Impact Without Limits

S5 E20: George Washington: More Than a President Part 1

• Dale and Brian Karmie / Adkins Media Co.

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In this episode of Impact Without Limits, Dale and Brian begin a two-part look at the life and leadership of George Washington, exploring how the man behind the legend was shaped long before he became America's first president. Drawing from history, biographies, and the new Young Washington film, they discuss the defining moments of Washington's early life, the lessons he learned through failure, and the character traits that prepared him to lead a nation.

The conversation also examines three timeless leadership principles that marked Washington's life—prescience, precedence, and providence—revealing how vision, intentional leadership, and faith in God's guiding hand influenced both his decisions and the founding of America. Whether you're a history enthusiast or simply looking to become a more impactful leader, this episode offers practical insights and a fresh perspective on one of history's most influential figures.


Episode Highlights: 

  • Meet young Washington.
  • Failure builds leaders.
  • Three principles of leadership.
  • Providence in battle.


Links Mentioned in Episode/Find More on ForeverLawn:

This show has been produced by Adkins Media Co.


SPEAKER_02

I told my men, quick, let your aim be certain, and he dies. Our rifles were leveled, 'twas in vain. A power far mightier than we shielded you. The great spirit protects that man and guides his destinies. He will become the chief of nations, a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire. So why would two guys leave comfortable jobs, move across the country, and start a business in an industry they don't know, a place they don't know? And could it be successful?

SPEAKER_01

We're Dale and Brian Carmy. Join us as we share our story and inspire you to become people of Impact.

SPEAKER_02

Welcome to the Impact Without Limits Podcast. Welcome back to the Impact Without Limits Podcast. Brian Carme here with my brother Dale.

SPEAKER_01

Happy day two of the semi-quincentennial year. Or nine. That's right. Or day nine. It could be. It's the old future time travel thing. Anyway, good to be here.

SPEAKER_02

And we are uh we've walked through a lot of things uh about the originally when we started this, we thought we were gonna go through July 4th, talking about America's founding and the semi-quincentennial and just the greatness of America. And we've realized it's probably gonna finish out the rest of this year. We could go into both seasons. But we uh we certainly are not done yet. And today we're talking about probably the most well-known, the the most celebrated founding father, George Washington.

SPEAKER_01

So we didn't prepare for this, but is there a question we can throw out to the group to see if they know? Um probably about probably related to George. It could be about anything. But while you're thinking about that, I have this question, and we maybe already answered it, but July 4th has come and gone. The semiquinnial. So has the semi-quincentennial ended or has it just started? It has only just begun. It's only just begun. Yes, it's like when you turn one, you're one into your second year of life, but you're one for that whole year. Yes, you are. So this is the year of the semi-quincentennial. So my our celebration just got started. That's right.

SPEAKER_02

Excited about it. Um, the question I will ask is how many children did George Washington have? Interesting question. We will see, we will get to that. Um, and listen, there is so much content out there, um, some of it really bad, a lot of it really good. Yeah. Um, but we're gonna kind of my course of this is gonna be focused on a few different resources. I'm just gonna put them out there up front. Um, first of all, um reading a book, Washington by Ron Chernow. Great book. I've talked about it a couple times. I'm about halfway through. It's a slug fest. It's a fest. It's a slug fest. It is a big boy. It's the biggest piece of literature I've ever read. And and it's it's a challenging book, but it's really good. Great content.

SPEAKER_01

Um did you ever get snubbed by Chernobyl?

SPEAKER_02

No, I didn't. That is one that Eric Metaxis holds on you. I'm glad to see you've let it just roll off your your back like you know, water off duck feathers. That one didn't even phase me. Yeah. Um, another book is First, uh by Dave Zanotti. Dave Zanotti, a fellow Ohioan, American policy round.

SPEAKER_01

You know, we talked about this. We should follow up on it. We should have him down for a podcast or get him on remotely, whatever. Yeah. How can we do these podcasts focused on America and our uh uh foundational principles, Christian, godly foundational principles, and not involve him? I mean, doesn't matter, I guess, but he's right up the road. Yes. Terrific. So Bethany and Victoria, we gotta see if we can get that on the schedule somehow. So I'm sorry. No, it's great.

