1: not by being in refined company, but by making himself refined. 511 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:10,399 Speaker 1: Think about that. He made it a goal. It helped 512 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:13,480 Speaker 1: them build alliances, help them embody leadership. Now I got 513 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:16,040 Speaker 1: one minute and twenty three seconds to tell you the 514 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:19,319 Speaker 1: part that I really want to stress right now. He 515 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,799 Speaker 1: wanted to be a British officer. Remember these were British colonies. 516 00:34:23,680 --> 00:34:28,680 Speaker 1: But during the French and Indian War, after his courageous behavior, 517 00:34:28,760 --> 00:34:31,280 Speaker 1: he sought a commission in the British Army. He said, listen, 518 00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:36,400 Speaker 1: I've done exploits out here, and I'm experienced, and I'm qualified, 519 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:39,239 Speaker 1: and I've worked on myself and I could do this job. 520 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:43,799 Speaker 1: But despite his service and his near miraculous survival at Monongahela, 521 00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:48,200 Speaker 1: he was repeatedly denied a royal commission. British officials viewed 522 00:34:48,680 --> 00:34:52,719 Speaker 1: colonial officers as inferiors and refused a grant an equal status. 523 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:57,840 Speaker 1: Washington never forgot the insult. His journals reflect the sting 524 00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:02,200 Speaker 1: And don't you know, oh, that was in his crawl 525 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,840 Speaker 1: when he dressed up in a military uniform during the 526 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:07,200 Speaker 1: First Continental Congress, when he went down there and sat 527 00:35:07,239 --> 00:35:10,560 Speaker 1: among them, and he basically advertised and said, I've got 528 00:35:10,560 --> 00:35:13,600 Speaker 1: military experience. I'm the only guy here actually is right now, Commission, 529 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:19,520 Speaker 1: and if you need a leader, I'll help. In other words, 530 00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 1: he wanted to prove to the arrogant British that rejected 531 00:35:24,160 --> 00:35:29,600 Speaker 1: him that he was capable of being an officer. Well, 532 00:35:29,600 --> 00:35:42,760 Speaker 1: they found out, all right, we'll be back in a moment, said, 533 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:46,759 Speaker 1: Washington is like a prince among generals, because he took 534 00:35:47,640 --> 00:35:58,560 Speaker 1: rag tag militia, volunteers, farmers, bookmakers, blacksmiths and forged them, 535 00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:02,400 Speaker 1: with the help of the French, into a and the 536 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:06,520 Speaker 1: Germans into a von Struben I think it was, and 537 00:36:06,600 --> 00:36:12,720 Speaker 1: the Maki that Marquis de Lafayette. They helped him form 538 00:36:12,800 --> 00:36:15,640 Speaker 1: that army. But discipline is the soul of an army, 539 00:36:15,840 --> 00:36:19,400 Speaker 1: because discipline was the soul of him. If it is 540 00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:21,520 Speaker 1: better to be alone, it's better to be alone than 541 00:36:21,520 --> 00:36:25,200 Speaker 1: in bad company. He wasn't the guy that actually was 542 00:36:25,239 --> 00:36:27,200 Speaker 1: going out of his way to hang out with people. 