Rule number 24 of George Washington’s “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation” states: “Superfluous Comments and all Affectation of Ceremony are to be avoided, yet where due they are not to be Neglected.”
Partygoers took those instructions to heart at the Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship’s celebration of Washington’s Birthday on Feb. 20.
In 1879, an act of Congress implemented the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen. Today, it celebrates the service of all the nation’s first citizens.
“The very office Washington held owed its existence to him,” said David Bobb, the Kirby Center’s director, in a toast. “He is indispensable; however, he never acted as though he was indispensable, and for that we honor him tonight.”
Other participants echoed Bobb’s tribute to Washington’s humility. When asked what quality he most admired in the nation’s first prresident, author Michael Zak pointed to his restraint.
“He could have been a Cromwell, but he chose not to,” Zak said.
Others said they draw personal inspiration from his example.
A clinical psychologist from New Jersey praised Washington for his steady model as a father figure to his young country. A local college student joked that the standard of Washington set a high bar for dating prospects.
The Kirby Center’s current initiatives include the First Principles on First Fridays Lecture Series, a live Constitution Town Hall webcast, and an upcoming Constitution 101 online course that has already registered over 100,000 participants from across the country.
The course coincides with the publication of “The U.S. Constitution: A Reader,” a collection of 113 primary source documents developed for teaching Hillsdale’s core course on the Constitution.
So with all this emphasis on the Constitution, it seemed natural to set an evening aside to pledge the man who made it possible.
“It was because he was born that America was born,” said Eleesha Tucker, director of education for the Society of the Cincinnati.
