Most Prominent Politicians (X): Virginia
Virginia’s most powerful politicians not surprisingly come from the early years of the republic. I was somewhat struck at how hackish their politicians were in the late 19th and much of the 20th century. Also, although Woodrow Wilson was from Virginia, his political life was entirely in New Jersey, so he’s there, not here.
1. George Washington–I rank him first because of his stabilizing influence over the country in its early days. I know Washington’s star has fallen a bit in recent years, but he was important for who he was, irregardless of policies he made as president. His choice not to accept a lifetime appointment alone ranks him here.
2. Thomas Jefferson–Actually a pretty bad president, but so successful in the rest of his political life and in creating American ideology.
3. James Madison–he only wrote the Federalist Papers, was Jefferson’s Secretary of State, and a 2 term president, though that presidency was marred by America’s stupidest war.
4. John Marshall–most important Supreme Court justice in history. Really created the Supreme Court as a legitimate institution.
5. James Monroe–an important figure of early America, even if he wasn’t the most memorable president.
6. John Tyler–one of our worst presidents, Tyler significantly furthered the pro-slavery cause by hitching his political hopes for the 1844 election to southern extremists. Named John C. Calhoun Secretary of State, who proceeded to declare southern slavery expansion as the foundation of U.S. foreign and domestic policy. Good times. While terrible, an extremely important figure due to his decision to make the overt expansion of slavery the central feature of his presidency and thus helping move the nation closer to Civil War.
7. Patrick Henry–core figure of the American Revolution and its immediate aftermath. Turned quite conservative in later years and became an ally of John Adams against Jefferson and Madison. Would have been more prominent in the early republic if, a) he had accepted Washington’s offer as Secretary of State in 1795 and b) he hadn’t died of stomach cancer in 1799.
8. Harry Byrd, Sr.–segregationist senator from 1933-65. Dominated the Democratic Party in Virginia during the mid-twentieth century. Opposed much of the New Deal and activist government policies more broadly. Leading segregationist. Received unsolicited electoral votes from southern voters opposed to both political parties in 1960.
9. Carter Glass–Secretary of the Treasury, 1918-20; Senator, 1920-46. White supremacist who openly advocated discrimination. Most remembered today for the Glass-Stegall Act, which has received much attention from people interested in banking reform today. That’s fine, but let’s not allow his sensible fiscal policies to cloud the fact that even for a man of his time and place he was a hell of a racebaiter.
10. Howard Smith–Congressman from 1931-67. Also a notorious racebaiter. Most famous for proposing protecting women under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as a way to undermine support for it. Because who thinks women should have equal rights…. Smith actually claimed that he was serious in supporting women’s rights and he had some history here. However, I find it extremely hard to believe that he would add a women’s rights clause to a bill he so vociferously opposed, and of course voted against. These were the years that Sam Rayburn dominated the House. A southerner himself, Rayburn worked to reduce Smith’s power in Congress because of his racism. Yet other southern Congressmen always ensured Smith would speak for them.
Next: New York
I realize we’re focusing on elected politicians, but surely we could have put Lewis F. Powell and Robert E Lee on this list. Both of them had a much greater political impact on America than any of the last three listed here.
I’d second Robert E Lee. I’m not sure the actual Robert E Lee had tremendous political impact – I’m not an expert on him, but the only obvious political actions he personally made were whatever effect he had to prolong and alter the perception of the Civil War during the war, and to promote reconciliation after the war (by, for example, donating his property at Arlington). But the idea of Robert E Lee has had powerful (mostly negative, of course) political effects on the country.
I understood that the Union took it.
Quartermaster General Meigs was a Southerner who hated Robert E. Lee for betraying his oath to the Union. He decided to use Lee’s wife’s estate in Arlington as a cemetery for war dead both for symbolic reasons and to make the land unusable for the Lees after the war. After the war, Lee’s heirs successfully sued to get the land back and then sold the cemetery to the U.S. gov’t.