543 00:36:27,280 --> 00:36:30,120 Speaker 1: As a matter of fact, one of his axioms for life, 544 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:33,200 Speaker 1: I have it in here somewhere. I'm afraid. I'm afraid 545 00:36:33,239 --> 00:36:38,160 Speaker 1: if I bring it up. Let's see, here we go. 546 00:36:38,200 --> 00:36:40,080 Speaker 1: I'm gonna give it to you. Ready, I found it. 547 00:36:40,760 --> 00:36:47,160 Speaker 1: Watch this one. Be courteous to all, but intimate with few. 548 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:50,960 Speaker 1: This is his philosophy. And let those few be well 549 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 1: tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is 550 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:58,600 Speaker 1: a plant of slow growth that must undergo and withstand 551 00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:02,480 Speaker 1: the shocks of adversity. This isn't the kind of guy 552 00:37:02,520 --> 00:37:06,680 Speaker 1: you chum up to right and your best buds after 553 00:37:06,719 --> 00:37:09,640 Speaker 1: a party. Do you know who was really close to 554 00:37:09,719 --> 00:37:13,360 Speaker 1: him though? Is Hamilton? Now Hamilton didn't come from any 555 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:17,680 Speaker 1: great aristocratic background. I think he was even from Barbados himself. 556 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:20,480 Speaker 1: But he was brilliant, he was smart, and it was 557 00:37:20,520 --> 00:37:22,880 Speaker 1: a good aide de camp. He was a good secretary 558 00:37:23,000 --> 00:37:27,040 Speaker 1: for Washington. Washington learned to trust him. He passed the 559 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:34,360 Speaker 1: test well tried, and he went on to being invited 560 00:37:34,360 --> 00:37:38,480 Speaker 1: by Washington to be an important part of his cabinet. 561 00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:41,960 Speaker 1: I'm reminded also of another situation, which I don't have 562 00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:44,600 Speaker 1: a quote here for, but I'll tell it to you. 563 00:37:45,239 --> 00:37:48,719 Speaker 1: Washington had enemies. I think it was General Gates. I'm mistaken. Ah, 564 00:37:49,360 --> 00:37:52,239 Speaker 1: we'll edit it out. But as I recall, it was 565 00:37:52,280 --> 00:37:56,000 Speaker 1: a General Gates who was really jealous of Washington's commission. 566 00:37:56,080 --> 00:37:59,000 Speaker 1: And Washington wasn't faring very well. He wasn't winning battles 567 00:37:59,040 --> 00:38:01,400 Speaker 1: by the way he was. His great success was in 568 00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:06,319 Speaker 1: surviving all the way up to that innovation in the 569 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:11,240 Speaker 1: freezing cold winter at Valley Forge on Christmas Eve, under 570 00:38:11,280 --> 00:38:13,920 Speaker 1: snow and ice, when he decided, let's go across the 571 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:16,920 Speaker 1: ice here river an attack I'm at midnight, and so 572 00:38:17,760 --> 00:38:22,360 Speaker 1: that they succeeded in surprising the Hessians in Trenton, New Jersey, 573 00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:25,040 Speaker 1: and that was the psychological turning point of the war. 574 00:38:26,160 --> 00:38:28,160 Speaker 1: But man, he wasn't doing well. So there was a 575 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:31,160 Speaker 1: lot of opportunities and people writing letters to Congress saying, well, 576 00:38:31,200 --> 00:38:33,080 Speaker 1: to get rid of this guy. We're losing, we can't 577 00:38:33,120 --> 00:38:35,440 Speaker 1: afford a morales very low, and Washington to deal with 578 00:38:35,480 --> 00:38:40,359 Speaker 1: this judge like Lincoln had to deal with it. But 579 00:38:40,520 --> 00:38:44,680 Speaker 1: Washington got one of those letters that was a backstabbing 580 00:38:44,760 --> 00:38:50,280 Speaker 1: letter sent to Congress, and by accident, the courier delivered 581 00:38:50,320 --> 00:38:58,680 Speaker 1: to Washington. Washington read the General critiquing him talking about him. Realized, 582 00:38:58,800 --> 00:39:01,120 Speaker 1: but it wasn't meant for him. It was meant for 583 00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:04,440 Speaker 1: someone else, folded it back up and wrote a note 584 00:39:04,920 --> 00:39:08,359 Speaker 1: to the General. My apologies. It appears at this letter 585 00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:10,960 Speaker 1: arrived at my desk by accident. It's been open, but 586 00:39:11,520 --> 00:39:14,160 Speaker 1: I'm sending it on. I'm sending it back to you 587 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:20,040 Speaker 1: that it might go to its appropriate destination. In other words, 588 00:39:21,600 --> 00:39:23,480 Speaker 1: I didn't mean to read your mail. It arrived at 589 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:27,000 Speaker 1: my desk because sometimes that happens. Providence