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1. Saw GW trending and...of course...of course this is what Trump thinks of him. This reminds me of a story about Washington that makes for a nice contrast with our current President...
2. In the winter of 1784-5 the VA assembly offered GW a gift of 150 shares in a Potomac canal company as a "thank you" for his public service. (He was not President yet, remember.) GW had long supported the canal project and stood to make good money from it....
3. But he wrung his hands obsessively over whether accepting the gift would be appropriate. He worried that accepting these shares would "deprive me of the principal thing which is laudable in my conduct."
4. GW got over those scruples and became the head of the canal company. I mean, he was a guy trying to make a buck after all. But at least he agonized in letters to his friends about whether doing such was the right thing to do. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patowmack…
5. Here's how the Mt. Vernon website describes GW's involvement with the company. mountvernon.org/library/digita…
6. Washington supported the canal project because a) he stood to profit from it and b) he thought it was an important project that would serve the nation's interest. Motivation A puts him in the same company as Trump, but Motivation B makes him a different sort of character.