SPEAKER_02

I was just a book. If somebody is looking for a great uh kind of intro to George Washington, this uh first is the name of the book. It's The Leadership Principles of George Washington, pretty easy read thin book. I mean, it's uh as easy reads as easy reads go. But that's uh that's a great, great book, and he has some good points that we'll we'll probably touch on. And then another book that I read years ago. Um I should probably pick it up and read it again. Yeah, we should go back to it. It was probably 15 years ago or so. Um but being George Washington by Glenn Book Glenn Beck. Glenn Book. Glenn Book, the back reading a beck by Glenn Book. Um, but it was and it was more I think he writes in a more um colorful language, very engaging story-like. Um, so that's uh another good.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that was that was good. Chernow, I'm gonna let you kind of break that one down for me. The problem is by the time you get to the end, you've forgotten the beginning. First I read that being Washington. I I got I got that done. That was great. I think I'm I've got to go to audiobook because reading thing. That's not all it's cracked up.

SPEAKER_02

You go to the movie, which we just watched this week. Oh, wow. And one of the neat things is when you see the movie, and I've heard this from other people that read that like when you see the movie, it like brings to life some things and reminds you of some of the detail. When we were watching Young Washington, it's great. First of all, tremendous movie. If you haven't seen Young Washington yet, go see it.

SPEAKER_01

You gotta see it twice. Just buy two tickets now. Yeah. One for the day you're gonna go and one for the day you're gonna go back.

SPEAKER_02

Buy one for today, the day you're going back, and then one to give away. Ah, what a I like that. Just a terrific movie. It's just a great movie.

SPEAKER_01

Like the movie itself is well done. Fast-paced action, exciting movie. Yeah, well acted. It was great. Yeah. I mean, there's battle suit.

SPEAKER_02

We're probably gonna talk about, we'll probably dive into it here. Yeah. But one of the neat things is I was watching that. Um, I was rem remembering a lot of the things that are in the book. And prescience. You had prescience of what was going to happen. I see where you're going with this. But the but it was neat to see that come to life, and it was neat to see how accurate, right? You've got cooperating resources saying this is really how it went down. Um, so really well done. Congratulations to the to the it was it was Irwin, right? Yeah, John Irwin.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it was great. I I liked your setup of people who read.

SPEAKER_02

But but you're right. And I'm like, but it's so much faster. It is.

SPEAKER_01

And I don't want to ruin the movie by reading the book first. The books take so long for me to get through, I forget how the book started by the time I get to the end. I know. I know. Um, but I I agree with you, Brian, because this has happened to me. Obviously, we're diving into um, you know, the the American foundation, the American heritage from that era, and that's forced us to do research, to read, to watch videos, to research, what have you. And I'm going back and re-watching things I've seen before among those. Look, look, we just we just finished up um you know Independence Week or whatever you want to call it, where we we watched um Daniel Boone series on the the um Men Who Build America, Frontiersman. We watched Sons of Liberty, Liberty, three-part miniseries. We watched The Patriot, and then we watched uh Young Washington, and every single uh Young Washington I hadn't seen before. The other three I'd seen before, and you see it differently. Um, it's like I get there's there's some subtle references to a character. Yes, like I was watching the the uh John Adams series, and when Henry Knox is walking through right the first time I see it, you hear this Henry Knox, and he's coming through, and it's it's kind of like these soldiers marching along, they're tired, they're dragging, there's a ox pulling a cart or something, and uh it says Henry or you know, Henry Knox, and and that meant nothing to me because I didn't know who Henry Knox was.

SPEAKER_02

Yep.

SPEAKER_01

All of a sudden, you know Henry Knox, you know the story that got Henry to that point. Like, oh man, that was that was powerful. So that happened in young Washington, too, when you're seeing Gage and you know what happens later and in Braddock, and and just oh oh that was that was great.

SPEAKER_02

Great, and I agree. It's it's the subtle references that you you probably don't pick up unless you've read or seen other sources and get some of this backstory. Um, but young Washington was terrific, and it's focused on his early days, right before the Revolutionary War. This is kind of the formation of who George Washington was. And we just I think you know, want to talk a little bit about that. Yeah. I don't want to, you know, it's not necessarily meant to be a summary of the movie, but there we'll probably talk about it.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna go to the spoiler right now. Washington lives. And he goes on to do great things.