does that, but 590 00:39:27,040 --> 00:39:29,360 Speaker 1: it reveals something about it. It wasn't like he didn't 591 00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:32,680 Speaker 1: tear it up and you know, fired a guy, or 592 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:38,680 Speaker 1: blast him or demote him. Something about this guy. Let 593 00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:41,360 Speaker 1: us raise the standard to which the wise and honest 594 00:39:41,400 --> 00:39:43,160 Speaker 1: can repair the rest of the world that is in 595 00:39:43,200 --> 00:39:47,279 Speaker 1: the hands of God. The genius of Washington as a 596 00:39:47,400 --> 00:39:54,200 Speaker 1: leader was that he was able to handle the power 597 00:39:54,239 --> 00:40:00,920 Speaker 1: that was given to him without connecting himself helfishly to 598 00:40:01,000 --> 00:40:04,920 Speaker 1: the power that was given him, similar to Lincoln in 599 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:10,000 Speaker 1: this idea of actualized self, meaning, he was able to 600 00:40:10,000 --> 00:40:13,600 Speaker 1: subordinate his own ego and his own needs, including his 601 00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:19,440 Speaker 1: financial needs. I probably should cover that. Lincoln Churchill, Washington. 602 00:40:19,480 --> 00:40:22,759 Speaker 1: It's amazing how many of these guys suffered, in a 603 00:40:22,840 --> 00:40:27,200 Speaker 1: sense from the stress of financial pressure. It's like the 604 00:40:27,239 --> 00:40:30,640 Speaker 1: devil would try to hit them at every angle, but 605 00:40:31,120 --> 00:40:35,840 Speaker 1: they never went down. He was able to deal with 606 00:40:35,880 --> 00:40:40,200 Speaker 1: all the factions around him that were competing, and he 607 00:40:40,280 --> 00:40:45,160 Speaker 1: stayed loyal to his mission and fare with other people. 608 00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:49,239 Speaker 1: Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement 609 00:40:49,280 --> 00:40:51,959 Speaker 1: of any In other words, he hear rumors all the time. 610 00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:54,200 Speaker 1: He hear talk all the time in the tavern. He'd hear, 611 00:40:54,440 --> 00:40:56,440 Speaker 1: but he learned that a lot of times it's like 612 00:40:56,560 --> 00:41:01,920 Speaker 1: tattletale boasting, distortion, and be be your own judge based 613 00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:05,560 Speaker 1: on what people actually do, not what you hear. I 614 00:41:05,600 --> 00:41:08,359 Speaker 1: want to talk about two moments that reveal the extraordinary 615 00:41:08,400 --> 00:41:10,160 Speaker 1: character Washingtons. I don't want this just to be like 616 00:41:10,160 --> 00:41:12,799 Speaker 1: a little trivia session. I want you to think about this. 617 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:18,600 Speaker 1: There are two moments that I believe really reveal something 618 00:41:19,040 --> 00:41:25,799 Speaker 1: about the man, and it's the Newburgh Conspiracy seventeen eighty three. 619 00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:27,799 Speaker 1: The men who had fought in the war had gone 620 00:41:27,840 --> 00:41:31,239 Speaker 1: four or five years without being paid. That's tough when 621 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:33,440 Speaker 1: you've given up everything you gotten. You're going your wife 622 00:41:33,480 --> 00:41:36,760 Speaker 1: and kids and you know, and there's no mule because 623 00:41:36,800 --> 00:41:40,280 Speaker 1: they had a seller or something and they were angry. 624 00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:43,359 Speaker 1: They gave everything. And now the country's starting to get 625 00:41:43,360 --> 00:41:47,160 Speaker 1: on and so the soldiers. We were still a very 626 00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:49,440 Speaker 1: young government at that time. There was no real sense 627 00:41:49,600 --> 00:41:53,880 Speaker 1: of office. The president wasn't in position. The troops were. 628 00:41:55,520 --> 00:41:59,160 Speaker 1: Washington return He didn't want to go rule over America. 