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FOUNDING FATHER HAD MANY 'CHILDREN'

June 15, 2008 12:15 am

VIENNA--

When our eventual first president married the widow Martha Custis, he became a father to her children. However, he never sired a child, the likely result of smallpox sterility. During the Revolutionary War, he took on a fatherly role, particularly with three of his generals. Whether 1778 or 2008, George Washington's relationship with his "sons" reveals some of fatherhood's best qualities.

Fathers know how to turn their children's skills into action. Boston was in lockdown in 1775, and Washington's army surrounded the British-occupied town by land, but not by sea. Boston bookstore owner Henry Knox had read volumes on warfare. He offered to travel 200 miles during winter to New York's Fort Ticonderoga to acquire weapons. Washington did what fathers do: He gave Knox a chance.

Knox's knack for inventory proved an asset. He transported 60 tons of artillery onto "42 exceedingly strong sleds" and "acquired 80 yoke of oxen to drag them." Knox sent the inventory list ahead to Washington. The plan worked. Washington mounted the cannons on the highest point overlooking Boston harbor to control the sea. The redcoats retreated. Washington won.

Fathers care about their children's character. Of all his "boys," Washington saw more of himself in the biological son of a Rhode Island iron-foundry owner. Nathanael Greene may have been a mold-maker by trade, but he proved to be a mold-breaker in spirit. He rejected his father's disdain for formal schooling and sought out a tutor. Although he came from a pacifist Quaker family, Greene readily embraced a musket. Perhaps because of his differences with his own father, Greene reached out to Washington with a son-like yearning for respect. After Washington's success in Boston, Greene asked Washington for a promotion.

"I have ever found myself exceeding happy under your Excellency's command. I wish my ability to deserve [a promotion] was equal to my inclination to merit. How far I have succeeded in my endeavors, I submit to your Excellency's better judgment," Greene wrote humbly.

Washington gave him the promotion, along with opportunities to prove his moral fiber. He shared Greene's grief over thousands who died or were captured at Fort Washington, a place Greene was convinced they could hold. As the war progressed, Washington realized Greene's character was much like his own, a practical boldness molded by modesty and good manners. He finally convinced the Continental Congress to promote Greene to commander of the southern forces in 1780. Washington trusted Greene so much that he "willed" Greene as the one to take over as commander-in-chief if Washington died. Had Greene not died of heatstroke a few years after the Revolution, President Washington might have named Greene as Secretary of War. The nod went to Knox instead.

Fathers are tender protectors. Washington was no exception. The unabashed zeal of the Marquis de Lafayette caught Washington's eye the moment he saw the 19-year-old at a dinner party in July 1777. This French musketeer had joined the Continental Army as an honorary general, a volunteer who had come to "learn, not teach." When Washington heard that Lafayette had sneaked out of France against the king's personal orders and paid his own way to join America's fight, his protective instincts kicked in. He immediately invited the young man to stay in his family's quarters.

On Sept. 11, 1777, Lafayette was wounded in battle. Washington told the doctors to take good care of him because he "loved him like a son." The son later protected the father. Lafayette warned Washington of another general's plan to take over as commander-in-chief. Washington put the kibosh on the cabal.

At war's end, Lafayette gave Washington his honest opinion. He knew "Dad" longed to settle the score with the British in New York, the place where Washington had suffered a terrible defeat. Lafayette and others advised Washington to try to seal the deal at a different York--Virginia's Yorktown. The father listened. The resulting victory was the Revolution's last major battle.

Washington may not have been a biological father, but his ability to listen and develop his sons' abilities and character while keeping a protective eye on them is the mark of true fatherhood and is a salute to fathers everywhere from the father of our nation.

Happy Father's Day.