I’d been told that the US Army seized part of it, illegally, and that after the war Lee granted the whole of it for the purpose. Obviously, njc – who sounds rather better informed – is in possession of rather a different story.
here is a recent Smithsonian article about this
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Battle-of-Arlington.html
Given that Lee’s modern supporters tend to subscribe to the “Americans get to do whatever they want to non-Americans on non-American soil” theory of modern geopolitics, and Lee more or less comprehensively gave up being an American by treason, it’s kind of ironic…
If places like Vermont and South Dakota are going to get 10 names, it definitely seems like Virginia ought to get 20. And maybe New York and Massachusetts.
Hey don’t be dissing on South Dakota. I’m going to lobby for Sitting Bull or Crazy Horse to be #1 on the list though
D’oh! Of course; I meant North Dakota.
When Erik gets to Hawaii, I hope there is going to be royalty.
And I hereby suggest Tecumseh for Ohio.
No problem RM, I was mostly just messing around, although you can bust on ND as much as ypou want. SD would do much better if it were politicians from the state. The late Lee Siegelman from Monkey Cage and a SD native, once told me that, per capita, there are (or were a couple of years ago) more Congress people from SD than any other state.
There would almost have to be.
well the average congressional district size is smaller than SD’s population so it’s not as cut and dried as one might think.
More likely is that I will look at some of these states cut off before 10…
George C. Marshall belongs on this list, and not at the bottom. Being in uniform shouldn’t exclude someone if their contributions while in the military were more like politics than generalship.
Ushered rearmament and lend-lease through Congress. Neither would have happened without his reassuring hand-holding.
Organized the Joint Chiefs of Staff and served as its first Chairman.
Built the Pentagon. The freakin’ Pentagon fer chrissakes! Expanded the army forty-fold.
Top negotiator at numerous allied conferences, and second in numerous head-of-state level conferences.
Refused to exert any influence in the selection of Allied joint commander, when he desperately wanted the job.
France landing in 1944 instead of Greece/Balkans. “Not one American is going to die on that goddamn beach.” To Churchill, he says this!
Marshall Plan – not just putting it together, but the driving force behind the adoption of a policy of rebuilding Germany instead of what was the majority position, reducing it to pre-industrial, agricultural nation.
Kept US troops out of the Chinese Civil War.
Truman’s Secretary of State, and later, Secretary of Defense.
The beginning of the end, or least the end of the beginning, of McCarthyism was his performance on Capitol Hill.
Kept silent when slandered by Eisenhower during the 1952 election.
Won the Nobel Peace Prize.
C’mon, Howard Smith? Harry Byrd? John Tyler? Above Marshall? Their places would have easily been taken by someone else if they’d never been born, with no discernible effect on this country’s history.
Well, except for the inclusion of sex in the CRA, and as you say, that was accidental.
Marshall is only FROM Vriginia. He did all those incredibly notable things in a non-Virginian context. All the people on Erik’s list, while some of them are small men who were cogs in a greater historical narrative, are actually significant in the context of Virginia.
That said, once he’s done with the states there should maybe be a category for people who, like Marshall, were significant politically in a national and international sense without having their political fortunes tied specifically to a single state. Like a national list with a top twenty.
That would provide a list for career civil servants and functionaries who did things like shape military policy, as well as for truly national figures with no ties to a specific state. Such men are rare in American politics, but they do exist. Like, does anyone think Eisenhower should be on a list of Kansan politicans? No. Should MacArthur be on a list for Arkansas? No. They were NATIONAL figures, not state ones.
He did them in Washington, like everyone else on Erik’s list. Almost all nationally-prominent politicians on these lists did their notable things in Washington.
He went to school in Virgnia, at VMI. When all of his important contributions took place, and before, he was living in Virginia, having married first one and then another Virginia brides. He never owned a home outside of Virginia. And he was descended from Justice Marshall, so his extended family was there.
