683. Washington: Hero of the Revolution (Part 1)

Where this was said

Myths, Religion, and the Kneeling-in-the-Snow Story

At 42:10 · chapter starts 40:20

Reagan's opening quotation — 'a general falls to his knees in the hard snow of Valley Forge, tears glistening in his eyes' — now gets the full historical treatment. Dominic argues that Washington's entire public identity rested on an insistence on personal dignity and glacial composure; the idea that he would kneel in the snow, especially where his men could see him, is entirely at odds with everything we know about him. The story was invented in 1800, after Washington's death, by — of course — Parson Weems. Historians have also debated Washington's actual religious views: he attended church irregularly, stayed standing when others knelt to pray, never took communion, rarely mentioned Jesus, and tended to speak instead of 'providence' or 'the author of our being.' The most likely interpretation is that as a member of the Virginia gentry, his Anglicanism was austere and restrained — puritanical in practice if not in label.