We Call Him Father
by Wilfred A. Peterson
We call him father.
He was the architect of a New Nation.
He was a builder whose hammer was a
sword and whose timbers were Liberty and
Justice.
He bequeathed us freedom to live and
speak and grow under the Stars and Stripes.
He was 6 feet 3 1/2 inches tall and as
straight as an Indian.
He walked with the majestic dignity of the
English aristocrats from whom he was de-
scended.
He had lively blue eyes.
His hair was red under his white wig.
He could ride the wildest horse and rode to
hounds with the gusto of an English squire.
He had that dashing magnetic quality that
marks the born leader of men.
He was a man of character "who labored to
keep alive in his heart that celestial bit of fire
called conscience."
He was an idealist who spoke with the elo-
quence of action, not words.
He raised an army of a thousand men, at
his own expense, and marched to the relief of
Boston.
He sacrificed the quietness and happiness
of Mt. Vernon for the danger of the firing
line.
His courageous spirit inspired ragged,
barefoot soldiers to fight on in what seemed a
hopeless cause.
In the dark days of Valley Forge his great
faith alone kept the spark of freedom aglow.
He was the first signer of the Constitution
of the United States of America.
He was a man so royal of character that he
refused to become king.
We are the sons of this great American.
We are the divinely appointed heirs of the
way of life he won for us.
We are the guardians of his ideals of liberty
and justice for all.
It is our mighty task today to keep the torch
of Washington aflame!
American Heritage Library Table of Contents
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