From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library
From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library
From Farm House to the White House - 912 Freedom Library
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<strong>Farm</strong> <strong>House</strong> <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>White</strong> <strong>House</strong>, by William M. Thayer 198<br />
"Never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly <strong>to</strong> make a man great and <strong>to</strong> place him in <strong>the</strong> same<br />
constellation with whatever worthies have merited from man an everlasting remembrance."<br />
During his presidency he made a <strong>to</strong>ur through <strong>the</strong> Sou<strong>the</strong>rn States. His arrangement for <strong>the</strong> same furnishes a<br />
remarkable illustration of <strong>the</strong> order and punctuality for which he was known from boyhood. Thinking that <strong>the</strong><br />
heads of <strong>the</strong> several State departments might have occasion <strong>to</strong> write <strong>to</strong> him, he wrote out his route thus:<br />
"I shall be, on <strong>the</strong> eighth of April, at Fredericksburg; <strong>the</strong> eleventh, at Richmond; <strong>the</strong> fourteenth, at Petersburg;<br />
<strong>the</strong> sixteenth, at Halifax; <strong>the</strong> eighteenth, at Tarborough; <strong>the</strong> twentieth, at New<strong>to</strong>wn;" and thus on <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> end, a<br />
journey of nineteen hundred miles.<br />
Custis says: "His punctuality on that long journey as<strong>to</strong>nished every one. Scarcely would <strong>the</strong> artillery-men<br />
unlimber <strong>the</strong> cannon when <strong>the</strong> order would be given, 'Light your matches; <strong>the</strong> white chariot is in full view!'"<br />
Washing<strong>to</strong>n rode in a white chariot.<br />
His industry, which had become proverbial, enabled him <strong>to</strong> perform a great amount of work. General Henry<br />
Lee once said <strong>to</strong> him:<br />
"Mr. President, we are amazed at <strong>the</strong> amount of work you are able <strong>to</strong> accomplish."<br />
"I rise at four o'clock, sir, and a great deal of <strong>the</strong> work I perform is done while o<strong>the</strong>rs are asleep," was<br />
Washing<strong>to</strong>n's reply.<br />
At <strong>the</strong> same time his thoroughness and method appeared in everything. Mr. Sparks says:<br />
"During his presidency it was likewise his cus<strong>to</strong>m <strong>to</strong> subject <strong>the</strong> treasury reports and accompanying<br />
documents <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> process of tutelar condensation, with a vast expenditure of labor and patience."<br />
Ano<strong>the</strong>r biographer says:<br />
"His accounts, while engaged in <strong>the</strong> service of his country, were so accurately kept, that <strong>to</strong> this hour <strong>the</strong>y are<br />
an example held up before <strong>the</strong> nations."<br />
In all <strong>the</strong>se things <strong>the</strong> reader must note that "<strong>the</strong> boy is fa<strong>the</strong>r of <strong>the</strong> man."<br />
Under his administration <strong>the</strong>re was no demand, as now, for "civil service reform." His nearest relative and<br />
best friend enjoyed no advantage over o<strong>the</strong>rs for position. Real qualifications and experience for office he<br />
required. Alluding <strong>to</strong> <strong>the</strong> severity with which he treated <strong>the</strong> idea of giving friends and favorites position, a<br />
public man remarked:<br />
"It is unfortunate <strong>to</strong> be a Virginian."<br />
At <strong>the</strong> close of his long service, he wrote:<br />
"In every nomination <strong>to</strong> office, I have endeavored, as far as my own knowledge extended, or information<br />
could be obtained, <strong>to</strong> make fitness of character my primary object."<br />
At one time two applicants for an important office presented <strong>the</strong>ir appeals, through friends. One of <strong>the</strong>m was<br />
an intimate friend of <strong>the</strong> president, often at his table. The o<strong>the</strong>r was a political enemy, though a man of<br />
experience. No one really expected that his political enemy would be appointed, but he was.<br />
"Your appointment was unjust," a person dared <strong>to</strong> say <strong>to</strong> Washing<strong>to</strong>n.