(And he was from Pennsylvania, but he never lived there after going to college).
Patrick Henry’s accomplishments weren’t really in Washington – Richmond and Philadelphia, I think.
Washington himself, I’m not sure about. He wouldn’t have been in Washington (the city, obviously, not the person) before at least 1790. He was President until March 1797, but Congress didn’t meet in Washington, DC until 1800. The Wikipedia entries for Washington, DC, George Washington, and the White House don’t offer any obvious indication that George Washington ever lived in DC, even at the end of his administration, when he accomplished his most important act by voluntarily relinquishing office.
Still, I’m needlessly nitpicking. I take your point.
Whoops, there was supposed to be an “almost” in both the first and second sentences.
Also “Erik’s listS,” meaning all of these entries.
I don’t get how most of those things make him a Virginian politician. The people on Erik’s Virginia list were all active in Virginia politics and/or held political offices associated with Virginia.
George Marshall never did either of those things. If ‘attended VMI and lived in Virginia most of his life’ is all it takes to get you on the list then a whole fuckton of ex-military, long-serving Congressmen and Senators who effectively lived in Georgetown for decades on end qualify.
He didn’t just live in Virginia during his work; he settled there.
When his wife showed him the home she had bought, he said something like “This is a home, a real home, the first one I’ve had since I went to college.” And then he lived there for the rest of his life.
He rode his horse along the Potomac every morning.
How about this: he considered himself a Virginian. He made Virginia his home.
Those Congressmen who buy or own houses in DC or Virginia – they go home when their careers are over. They go home dozens of times a year. When George Marshall went to his house in Virginia, he was going home.
Recommended reading for anyone who wants to understand American history in the middle of the 20th Century.
The National Park Service web site for the George C. Marshall House.
Not all of them go home when their careers are over. In 1996 presidential ballots offered the opportunity to vote for Jack Kemp of Maryland for Vice President, for example.
Running for Vice President seems to suggest to me that his career wasn’t over.
Running for Vice President seems to suggest to me that his career wasn’t over.
Bob Dole’s running mate in 1996? That could go either way.
However, if you look over the entire series of “most prominent politicians” from the beginning, you’ll see that Erik has been focusing on the national accomplishments of each politician from the beginning. That being the case, Marshall belongs on the list, and no lower than #5 or 6.
George C. Marshall is on my list of the 3 great Americans of the 20th century, along with MLK,Jr. and Walter Reuther. FDR deserves great credit recognizing Marshall as the essential man in WWII. He was model of an American military professional. And he was, by a wide margin, the best post-war Secretary of State.
Also, from everything I’ve ever read: history’s greatest boss.
It’s ok, MLK didn’t make the Georgia list, and Reuther won’t make his state list either. Missing Marshall is even more questionable, as he held government positions, but he’s in good company.
King’s public career occurred from a base in Alabama, didn’t it?
Some of it; not all or even most of it.
We all know that the real reason Marshall should not be on this list is that he was a conscious member of the Communist conspiracy.
(And since many of the trolls around here are impossible to parody, I will state to those unwary readers that I’m kidding. I also agree with Joe that Marshall would make a good addition here; though I do not associate him with Virginia in the way, say, Washington or Madison are, I think he’s a very important figure. If he’s not included in Virginia’s list, where would he fit?).
Murc brings up a good point. Which incidentally suggests a new/next project: “Most Prominent Bureaucrats” List. Not elected officials, but the most prominent (national) civil servants in American history.
Some of my candidates (no particular order):
- Gifford Pinchot
- Mollie Orshansky
- George Kennan
- John Hay
- Frances Perkins/Harold Ickes/Harry Hopkins…pretty much all the New Dealers.
- J. Edgar Hoover. Bastard that he was.
- Sergeant Shriver?
- Donald Rumsfeld
- Walter Heller
- George Marshall
- Dean Acheson
- the Dulles brothers
- Mariner Eccles
Man, Mollie Orshansky. Her formulae are massively out of date but god damn, she deserves more recognition than she gets.
