Do you want your son to be an O.G. like our first President, George Washington? How can a father raise their son to be a leader? And how can a father’s life impact their son’s opportunities

Welcome to the Legacy father podcast where we talk about the fathers of innovative, influential, and historical figures. I'm your host Brandon and today we're going to talk about the original presidente George Washington.

By the end of  this episode you'll have three tips on how to raise your son as a leader. We’ll look at George Washington’s character traits and his accomplishments, what his father was like and how we can apply our learnings to our fathering today.

Pretty much everyone knows who George Washington is. Most know about his accomplishments as the General and leader of the Continental army, his role in Congress, and that was our Nation's first and probably the most humble president. So for you history nerds here's some facts about ol G.

He was born on February 22nd 1732 at his family's Plantation in Westmoreland County in the colony of Virginia. his father Augustine Washington and his mother Mary Ball Washington had six children in total. Augustine died when George was only 11 years old and George had to help manage the family plantation after his father’s passing.  he completed finishing school and Continue growing the Family Plantation in his teen years.

In 1752,  at just the age of 20 years old, Washington was Was made commander of the Westmoreland militia. he served during the French and Indian War and was eventually placed in charge of the entire Virginia militia. 7 years later in 1759 he resigned his post and return back to his home in Mount Vernon where he then served in the House of Burgesses until 1774. Going back a little bit. he married his first and only wife, a wealthy Widow named Martha Custis in 1759. she had two children and Washington adopted them as his own, however the two never had any children of Their Own.

Washington first became president in 1789 and established the original Supreme court. after that he signed various acts into law with things like the Naturalization act, Copyright Act and the militia act. he also contributed to three different treaties and five different states joined the union during his presidency.

That's just a very brief overview of his history and life’s accomplishments. Now let's quickly look at George Washington's leadership style and personality. he was known for his great character. he wasn't the most educated guy around but he had charm, energy, commitment, experience and courage all achieved through the fires of running the plantation and his early years as commander of the militia.

He was had great vision which can be seen by his acts in creating a foundation for the country. he had integrity and a lot of people trusted him  and he was known for being able to persuade soldiers to extend their terms to help the cause. he had great humility and was very good at politics. the order for arching theme about him is trust. people believe in him and trusted him which is why he was able to lead as he did.

Moving on to a little bit about George's father, Augustine Washington. Augustine was Born in 1694 to his mother Mildred and his father, Captain Lawrence Washington. his father was a militia captain and also member of the Virginia House of Burgesses. Augustine was only 4 years old when his father died and his mother remarried and moved back to England. Augustine’s older cousin John Washington fought to have himself named as the children's guardian, won and then moved them all back to Virginia. Augustine came of age and into his inheritance in 1715. He married Jane Butler who was also an orphan and she had inherited 640 acres from her father. Augustine had two children with Jane, two of which live to adulthood. however she passed away and Augustine remarried to Mary Paul in 1731. they had five children who lived to adulthood George being one of them. 

 Augustine owned 1,000 acres in Westmoreland County along with slaves. he was very set on establishing himself as a businessman in the area and he also ran an iron works on his property and sold some of the iron to both England and the locals.

Augustine was very active in the Anglican Church and was a  continental army militia man.  he also took an oath as justice of the peace and served as County sheriff in Westmoreland County.

As mentioned earlier Augustine died in 1743 when George was only 11. Mary Ball managed the property with George after that.  so that's all we really hear about Augustine. we don't really hear about their relationship or any of the personality traits about Augustine.

But we do know some things about George That might inform us about who his father was. George didn't really have access to upscale education. he did go to Primary School at  a school ran by the local Reverend James Murray at St George's parish. at the time most young boys were introduced to a book called the rules of civility. it was a Gentleman's Guide to formal etiquette and morality.

Judging by George's characteristics we described above, his morality, his integrity, it's likely that  George held the Rules of Civility near and dear to his heart and used it as a supplement to not having a father.

How can we apply some of this to our lives here in 2023?

1. Your level in life is the absolute highest your son (or daughter) has, as a foundation
1. We can see from the history books that Augustine was very wealthy, he was a businessman in the iron industry and he was deeply involved in the community as a militia man and the county sheriff.
2.  he also had the experience of raising seven children and we can probably assume that George learned a lot from his older siblings
3. So you, as a father, your level in life is the absolute highest your son (or daughter) has as a foundation. The lower you are in value, emotional intelligence, finances, life, the more your children have to work to become high value. Or said another way, the lower their starting point, the wider the gap Your children have to Traverse to achieve their potential. The less emotionally mature you are, the more your daughter has to work to become emotionally mature. The less financially fit you are the more your son has to work to become wealthy.
2. Boys need a foundation and a moral code
1. George likely had a lot of different father figures and in life ranging from his own father until 11 to his older siblings or even some of the older slaves on the plantation
2.  it can also be assumed that he probably looked up to his teacher Reverend James Murray and any of the other men who might have been at the parish
3. By leaning on the men in his life and using the Rules of Civility and the bible, George was fortunate to establish a foundational set of morals and principles that helped guide him through his life and his endeavors
3. Fathers need to treat each day with their family and children as precious
1.  250 years ago we did not have modern medicine. a lot of people only lived into their late 40s 50s and 60s. as we can see from Georgia's story his  grandfather passed away when Augustine was 4 years old and his father passed away when George was only 11
2.  so as modern-day men we need to treat each day, each season with gratitude and intention. we never know what's around the corner and what kind of foundation and Legacy we’ll leave with our kids if our lives end unexpectedly

Homework

Here is your assignment for this week: journal for 5 minutes about your current level in life and how your kids would be if you suddenly died?  Reflect on your journaling and then ask yourself if you like the answers to those questions.  if not make some changes for your legacy.

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