Prose Poem, Praise Poem on Washington -- "Second to None: America's Washington"

The Son also rises in America.
The first rays of light
That touch American soil
Do so in the eastern-most county
Of the eastern-most State of Maine
And that county is named for
America’s “Main Man”
George Washington.

The final rays of sun
That fade from the Continental United States
Do so at Cape Flattery
In the State of Washington
The ONLY state named for a President.
That is quite some flattery.

The highest mountain in the Presidential Range
Way up north in New Hampshire
Is Mount Washington.
And one of the southern-most streets
In the Continental United States
Way down south in Dixie
In Key West, Florida, inches above sea level
Is Washington Street.

There are 33 counties (or in Louisiana, a “Parish”)
One hundred twenty-one cities, towns or villages
Seven rivers or streams, Eight mountains
Nine or even nineteen colleges or universities
Ten lakes and in Lake Michigan, Washington Island.
From Washington-Reagan Airport to
West Washington Street at San Diego Airport,
Fifteen miles from the border with Mexico.
America sees countless streets, banks, hospitals, schools
All named for George Washington.

So from East to West, From North to South
From Sea-Level to the Mountain-Top
From Border to Border, from Sea to Shining Sea
America is His land, our Land of Washington.

Why? Why is SO much named for George Washington?
Because George Washington is the “Man for the Millenniums”.
George Washington is THE MOST important man
In the history of this world for the past one thousand years.

Who on earth says so?

King George the third for one.
When King George heard that General Washington
Resigned to Congress and Refused to be King of America
England’s King George said George Washington was
“the greatest man of his age
or possibly any age”.

Poet, Prophet, and Pamphleteer Paine,
“Common Sense” Thomas Paine
“An American Crisis” Thomas Paine
Wrote a poem where Washington was:
“The World’s Apostle of Liberty”.

Of Washington, Thomas Jefferson wrote:
"The moderation and virtue of a single character
probably prevented this Revolution
from being closed,
as most others have been,
by a subversion of that liberty
it was intended to establish."

Benjamin Franklin received a walking stick
while serving as ambassador to France.
In his will, in prose, Franklin praised Washington:
"My fine crab-tree walking stick,
with a gold head curiously wrought
in the form of the cap of liberty,
I give to my friend,
-- and the friend of mankind, --
General Washington."

General, Governor, Congressman, Neighbor, and Friend,
Father of Virginia’s Second Favorite Son, Robert E. Lee
“Light Horse Harry” Henry Lee said in Congress in his Eulogy
George Washington is the “First Man” of America...
“First in War, First in Peace
And first in the Hearts of his countrymen,
He was Second to None…”

“America’s Educator”, the Creator and Publisher of America’s first Dictionary
Noah Webster wrote of our “First Man”: “Literary power and statesmanship
were combined in George Washington…
the greatest … leader…
also the greatest intellectual and moral force of the Revolutionary period”.
A little known man named Lincoln,
Not General Benjamin Lincoln, second in command to Washington
The man on the white horse at the Yorktown Surrender of the British
Nor Attorney General Levi Lincoln, Jefferson’s head of Justice
A man confirmed but who declined to serve on the supreme Court
But a hick nick-named Abe as an Illinois legislator said wise words:
“Washington is the mightiest name of earth —
long since mightiest in the cause of civil liberty,
still mightiest in moral reformation.
On that name no eulogy is expected. It cannot be.
To add brightness to the sun
or glory to the name of Washington is alike impossible.”

And a true Favorite Son of Illinois, born in Tampico
President Ronald Wilson Reagan shared his wisdom:
“The most sublime picture in American History
Is of George Washington on his knees…”
Humbly in Prayer in the snow at Valley Forge.

“That image personifies a People who know
It is not enough to depend on our courage or goodness
We must depend on God
Our Father and Preserver.”

Think a bit about those Reagan wise words.
More sublime than the fluttering Flag,
More sublime than the soaring Eagle
More sublime than the majestic Dome of America’s Capitol
Under which every day, all day and night, Washington is seen kneeling in Prayer.
The scene of America’s leader on his knees in prayer is the most sublime.
Why? Because Washington kneeling in prayer represents
that even our Country’s best and bravest leader is not afraid, or too proud...
To humble himself -- on his knees -- before our Father God in Heaven.
George Washington daily lived his family motto: “Aspire to Heaven”.
And our First Navy Flag on our Washington Cruisers motto was “Appeal to Heaven”.

No-nonsense “The Buck Stops Here” President Harry Truman
Said in Alexandria on 22 February, George Washington’s Birthday, in 1950:
“He was the leader of his people in a revolution against tyranny.
He commanded an army in a long and bitter war.
He was a major figure in the creation of a new kind of constitution.
And, finally, as the first President of our Nation,
he translated that Constitution into a living government...
George Washington sought guidance from Almighty God
as he faced these tasks…”

General “Stormin’ Norman” Schwarzkopf who as a boy attended
Valley Forge Military Academy had serve with him a Military historian,
Lieutenant Colonel Michael Lee Lanning, who wrote in his 1996 book
The Military 100: A Ranking of the Most Influential Leaders of All Time
Lanning listed General Washington as Number One.
Number Two - Napoleon Bonaparte is reported to have said on his death-bed
“They expected me to be another George Washington.”
Napoleon knew -- how far short -- he was when measured with
Standards raised -- for the whole wide world -- by Washington.

