Happy Birthday George Washington!

The first President after the ratification of the Constitution was George Washington who was born on this date in 1732.  That would make him 282 years old.  Happy B-Day to the original GW!!!

Some may argue that Peyton Randolph was the first President as he was the first President of the Continental Congress.  The President of the Continental Congress when the Declaration of Independence was signed was John Hancock.  John Hanson of Maryland was President of the Continental Congress from 1781 until 1782.  No Marylander has been President of the United States.  The closest to get to this position was the disgraced Spiro Agnew in the 1970's when it was cool to be a corrupt politician (Marvin Mandell, Dale Anderson, Daniel Brewster, Thomas F. Johnson) and more recently Kumar Barve, Sheila Dixon, Jack Johnson, and Leslie Johnson.

Mr. Washington, having the capital named after him, in addition to a state, and many counties, including Washington County, Maryland, also has many monuments named in his honor.  The most famous being the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.  (duh!)

Marine One passing the Washington Monument in Washington, D.C.  Can you believe I caught this moment?  Was President Obama in this chopper?  I don't know.

Congress honors George Washington by draining the reflecting pool whenever they have budget battles.  Hence not a very good reflection of the monument. This picture was taken from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Here is the original Washington Monument, which is located in Baltimore.  It is currently closed for repairs after years of neglect by the Baltimore City Council who refused to pay for repairs.  Eventually the structure became unsafe and they closed it.  That's what Baltimore thinks of George Washington during the O'Malley Administration.

Baltimore's Washington Monument

Next to Monticello, probably the most iconic Presidential House in the United States.

Mount Vernon in Virginia