Actually, Erik’s criterion for a “politician” has been holding either an elected or appointed office.
Yes, but the lists gave been heavily dominated by politicians and even the appointees have tended to be former electeds.
I think a list of civil servants would be interesting in focusing our attention to the under examined role that bureaucracy plays, even in our notoriously under bureaucratized government.
Forgot one:
- Robert McNamera
Rumsfeld had been an elected official, serving in the House for six years before joining the Nixon administration. However, his notoriety/infamy derives from his work as a bureaucrat.
My bad. Damn, his Congressional service was underground – I thought he started as a Nixon staffer.
This is a good question to think about.
Rumsfeld was actually a congressman in the 60s or 70s, iirc.
It’s interesting that, up until Clinton there have basically been no elected politicians who’ve served as secretary of state since the 1940s. Christian Herter and Edmund Muskie both held important elective office and served briefly as SoS, but otherwise you’ve got Marshall, Acheson, Dulles, Rusk, Rogers, Kissinger, Vance, Haig, Shultz, Baker, Eagleburger, Christopher, Albright, Powell, Rice – not an elected office in the bunch. None of them served in congress or in state office. Marshall, Haig, and Powell were military; Eagleburger was a career foreign service officer; Kissinger, Albright, and Rice were academics, and the rest were basically just well-heeled lawyers and intermittent holders of appointed political office.
Note that Gifford Pinchot was elected Governor of Pennsylvania (and perhaps should be on the Keystone State’s list?)
Regardless of policies he made as president.
/grammar scold
(well, not really grammar, but we know what you mean)
Seriously, irrrefuckingardgless?
irregardless
My head exploded as well.
Meh.
They’re the same thing for all intensive purposes.
Yeah, the shame I feel can hardly be expressed in words…..
I heard that when Obama opens up FEMA camps and declares Marshall Law, he will round up anyone with a track record of using irregardless.
Mort Walker will be the first to go
“John Marshall–most important Supreme Court justice in history. Really created the Supreme Court as a legitimate institution.”
Who among us will recapture that legitimacy?
The 7th-grade history textbook I used in Northern Virginia pretty clearly implied that there were no other important national politicians in the first 50 years of the Republic other than those from Va. It was astonishing.
More so was the same texts’ insistence that slavery was a benign institution.
My mother helped lead the fight to get those books thrown out and replaced with more objective ones.
Maybe she should be on the list. No snark, I mean it.
As I noted in another post, I’d rank George Marshall at no lower than 5th or 6th on the list. I’d also move Carter Glass up a notch or two. In addition to being the Glass of Glass-Steagall, he was one of the main authors of the legislation creating the Federal Reserve System (which was known as the Glass-Owen Act).
I also have to note something. In the Massachusetts post, Erik wrote this:
Calvin Coolidge (almost certainly the only president not to make the top 10 from his respective state)
Well, when we get to Virginia, we have two presidents from the state not to make the top 10 (the Harrisons). :)
The Harrisons made their mark in Indiana. Which will be a pretty depressing list.
:(
George Marshall was a great American and a great general, but he was not a politician. He was a career army officer. He belongs on a list of most influential Virginians, but not on a list of most influential Virginia politicians.
I would place Madison ahead of Jefferson and Washington. Madison’s work on the Constitution had more long term effect than Jefferson’s work on the D of I. And Madison’s starting of the War of 1812 is a whole additional negative contribution.
Washington was pretty influential even as a politician, but Madison’s leading role in writing and defending the Constitution entitle him to the #1 slot.
His notable accomplishments as Army Chief of Staff and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff were mainly political accomplishments, and he did a great deal in his civilian positions as well.
Marshall was born and raised in Pennsylvania.
“I know Washington’s star has fallen a bit in recent years>.”.
Says who?