SPEAKER_02

He becomes a president. So you know that he's that out of the way. So if you didn't know that, sorry we spoiled it. Um but anyway, it again, the movie tracked really well with the book, and it and it just but it's sometimes when you see it acted out, it brings color to something that you miss just reading it. And so, you know, one of the things early in the movie that happens is you see Washington is a young boy and he loses his father at age 11, and he's crushed, and it changes the the course of his life, and and it was interesting because that's the same age that I lost Ed, right? And and Lawrence, his um father's son to a previous wife, half brother or half-brother Lawrence. Yeah, he he kind of steps in as this father figure, and I've talked about on this show before, but that's kind of what you and Kent and Jim did for me, and to see that um kind of play out in Washington's. But yes, yes, we are. But uh it was neat to see him play that role. And then you've got Washington ends up, you know, isn't able to finish school, he wants to go to school, can't, and so he has to self-be self-taught, right? And he's reading books and becomes a voracious learner, and he kind of lives with his chip on his shoulder, right? Where he's trying to prove himself.

SPEAKER_01

You know, I'm sitting here picturing you, I'm picturing you in the uniform and the wig. I mean, it's a match. It all makes sense.

SPEAKER_02

Um it is a match. But yeah, just really interesting. And and one of the things that is kind of astounding and I don't know, eerie, providential, or whatever, is that Washington's dad, Augustine Washington, dies by riding on his horse in the rain and cold, gets sick, and quickly dies, like within a matter of days. It is the exact same thing that repeats in George Washington's life after he retires from presidency. So three years later, he goes out riding his horse in the rain, gets sick, and he had to feel like in that moment, like oh my goodness, history is repeating itself.

SPEAKER_01

Just crazy. I remember mom saying, Don't go out in the rain, you're gonna get a cold. No wonder. Come on, George. She knew the story better than we um. Yeah, I it is it is interesting to see, to learn, to read, to watch, however you get it, about the events, sometimes small events, sometimes moments you might miss, and and think about how that goes to build and shape a character and that goes on to shape events, which goes on to shape the world. It's amazing. Like uh I know we're not talking about that, but in in um The Great Awakening, you look at young Benjamin Franklin and you know his desire to fly the kite and do the things and his dad being the candlemaker that all that, but you see these events that happen in their youth that come back and become formative events to them as they grow and mature and and transformational things in the history of our nation. And and that that happened time and again with with young Washington.

SPEAKER_02

And that's also, I think that's part of seeing the providence and how God's hand works through things. And um, it's just it's just amazing to watch. And you know, young Washington really covers the the French and Indian War and really some of Washington's early ambition. I mean, he wanted if you think about you watch that movie, like the thin threads, like he is trying to be commissioned in the broyish the British Royal Army, and they refuse him. Yeah, he gets rejected if they just multiple times. If they just would have given him a commission, he would have never beat the snot out of them. Are you kidding? How crazy is that? I mean, it was almost like, and I I I'm not trying to compare us to Washington, but like we talk about when we started Foreverlone and we wanted so bad for somebody, they just hired us to hire us. Just hire us. Give us a chul we'll do this for you, right?

SPEAKER_01

But in the then they don't serve. I mean, think about it. So Washington served, according to the movie, and I didn't fact check this part, but he he he volunteered no pay. He said, I'm I'm gonna serve, volunteer to serve to show you what I'm capable of. You remember in the early days when we wanted to install a field? Yes, and they wouldn't bring us on the the wouldn't include us. We're like, look, we'll do it for free you don't have to pay us, we'll do it for free. Just let us come out and be part of it. We'll work for two weeks, three weeks straight with no pay. We just want to be there to earn our right. And then what did SRI do?

SPEAKER_02

Instead, they set us up. They said, we'll give you this field, and then they go out of business, they go bankrupt right in the middle of it and hang out, hang us out to drive for 30 grand. It's kind of like what happens with George. He gets sent out to do the dirty work.