629 00:41:59,760 --> 00:42:02,839 Speaker 1: He turned his sword in after he had won the 630 00:42:03,680 --> 00:42:06,080 Speaker 1: won the Battle of York Town. He returned to go 631 00:42:06,120 --> 00:42:10,080 Speaker 1: take after his estate, go back to his wife, has 632 00:42:10,520 --> 00:42:13,839 Speaker 1: adopted children because it was her children, and you know, 633 00:42:14,000 --> 00:42:16,000 Speaker 1: the management of his affairs to try to get his 634 00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:19,640 Speaker 1: financial house back in order. But while he's doing that, 635 00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:24,160 Speaker 1: the military is ready to revolt. They're going to use 636 00:42:24,239 --> 00:42:28,680 Speaker 1: their organization and there are thousands of them with weapons 637 00:42:29,320 --> 00:42:34,080 Speaker 1: and they're steely, ready strong. They'd been they'd been hardened 638 00:42:34,080 --> 00:42:36,920 Speaker 1: by combat, and they will take over the government basically 639 00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:41,320 Speaker 1: create a military hunta a dictatorship like a South South 640 00:42:41,360 --> 00:42:47,440 Speaker 1: American hunter. Well, they Washington got informed about their gathering 641 00:42:47,480 --> 00:42:50,760 Speaker 1: and their disposition because of their unpaid wages, and pensions 642 00:42:50,800 --> 00:42:54,279 Speaker 1: and were promised by Congress but not delivered. We've had 643 00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:59,840 Speaker 1: those problems a long time. Washington called the meeting at Newburgh, 644 00:42:59,840 --> 00:43:04,000 Speaker 1: New York to address their frustrations, because frankly, they wanted 645 00:43:04,080 --> 00:43:06,080 Speaker 1: him at the head of the army. You go in, 646 00:43:06,200 --> 00:43:08,640 Speaker 1: you'd be the king, and you take over and take 647 00:43:08,680 --> 00:43:11,160 Speaker 1: care of us. We're the ones that say this country anyway, 648 00:43:11,239 --> 00:43:14,880 Speaker 1: you and us, well, the officers were prepared to rebel 649 00:43:14,920 --> 00:43:19,640 Speaker 1: against the civilian government. Washington entered at a moment when 650 00:43:19,680 --> 00:43:23,279 Speaker 1: he was unannounced, and he went up and took and 651 00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:26,360 Speaker 1: addressed them, and they were still hardened and arms folded. 652 00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:30,320 Speaker 1: That he knew he wasn't breaking through, and so he 653 00:43:30,800 --> 00:43:33,480 Speaker 1: reached into his pocket to pull out a letter that 654 00:43:33,600 --> 00:43:36,719 Speaker 1: was sent to him by one of the soldiers. He 655 00:43:36,800 --> 00:43:41,360 Speaker 1: wanted to read it to them, and he looked a 656 00:43:41,400 --> 00:43:44,759 Speaker 1: little bit confused because he tried to focus, and he 657 00:43:44,800 --> 00:43:48,799 Speaker 1: looked up embarrassed, and he realized he can't read. He 658 00:43:48,840 --> 00:43:52,160 Speaker 1: can't read in that light. So he said, excuse me, 659 00:43:53,120 --> 00:43:55,279 Speaker 1: And the pride of the man, they all knew him 660 00:43:55,280 --> 00:43:58,279 Speaker 1: to be a proud soldier. But he reached into his 661 00:43:58,320 --> 00:44:01,040 Speaker 1: pocket and brought out a spectacle and they never saw 662 00:44:01,120 --> 00:44:04,360 Speaker 1: him in glasses like Ben Franklin spectacles. He put him on. 663 00:44:04,520 --> 00:44:09,200 Speaker 1: They're made for him. And then he proceeded with all 664 00:44:09,280 --> 00:44:15,960 Speaker 1: sincerity and an element of intelligent drama. He said, forgive me, gentlemen, 665 00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:21,040 Speaker 1: but it appears that I've not only grown gray in 666 00:44:21,080 --> 00:44:26,799 Speaker 1: your service, but now I find myself growing blind. And 667 00:44:26,840 --> 00:44:31,000 Speaker 1: then he stumbled over, trying to read the letter out loud. Well, 668 00:44:31,040 --> 00:44:33,959 Speaker 1: many in the room, it says, wept when they saw 669 00:44:34,000 --> 00:44:36,719 Speaker 1: the proud man that they had always carried himself with 670 00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:41,279 Speaker 1: such an air of invincible military dignity, suddenly looking like 671 00:44:41,320 --> 00:44:44,359 Speaker 1: an old man trying to read with a light in 672 00:44:44,400 --> 00:44:46,799 Speaker 1: front of them. And they saw his age, and it 673 00:44:46,920 --> 00:44:51,120 Speaker 1: just broke him up. That moment broke the rebellion. I 674 00:44:51,239 --> 00:44:55,320 Speaker 1: got handed Providence is so interesting. Seventeen eighty three shocked 675 00:44:55,360 --> 00:44:58,120 Speaker 1: the world by surrendering his commission after he won back 676 00:44:58,160 --> 00:45:02,120 Speaker 1: to Congress in seventeen ninety seven after two terms as president. 