Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Whose You'e Daddy Mr. President


George Washington did not have a long relationship with his father Augustine who died when the future president was only eleven. The cause of his father’s untimely demise is not recorded although legend has it that his wife Mary nagged him to death. Washington’s mother did indeed nag him unmercifully his entire life to the point that he ran away to join the militia and felt dodging bullets and Indian arrows was much preferable to letting his mother nag him to death as well. Augustine Washington did bequeath to his son 64 slaves, the Strother plantation and the ability to tune out the voice of any woman no matter how loud or long she might harangue him. This caused some difficultly during his Presidency because in Cabinet Meetings he could never follow what Thomas Jefferson had to say as he had a high pitched womanish voice much like that of Jennifer Tilly. This disaffection led to the creation of the two party system and the rise of political parties in the fledging United States.
(Whose You’re Daddy, Presidential Fathers, Doris Kearns Godwin, Bantam Books, 1998)

8 comments:

bagoh20 said...

If you never have, the account of the death of Washington is a worthwhile read.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/dec-14-1799-excruciating-final-hours-president-george-washington/

William said...

I have heard the sound of Eleanor Roosevelt's voice. It's not the sort of thing you forget easily. No wonder she was Hillary's favorite First Lady.......People graded looks and speaking voices on a different curve in previous generations.

deborah said...

lol Trooper.

I can handle Hillary's voice, but if Liz Warren were to get in, just shoot me.

bagoh20 said...

I don't know why, but I always thought Eleanore's voice sounded like Julia Child's. Does it?

bagoh20 said...

I mean did it?

William said...

Upper class patricians all have a similar accent. .......The whole point of schools like Eton and Harrow was to give the kids who went there their own accent. Wellington's mother sent him to Eton because the poor kid was developing an Irish accent and that would have left him déclassé for life. It's probably not so pronouncd (heh,heh) in places like Choate and Andover but there's a definite accent from a posh prep background.

MamaM said...

To discerning ears, certain blog voices carry overtones of similar backgrounds as well.

Trooper York said...

Youse could be right.