Happy Birthday George Washington

Powerline has a good bit on remembering the American Cincinnatus. (Hat tip Instapundit)

In his wonderful book on Washington, Richard Brookhiser notes: "The esteem in which Washinton was held affected his fellow delegates first of all...Washington did not wield the power he possessed by speaking. Apart from his lecture on secrecy, Washington did not address the Convention between the first day and the last."

We often unnecessarily elevate the Founding Fathers to mythic demi-god status, but if ever there was one man truly deserving of such hagiography, it was Washington. He could have been King, but chose to be a citizen. No one so very much has embodied American values since, and we could all do a little more to emulate his greatness in our own era.