President of France from 1974 to 1981,Valéry Giscard d'Estaing
Descendant of French Admiral, Comte d’Estaing
Who helped Washington win the War for Independence.
In 1781, the French fleet blocked Admiral Cornwallis and the British Navy
From a rescue of his brother General Cornwallis, trapped at Yorktown.
President d’Estaing spoke wise words to the United States of Europe
Meeting in Hamburg, Germany on 20 February 2008:
“For our first president we need to find
Or invent our own George Washington.”
Those wise words from a former French President reveal
That in the world, even today, over two centuries later,
Washington sets THE Sterling Standard with his Legacy of Leadership.

Why? Why First among all Leaders? Because Washington IS the first.
The first military leader in over two millennia, over two thousand years,
Since before the Christmas Birth of Jesus Christ,
Since the time of Cato or Cincinnatus
Of the Roman Republic, not the empire, but the Republic
To willingly put personal power aside for public principles
Thereby Washington “gave birth” to our infant nation,
This American Republic, so is rightly called “the father of His country”.
Then as President, “father” Washington raised His Country to love this Constitution.

President Calvin Coolidge spoke wise words on
Washington’s Leadership Legacy to Mankind,
under the Providence of God,
in a speech to Congress:
“Washington was the directing spirit
without which there would have been
no independence, no Union,
no Constitution and no Republic.
His ways were the ways of truth.
His influence grows.
In wisdom of action, in purity of character
he stands alone.”

As seventeenth President of this United States of America
And first President under “this Constitution for the United States of America”
Washington wrote, “The Constitution...must mark the lines of my official conduct.”
At the Constitution Convention in 1787 Washington stood tall and spoke pure,
"Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair,
the event is in the hand of God..."
Washington wrote wise words in the Year of Our Lord 1785:
“At best I have only been an instrument
in the hands of Providence,
to effect, with the aid of France
and many virtuous fellow Citizens of America,
a revolution which is interesting
to the general liberties of mankind,
and to the emancipation of a country
which may afford an Asylum,
if we are wise enough
to pursue the paths which lead to virtue
and happiness, to the oppressed and needy of the Earth.”

And Washington also wrote in 1796 in his famous Farewell Address:
“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity
Religion and morality are indispensible supports.
The mere Politician, equally with the pious man,
ought to respect and cherish them…
...Observe good faith and justice toward all Nations.
Cultivate peace and harmony with all.
Religion and morality enjoin this conduct…”

And while Illinois is called the “Land of Lincoln”
In Illinois there is NO Lincoln County
Yet there IS a Washington County, and a Washington town, too.
And in Kentucky where Abe Lincoln was born
There is a Lincoln County, but it -- is named for Ben Lincoln
Washington’s number two man at the Yorktown Victory
As are the Lincoln counties in Georgia and Maine.
So where is the Lincoln homestead in Kentucky?
You guessed it, near Springfield, in Washington County!
“When the birthday of Washington is forgotten,
Liberty will have perished from the Earth.”
Were wise words spoken in 1860,
The same year Abe Lincoln was elected President,
By President James Buchanan of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Then too, California University is in Washington County, Pennsylvania.
And even the California Palm “state tree” scientific name is “Washingtonia”.


The “Poet Laureate of the Revolution”
once upon a time, a slave woman, Phillis Wheatley
wrote wise words of Washington, ever so sweetly:
“Proceed, great chief, with virtue on thy side,
Thy ev'ry action let the goddess guide.
A crown, a mansion, and a throne that shine,
With gold unfading, WASHINGTON! be thine.”
Yet wise Washington knew not to seek a crown or throne,
For our Republic of Life & Liberty would then be gone.
Washington is America’s Original Action Hero,
The Caped Crusader for this Constitution.
So go ahead, let Illinois be the “Land of Lincoln”.
The name “Washington” gives Light to Liberty all around the world,
and All Across America, from Sea-level to the Mountain-Top, from Sea to Shining Sea,
America stands for Liberty
and
truly America is
the “Land of Washington” !

And Washington reaches far beyond
the borders and shores of America
From the largest park in the Caribbean Sea, on Bonaire
To tiny Washington Island with freshwater Washington Lake
In the Pacific near Christmas Ridge way south and west of Honolulu.

The best role model for any American Man is Washington.
And as a President, Washington is The One - Second to None.

As a wise young man, wrote Washington,
“daily forge me more & more
into the likeness of thy Son…”
America’s George served Him,
In many ways and many places,
here, there and everywhere,
All Across America,
and beyond, by George...
America is His land,
and thereby, by GRACE,
Our Land…
of Washington...
America’s Main Man...
The One Second to None !!!

Washington's "Sanctum Sanctorum", his library at Mount Vernon