Among historians, generally. No one challenges his prominence as a Founding Father, but the question is how highly he should be ranked as a president.
Actually, there’s all sorts of problems with Washington, if you’re keeping score. He was famously arrogant and difficult to get along with, his land speculation before the revolution wasn’t pretty, he was a terrible spendthrift in his personal affairs, there are debates about whether he was any good as a military leader, certainly he was no good as a colonial officer in the seven years’ war (aka the French-and-Indian War), his stance on slavery was nakedly hypocritical (he freed his slaves effective on his death, effective on his wife’s death, a provision that may not have been binding on her legally; in the event, she freed them during her own lifetime). And he wasn’t a terribly good President.
Basically, the only uncontroversially good parts about Washington are that he was very tall, very handsome in a uniform, and very brave. And he refused the kingship, and refused to be President-for-life. That one decision made this whole country possible, and earns him a high place on any list.
I heard that motherfucker had, like, 30 goddamn dicks.
I think you’re misinterpreting the whole “father of his country” thing.
No, it’s true. If you took off his shoe you could see the dicks growing out of his feet.
Let’s not discuss what he did with bears, shall we?
And we can ask why he killed his sensei in a duel, but we’ll never know the answer.
much more true of Temujin
I think you pretty much have to give Washington’s Presidency high marks for:
a) having the good sense to listen to Hamilton’s economic ideas over Jefferson’s
b) peacefully stepping aside when he could have easily been President for life and, given his influence, a near king for all intents and purposes.
I think you can pretty safely say that without those two decisions, the American experiment either dies in the crib or limps along as a hobbled state before being re-colonized by England.
In my view, Washington deserves an incredible amount of credit for resisting the president for life stuff and stepping down after 2 terms. Setting that precedent was incredibly important for establishing the presidency as a legitimate institution with peaceful transfers of power after a limited length of time.
Just out of curiosity, who ever suggested that Washington be president for life? And how plausible was it that others would have gone with it? (He couldn’t have been made king because he didn’t have any children, and was allowed two uncontested presidential elections.)
Hamilton. He certainly thought it was good idea. Many other people thought it sucked, however.
Hamilton, as well as other influential members of the Society of the Cincinnati.
What’s the more impressive, important act: Washington’s or John Adams’?
GW stepped down in favor of his long-time ally, Adams. But he did it first.
Adams stepped down in favor of a man who was his political opponent, the leader of the opposition in a fierce personal and political rivalry. But he was following Washington’s precedent.
Well Adams only really agreed that he lost the election — a 61.4-38.6 whooping will do that (although the electoral college was much closer). And did he have any important constituency (like the military, Congress or courts) that wanted him to stay since the people clearly did not? I suppose the courts he packed might have still backed him.
So I guess Washington’s was probably more important — yielding when one could still win, is much harder than yielding when comprehensively defeated.
I think this is a good point. Adams being willing to give up power to the opposite political party, especially at a time of extreme partisan tensions, is one of the most laudable acts in the history of the presidency.
again who wanted him to stay? I don’t even think Abigail wanted this.
Do remember, however, that Adams had been stabbed in the back by much of his own party, led by Hamilton. He would have had little backing (Marshall might have had more), and Virginia and Pennsylvania were threatening civil war if the election was not respected. It is just as well he had the virtue not try a coup, but it wasn’t that much of a temptation.
Benjamin Franklin was born and raised in Massachusetts, but he certainly doesn’t belong on that list. He belongs on the Pennsylvania list.
And, like Franklin, Marshall left the state of his birth at 17.
OW Holmes Senior once described Franklin as “a Bostonian who sojourned in Philadelphia a while.”
“Marshall was born and raised in Pennsylvania”.
George Catlett Marshall, that is.
Marshall related that when he was wooing his first wife, he discovered her family were Virginia snobs. His best return-fire shot was the fact that his home town of Union Town, Pennsylvania, had been established long before her ancestors had settled in their neck of Virginia.