677 00:45:02,680 --> 00:45:05,480 Speaker 1: Everybody held their breath because he could have gone like Roosevelt, 678 00:45:05,480 --> 00:45:08,560 Speaker 1: three terms, how about four terms? Nobody's dying, and you 679 00:45:08,600 --> 00:45:12,200 Speaker 1: know it's next to kin becomes president like a royal 680 00:45:12,320 --> 00:45:17,240 Speaker 1: bourbon dynasty. King George the third reportedly asked what Washington 681 00:45:17,239 --> 00:45:20,200 Speaker 1: would do after the war. When told that he returned 682 00:45:20,200 --> 00:45:22,879 Speaker 1: to his farming, the king said, if he does that, 683 00:45:22,960 --> 00:45:26,000 Speaker 1: he's the greatest man in the world. I'll tell you that. 684 00:45:26,000 --> 00:45:30,000 Speaker 1: That's what he did. He said, I'm done, guys, second term. 685 00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:33,600 Speaker 1: That's it. I did all. I gave you my last 686 00:45:33,640 --> 00:45:38,560 Speaker 1: downs of strength. I'm going home. And he did. Folks, 687 00:45:38,560 --> 00:45:42,240 Speaker 1: I'm telling you, this kind of greatness is still in 688 00:45:42,480 --> 00:45:48,319 Speaker 1: people and still in America. And Washington practiced that kind 689 00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:51,120 Speaker 1: of And you know, I have a whole teaching I 690 00:45:51,160 --> 00:45:58,200 Speaker 1: could do on his, uh you know, his show not 691 00:45:58,320 --> 00:46:01,440 Speaker 1: yourself glad of the misfortunate enough, even though he were 692 00:46:01,440 --> 00:46:04,840 Speaker 1: your enemy. He was, I could talk about his faith. 693 00:46:05,280 --> 00:46:10,839 Speaker 1: It was a Quaker minister who ran into him at 694 00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:14,120 Speaker 1: Valley Forge, a pacifist. It wasn't involved with the war, 695 00:46:14,719 --> 00:46:18,920 Speaker 1: but he gave Washington his lodge so that Washington could 696 00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:21,120 Speaker 1: stay there with his officers. And he went out into 697 00:46:21,120 --> 00:46:23,960 Speaker 1: the woods in his own land, and he noticed a 698 00:46:24,400 --> 00:46:26,040 Speaker 1: horse there, and he was a little concerned if it 699 00:46:26,080 --> 00:46:27,840 Speaker 1: was a British spy. And he kind of stuck up 700 00:46:27,880 --> 00:46:30,879 Speaker 1: and looked, and it was Washington in the snow on 701 00:46:30,920 --> 00:46:36,160 Speaker 1: his knees praying. Now, he never espoused to be an evangelical, 702 00:46:36,280 --> 00:46:40,400 Speaker 1: we know that. But his commitment to the providence, to 703 00:46:40,480 --> 00:46:43,680 Speaker 1: the idea of God, to the necessity of faith religion 704 00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:46,359 Speaker 1: was so formed on the inside of him that in 705 00:46:46,400 --> 00:46:50,320 Speaker 1: his own solitude, like Lincoln, you don't see these guys 706 00:46:50,360 --> 00:46:54,040 Speaker 1: doing it in public, but in private he had a 707 00:46:54,080 --> 00:46:58,160 Speaker 1: devotion and a sense of destiny and accountability, and a 708 00:46:58,239 --> 00:47:02,640 Speaker 1: kind of an internals that God put in him that 709 00:47:02,960 --> 00:47:06,600 Speaker 1: I think helped to forge religious liberty as one of 710 00:47:06,640 --> 00:47:12,720 Speaker 1: the values. He championed for all faiths. Told the Jewish people, 711 00:47:13,160 --> 00:47:16,080 Speaker 1: you guys are safe here in America. You're the seat 712 00:47:16,080 --> 00:47:19,359 Speaker 1: of Abraham if you're good citizens. To the Catholics, he said, 713 00:47:19,360 --> 00:47:21,480 Speaker 1: don't worry about the Protestants. They're not going to come 714 00:47:21,480 --> 00:47:24,520 Speaker 1: after you. To the Protestant he said, you're safe. He 715 00:47:24,719 --> 00:47:28,480 Speaker 1: understood that America's religious freedoms were a part of what 716 00:47:28,719 --> 00:47:32,040 Speaker 1: he had to establish for society to become a healthy 717 00:47:33,200 --> 00:47:38,919 Speaker 1: Christian civilization. All right, that's my Washington component. I hope 718 00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:49,880 Speaker 1: you enjoyed it. We'll see you again in the next episode.