SPEAKER_01

My goodness, um, but but uh I don't I don't know how deep we want to go into the movie, probably not too deep because we have a lot of other stuff to talk about, right? Yeah. But I I think go ahead. Yeah. Well, I I don't want to jump ahead of of what you're gonna say, but right, Washington is in a sense responsible. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, I knew that's where you're gonna go for starting the war. And he wasn't supposed to do that. He was supposed to be delivering a message, and it turns out events happen. I'm not gonna go into great detail. No one knows who fired the first shot. But a war breaks out. The French and in the French Indian War. And this is if you don't know, okay, let's ask a question. Who fought? What were the sides in the French and Indian War? That's a good question. All right. And now the answer is it wasn't the French against the Indians, it was the French and Indians combined against Great Britain and the colonies. And this war, I don't remember exactly, ended up being like a six or seven year war. And when it ended, Great Britain was on the verge of bankruptcy, or they were greatly stressed financially. Right? Yeah. So now you're in the early 1760s and Great Britain is trying to recover the monies lost or the debt they built up in this war, and how are they going to do that? They levied taxes on the colonies. Which in hindsight almost makes sense. Yeah, they were protecting them. I mean, but what they didn't do was give them any representation. The colonists were still treated as second-tier citizens, they weren't viewed as true British. That's why George couldn't get his position, because he was a colonist. He wasn't true uh British blood. So they start taxing the colonies, and the the colonial Americans are opposed to that because they don't have the re representation. That begins to create iris, and you go from the uh the Stamp Act, and and just all these different things start coming into place that lead to the Revolutionary War. And then in the war, you've got Washington, who the British rejected time and again, leads the colonial army, and he's going against Gage, who he served with in the French Indian War. Um he's on the British side, so they're going against each other. Obviously, we know how the story ends. America wins, becomes a nation, and who's the leader?

unknown

George.

SPEAKER_01

George Washington. So the mistake, the early failure he had is what enables him to become, I'm gonna say, the greatest figure in history outside of biblical characters.

SPEAKER_02

It's incredible. Absolutely amazing. If you were to try to write that storyline, nobody would believe it, right? No, but I mean, it's every storyline, every movie, right? You it's it's somebody, they get, you know, it's you you you leave somebody, they you think they're dead, you leave them for dead, and you move on and kind of forget about them, and that person ends up coming back, right? Every time. This is what happens with George. They one, if they just would have appointed him, right? Two, they had, as we get into the revolutionary where they have multiple points where they probably could have taken him out and then let him escape, and he ends up like be I mean, clearly, I won't say single-handedly, but without George, I think it doesn't happen.

SPEAKER_01

There's no way. Uh it it it's remarkable. And so it's right, it's providential. It's the the hand of God and and George George. I guess I can call him George, right? President of Washington. I felt disrespectful in the moment. I know. But you're talking about the thing. He refers to that over and over again about the hand of Providence, the the divine leading and guiding, the protection. Do you want to talk about the protection he had in the Yeah?

SPEAKER_02

I uh let let's let's get to that in a minute. I I just I don't want to ruin the movie, but I just want to say I think one of the things that jumped out to me from the movie, I thought the movie did a great job portraying, was that Washington learned from failure.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And I think so often, you know, and this is something I've been talking about a little bit recently. I don't know why, but this this message I think God's impressed on me recently is that experience alone isn't a teacher, right? Only evaluated experience is. If you don't learn from your experience, if you don't, if you don't go through, and whether that's your own experience or the experience of others, if you don't learn from that, you're gonna repeat the same mistakes. And Washington has some mistakes that he learns from and they shape him, right? And Fort Necessity is a big uh point of that. But it's a formative experience for Washington, and Washington learns from that and becomes a better leader because of the failures he went through. And I think, man, that is such a lesson for all of us. And and um really loved the movie, and and you know, I'm I'm gonna shift a little bit and I'm gonna steal from Dave Zanati's book first. And this isn't enough of a summary that you shouldn't read it. This is hopefully enough to give you a taste to want to read it. But he talks about the leadership principles of George Washington, and he focuses on three P words. Uh, Dale, you used one earlier. You challenged us at the beginning of the day to use that word in a sentence. And I did.

SPEAKER_01

You did.