He prevailed, too. They were married.
I agree that George C. Marshall should not be left off the list. And we should not quibble about George Washington’s place at the top of the list. His reputation has had ups and downs but I really doubt it has slipped all that much. His peers in the revolutionary generation never questioned his standing as first among equals, recognizing him as the indispensable man in winning the war. 1776 was his OJT as a general, and a hard year it was for him and the Continental Army, but his brilliant Trenton-Princeton campaign literally saved the revolution in its darkest hour. But for him we would all be Canadians. (OK, maybe that’s not a bad thing!)
Jestak,
Benjamin Harrison was not a native of Virginia. He was born in Ohio, although the bulk of his political life was spent in Indiana.
Erik,
You should be ashamed of yourself for using the word “irregardless.”
How can I live with the shame?
I imagine you must have developed some pretty powerful coping mechanisms by this point in your irregardlessly illustrious life.
Like sarcasm.
What happened to George Mason?
The Koch Brothers bought control of his legacy, so Erik had to leaved him out or face a copyright infringement SLAPP
Could someone from LGM put a specific tag for these posts on the Most Prominent Politicians from each state?
You can enrich for them by clicking on Erik Loomis’s name at the top of the post (just under the title), which will being you all his posts. But the Most Prominent Pol posts are something like 20% of his posts, so you’ll still have to go back through several pages of old posts to find them.
The other 80% are petty digs at Matt Yglesias.
There is no such thing as a petty, nor a gratuitous, dig at Yglesias.
There should be a “most prominent politicians” link. If you can’t find it, let me know and I’ll see what I can do.
Irregardless??? Seriously???
That Erik should not have used this word really does become apparent the fifth time someone protests.
Frankly, I am only now appalled. Four times, I could have lived with. Now I only have contempt, irregardless of his past achievements.
Calling Jefferson a “pretty bad President” seems like a stretch. Louisiana Purchase alone makes him a successful President, even with his embargo fiasco.
and not enforcing the Alien and Sedition Acts (and pardoning those imprisoned), repealing the Judiciary Act of 1801 and removing the midnight judges leading to Marbury v. Madison, winning the First Barbary War, and outlawing the importation of African slaves.
Embargo. Arguably the worst policy move in the history of the United States.
But can you really point to negative long-lasting results of this terrible policy? I’d argue that doubling (I think) the size of the US had far more an impact.
And of course, while the embargo was admittedly terrible policy-wise, it did help grow textile manufacturing a bit.
It also provides me with a nice example whenever I have to hear stupid arguments about how the commerce clause powers were never to be as broad as they’ve become, as though it was some sort of recent occurrence.
The Embargo completely destroyed the economy. Jefferson dithered over purchasing Louisiana, which whatever, he did it, but any president would have done the same. He deserves more credit for the Lewis & Clark Expedition than for the Louisiana Purchase.
Embargo.
And repeatedly asking ‘Who controls Bartertown?’ was just uncalled for.
I suppose we now know how much a humanities PhD from U. New Mexico is worth.
Irregardlessly yours,
bibo
And precisely where did you get you degree in assholeism from? Some school that doesn’t teach the word “of?”
Love,
Erik
ahahahahhahahaha.
Irregardless of your venom, I love you too. Just significantly less than every other blogger who has ever posted here.
I usually glaze over when I see “Erik Loomis” in the post heading. I’ll go back to that.
Please do.
Last word rigggggghhhhhhhttttt………here.
Off topic, but that typo in your website link is hilarious.
I thought it was actually your website for about 10 seconds.
Oh look
obvious trolling
how droll
Unlike bibo, you were my favorite blogger. Until you used “irregardless”. Now of course you are dead to me. I may never again give my heart so easily.
Everything changed for me on [July ]9/[20]11. I used to consider myself a Loomis-fan, but thanks to [his use of "irregardless" on] [July ]9/[20]11, I’m outraged by union thuggery.
