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George Washington


Honored 216 Years Later The general belatedly gets his own presidential library.


BY DAVID A. PATTEN W


hen president george Washington left the na- tion’s capital in March 1797 and returned to his


beloved Mount


Vernon, he had one last mis- sion to accomplish. Already in his life, against all odds, the towering general known for a steely determi- nation and commanding de- meanor had led the Continental Army to an improbable victory over the world’s leading power. He then nurtured the bold American experiment in democracy through its infancy, reluctantly agreeing to serve two terms as its president.


But perhaps his greatest gift to the fl edgling democ-


racy was his willingness to hand over the reins of pow- er and return to his estate across the Potomac. There would be no monarchy established in America. But as the most famous man in America returned


home to his stately mansion, with its regal two-story white columns facing the Potomac, he knew there was one last thing he must do for his legacy to be complete. And he shared this aspiration with a friend. “I have not houses to build, except one,” Washing-


ton wrote, “which I must erect for the accommodation and security of my military, civil, and private papers, which are voluminous and may be interesting.” Democracy’s indispensable man needed an archive


to house the documents gathered over his life and ca- reer. Such papers, he stated in characteristically mod- est fashion, “may be interesting.”


60 NEWSMAX | MAY 2013


But tragically, before Gen. Wash- ington could build this fi nal edi- fi ce, a sudden illness claimed his life. His dream of building a library to archive his historical papers was forgotten, as the new nation he had so devot- edly served took its providen- tial place on history’s stage. Today,


most Americans


assume without question the nation’s fi rst president, whose comportment in many ways defi ned what it means to lead America, must have a library of his own somewhere at Mount Ver-


non. This September, thanks to philan- thropists and the Mount Vernon Ladies’ As-


sociation that owns and maintains Washington’s colonial-era manse at Mount Vernon, Washington’s long-deferred dream will come true. After more than 200 years, Gen. Washington is about to get a library for his papers. And what a library it will be — a 45,000-square-foot,


state-of-the-art center that will be the world’s foremost mecca for gathering and storing knowledge about the nation’s fi rst president. It will be located on 15 acres, just a brief walk from the main estate that currently attracts over 1 million visitors each year. The campus will include a sprawling 6,000-square-


foot residence, the DeVos House, where up to eight visiting scholars will be housed in residence during their research. The priceless artifacts to be on display include George Washington’s handwritten diary; a 1775 letter


FRAME/ISTOCKPHOTO / WASHINGTON, RENDERING/COURTESY OF THE MOUNT VERNON LADIES’ ASSOCIATION


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