SPEAKER_02

Prescience is uh a word that we don't use much anymore. If you look at it, it reads, it looks like pre-science, and it kind of, if you think about the actual meaning, it kind of makes sense. It's the ability to see further than others, it's the it's a vision, it's this almost prophetic understanding of what's gonna come in the future. So it's knowing something before others know it.

SPEAKER_01

So I I think about it like this when you're asking, does anybody know what that word means? I just omniscience, right? Right. Omni science, the science is knowledge. Omni is all knowing. So God is omniscient, God is all knowing. So prescience is like pre-knowing, exactly pre-knowledge, which leads to your word, which is that that vision or that foreknowledge, that ability to see things, opportunities that maybe haven't happened yet. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02

And let me jump through and give you all three words, and then we can go back and talk about a little bit. The second word that Zanani uses is precedence. And it's realizing that he was setting an example. And as leaders, I think that's an important thing to realize that you are setting an example that others will follow. And usually what happens. Happens is it's a notch below where you're at. So if you operate at an eight, other people are gonna come in at a seven. So you've got to try to be operating at a ten at all times. And so uh George had this. Now you got me thinking but it is.

SPEAKER_01

We're just gonna call him George.

SPEAKER_02

His Excellency George Washington, the president of the United States. But no, he had this understanding that his actions would be followed by his troops. Yeah. That the things he was doing would set a precedence for all of America. And he had the foresight to think about the story he wanted to tell, what he wanted America to be. I mean, he was he was thinking ahead and realizing the precedence he was set to.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and I'm gonna throw another P at you in its position. I think he was aware of his position in the the Army as a leader of Virginia, then as a member of the Continental Congress and then the Constitutional Convention, all of this onto the president. I think he was aware that his position placed on him that responsibility or ability of precedence because there were new things happening. Right? We the colonies had never had an army before, the colonies had never had uh a Congress before, the colonies had never had a constitution before, never had a president before. And so he was, I guess, self-aware enough to realize what you're saying, that people were looking at him, evaluating him, and they were going to copy him. And so it was so important for him to be as good and right and true as he could be.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah. I think brilliantly so. And part of it probably comes down to the last P that Zanati talks about, which is providence and his awareness of the divine hand of God and placing him in certain positions and protecting him and saving him for certain moments. And so um, you know, he was he was a very devout Christian, very strong in his faith. Um, he was Anglican, which is a more formal religion than maybe the Baptists, and not as um outspoken on, you know, we we talked about George Whitfield and the Great Awakening and the street preaching, and that wasn't necessarily Washington's style, but Washington was very strongly Christian, very strongly understood God's providence was the only thing that allowed America to become a nation, and the only thing that allowed him to have the positions that he had. Um and you know, we we can get you you were talking earlier about the the battle at uh Monongahela, where he is shot at multiple times. And and it it's it's the climatic scene of the the movie, but I think everyone knows the story, so we can talk about it.

SPEAKER_01

And if you don't, you're gonna you're gonna hear it now. But look, it doesn't affect the need to see the movie because we knew the story. Yes, but the movie, I I was kind of like waiting, like, when's when are we gonna see that? And then you see it starting to play out, you're like, okay, that was another one of those things where you know what's coming, and then you see it's like, yes. Yeah, that was good.

SPEAKER_02

But formed from the the horror of Fort Necessity and watching his troops die, some of his friends die, and he had this sense of obligation for his troops. And so, in uh an awful situation where Gage and others are retreating, George rides up to the front to be with his men, the militia from Virginia, and he's getting shot at, right? He's riding right into the line of fire, bullet holes in his go through his hat.

SPEAKER_01

I just want to coat. I just want to jump in here because for a moment I flipped. He and Gage are on the same side. Yeah, they're serving this. Isn't Gage in the Revolutionary War, this is a French Indian War, and Gage is retreating. Yes, and as the story goes, Braddock, the the leading general or commander, had not ordered the retreat. Correct. And Washington is trying to salvage, so he's going to be with his men. Yes, and that so I just figured I missed that in a moment, so make sure that was oh good clarification.