(I’ve always wanted to hack that quote, and there’s not too many chances to use “2011″ to do so left!)
Eric,
Interesting list; knowing you were going to do this I prepared my own list. I added some name that you should included vice some of the others, Colgate Darden, Linwood Holton, Mills Godwin, and Doug Wilder I believe are much better choices that John Tyler, Patrick Henry, James Monore, or Howard Smith.
I noted that someone suggested George Marshall, while I believe he is truly one the greats, given his famous refusal to vote in elections should he be included. I concur with the suggestion of Lewis Powell.
First I thought you meant Lewis Powell the attempted assassin of Seward but he’s not a Virginian, so I then realized it was the Lewis Powell who was the attempted assassin of the middle class
Doug Wilder? Seriously? Is there any sense in which Douglas Wilder was a politician of national importance (rather than a prominent state-level politician; Willie Don Schaefer got left off the Maryland list despite being a huge figure in state politics for almost 40 years), other than being an early black governor?
I rise to defend little Jemmy on the War of 1812. Truly, not a smart move, although the USS Constitution is a great by-product of it. But give the little feller credit. He deferred to Congress to declare war, just the way his Constitution said it should happen. He is also, IIRC, the only president to command troops in the field while serving as president.
Still, though, can’t be having the White House burned on your watch.
Washington commanded troops during the Whiskey Rebellion.
Should have said “during wartime.” The Whiskeys don’t count there, no matter what Hamilton wanted to believe.
A few more thoughts on Washington – One he kept the Continental Army together and realized it needed to be a professional fighting force. He deftly found the best people and recruited them to the Continental Army. This was no small feat considering he was very stand-offish in his personal life and lacked charm. Somehow he got Congress to fund the Army adequately (remember, the Rev. War was fought by three types of units Continental Army, State Army, and Local Militias – four if you count irregulars and not everybody liked the idea of the Continental Army).
Two, he was repeatedly offered the kingship and/or Presidency for life and repeatedly and publicly turned it down. His “Farewell Tour” of public farewells – to his troops in Newburgh, to his officers in New York, to Annapolis via Philadelphia where Congress was meeting to resign his commission, made damn sure everyone knew he was pulling a Cincinnatus. And he outright forbid the Order of Cincinnati to become inherited.
He chaired the Constitutional Convention. And he was (along with the Federalist papers) the major reason why the Constitution passed. Having turned down offers of power repeatedly, even those worried about the future felt better knowing that Washington would be the first President. No Washington, no Constitution.
And in comparison to Marshall, he spent none of his professional life doing anything for Virginia once the Revolutionary War started. He and Hamilton were almost the only two National figures in the Early Republic (although by 1800 Hamilton was pretty firmly associated with NYC but that was a change). Compare to Jefferson. Although he got his command because he was a Virginian, he spent almost none of the War in Virginia (IIRC he spent the entire war away from Mt. Vernon), retired to Virginia where he refused to participate in politics until the Constitutional Convention, and then spent the rest of his Professional Life not at Mt. Vernon – not even visiting – until his retirement. (That’s why there’s all those George Washington slept here signs).
If George Washington is on, George Marshall should be on.
“And he outright forbid the Order of Cincinnati to become inherited.”
Shame they didn’t listen.
Hm, looks like I swallowed some Sons of the Revolution of the State of New York propaganda. (SRSNY owns the Fraunces Tavern Museum where I briefly worked as an intern, and then contractor, between college and grad school). I heard repeatedly that the Order was not hereditary and only became such after Washington’s death. This may have only applied to the NY branch (whose web page is exceedingly vague on the topic but first reference to inheritance is 1806. And there is a thirty year gap between entries until 1857 when they adopted the national rules (Rule of 1854).
What, no love for Abel Upshur, prominent state politician, judge, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of State, a key player in the annexation of Texas, and a guy who really knew how to go out with a bang?
Upshur does win the Best Death of a Cabinet Secretary award.