SPEAKER_02

But as Washington rides up to the front and he's riding through all this fire coming from the French and then the Indian troops that are fighting against the British, and so many shots go right through, he gets a horse shot out from underneath him. His coat has multiple bullet holes in it, bullet holes through his hat. Right through the domer. And he comes out unscathed. Right. And after that, there's this Indian chief who says, I need to meet this man, right? And so after the, you know, the battles had been settled and the war was over, he calls for a meeting and asks to meet George Washington. And this is, you know, Washington's only 23. This is 30 years before there's any declaration of independence or or anything like that. And this is a quote from the Indian chief. He says, I told my men, quick, let your aim be certain, and he dies. Our rifles were unleveled, twist in vain. A power mighty far mightier than we shielded you. The great spirit protects that man and guides his destinies. He will become the chief of nations, a people yet unborn will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire.

SPEAKER_01

That's just amazing. So you think about this. I mean, here's this Indian chief who was an excellent shot. He claimed to never miss, never missed his mark. Not just him, but him and several of his other key warriors were all trained on killing George Washington. They didn't know who George Washington was, just killing that general, that leader.

SPEAKER_02

And Washington instead they put bullet holes in his coats and his hat and shoot out his horse, and he survives. And he's just like, listen, there's a divine hand on you. There's this is providential. You were meant to do great things. And and he even, you know, prophesies become the the founder of the medium. Those are prophetic words. They're just crazy. That's um, so anyway, I and I I don't I spent a little time this morning with our team going into more detail on this. I don't want to go into all of it, but if you talk about the prescients and his his vision, right? He was a visionary that saw independence before others saw independence. You talked about even just the frontier, seeing the frontier and the opportunity out there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I just hit that quickly. He was he was a surveyor. Um, but he got that because he he saw the opportunity of the frontier, of the untamed, the wilderness, the wild, that they were having trouble finding people that would go out and map it and do this because you had the Indians and and you know it was uh was an unprotected area, but he had the vision, the Prussians, to see what was possible and then pursued it at great risk to himself.

SPEAKER_02

And then we we talk about um you know him as a great general, but his vision for how the war should be fought and for how they could win the war, um, really, I think two things that, or three things. One, the idea of just living to fight another day. And we talked about this before, but there were many battles he didn't win, but he survived. And that left him the opportunity to come back and fight again. Without that, I mean, and there was a time where that wasn't the way you fought. You lined up, you fought, and whoever won won, and the loser lost, right? But he's like, nope, we're gonna retreat at the right time, we're gonna live to fight another day. And then because of the battle that like this with the French and Indian War and these tactics where you have people hiding in the woods and fighting this guerrilla type warfare, Washington says, we can't go toe-to-toe with the British. But if we change our fighting tactics, and that's where um I don't remember if we've talked about it on this podcast, we haven't talked about it yet. We'll talk about it in the future. But Daniel Morgan and the rifleman, yeah, right? Yeah. Creating a different type of warfare than rather than just the lines shooting at each other. Um and then the intelligence. And we'll talk about this more in the future as well. But the idea of creating a spy network to gather intelligence, like that was incredible foresight to know that like we need to find every advantage we can in order to be.

SPEAKER_01

Think about that. It's like uh it's kind of like Michigan stealing signs. They didn't have the strength or ability to win straight up, so they resorted to alternate tactics. Now, what I'll say in war, all's fair and love and hard. You don't have rules. In NCAA football, there are rules you're supposed to follow. So shame on you, Michigan.

SPEAKER_02

So we talked about prescience and his, you know, seeing the need for independence, seeing the opportunity on the frontier, the vision for winning the war, and even the intelligence. Precedence, um, realizing he was going to set an example, that he was very principled and intentional in his actions. I mean, he knew that the way he acted was going to be uh greatly um it was it was influential, not just what he said, but the way he said it. And he was a man um that he was the leader of the the Constitutional Convention later on, and he was at the Continental Congress, but he didn't say a lot, but the things he said were impactful.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that I think I think that's people knew who he was because of what he was doing in Virginia and because of his his history. And by speaking little but only speaking what was truly necessary and important, I I think it carried so much weight. And and you you talked about him being, you know, what did you say, principled and uh use another word, I don't remember, but he wrote his 110 maxims? Yes. Were you gonna talk about that? No, go right ahead. Yeah, it was just he he called it his rules of civility. And he lived by these, he wrote out these things of how you how you handle yourself, how you operate, how you should uh act, uh be a gentleman, be a leader, what have you. Uh to to write that out at a young age and say, here are the things that are important, here's what I'm gonna use to govern my life and my actions. Well it's pretty powerful stuff.

SPEAKER_02

I actually think, and we I think we've talked about this previously as well, but sometimes I think today we get so caught up on being authentic that we don't want to put on a show for others, right? Or we don't want to put out something that's not really us. And listen, I'm I'm all about authenticity, but I'm also understand the situation, right? And when I go speak or I'm in a business meeting, I I put on a tire that makes sense for that situation. I'll wear a sport coat or a tie or something if I'm going to talk somewhere. Not because I'm not being authentic and I wouldn't rather be in a t-shirt, but because I understand the situation. And I think George was really good about that. Like he could read a room. He could read a room. And he understood that his actions and the way he presented himself were going to greatly impact the message. And not for his own benefit, but really for the benefit of others. Like, hey, if I don't do this well, my message that is important won't be conveyed properly. Um, and in the precedence, I think the the most vivid one is resigning the presidency, right? And writing his farewell address. The if you haven't read that, that's an incredible read. And it it's it's hard because again, some of the old English, but it's worth working through. Um, his call to America, to what the vision for what America could be beyond his presidency, he knew that if he didn't resign after two years or two terms. I mean, a lot of people think that that was written into the Constitution. It wasn't, right? There was no requirement for anyone to give up being president. And a lot of people were shocked that he did. But the precedent he set held for hundreds of years until FDR blew it and stayed in for four terms. But the precedence was set that, hey, the government isn't about this person, it's about the nation and the constitution and being ruled by the precedent as the president.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, wow. Come on. Wow.

SPEAKER_02

I mean that's a clip right there. Um, and then finally, Providence. He understood that he was a bigger, he was part of a bigger story and that God was doing things. Absolutely. And the comparison I I made earlier today was like Esther, right? Maybe you you're called for such a time as this. Maybe he were placed here. And I think he understood that. And so often it's something that that we can miss that God has a purpose and and a plan, not just for the big picture of our life, but for the moments we're in right now, right? And and if you think about that, and I think he was able to take that perspective and say, okay, God has placed me in this place, in this time. What's he trying to do through me in this moment? Um, and he had an uncanny ability to do that and to see, hey, I've been prepared for this. And uh just great. So uh again, uh tip of the hat to Dave Zanati. I stole his three points there, but I would definitely recommend reading that book first. Um, Prescience, Precedence, and Providence, three Ps. And then you threw in position, understanding the position he was placed in. Right.

SPEAKER_01

That's not a trait of him, but that is an ability of his that I think played into all three of those. P's. All right. So let's wrap up this episode of the U.S. Ps in a pod.

SPEAKER_02

In a podcast. Yes. See three P's in a podcast. Maybe that should be the No, we we can't make the George Washington episode. No. Three P's. It is a catchy title, though. Um but we're gonna wrap this one up and we'll come back talking about the second half of George Washington.

SPEAKER_01

One more call out. Go watch George Washington. Oh my goodness. So that wasn't our plan. Our plan was one episode on on um George Washington, and and uh we get into it, and it's like we don't want this one to be too long, but there's still more to talk about. So we'll come back in the other one. But the movie is great, go see it. Um, you know, get some popcorn, enjoy the show, and and then and then share the word, tell other people about it, because remember, we can't remember what we don't know. And unfortunately, and sometimes we have to unwind what we do know because a lot of what we do know isn't based in fact or truth. So we need to go to the source, learn things. Well, we'll talk about that more on the next episode.

SPEAKER_02

So we didn't answer the question of how many kids George Washington had. You're gonna have to come back for part two to get to that part of the story.

SPEAKER_01

You know what they call that?

SPEAKER_02

That's what they call a cliffhanger.

SPEAKER_01

Cliff hanger. Because he's hanging by a cliff. But um, hey, we're kicking off the semi-quincentennio year in style. Um we love it. Uh, go out and have a great week. Remember, all of this we're we're hoping is designed to help you be people of impact and create people of impact. So have a great week.

SPEAKER_02

God bless America.

SPEAKER_00

This is a thread calling me reminding you that faith looks up, hope looks ahead, and love looks all around to see whom it can help. Good day.