What Made Washington A Great Man? How Can I Become More Like Him?

George Washington was one of the greatest men of all time, ever. Why? That is what I am going to talk about.

The first and most important reason Washington was a great man was because he believed in God. Many people in America today believe this is false. But I know it is true. Why is a man great when he believes in God? Because men who don’t believe in God keep all of the credit of their achievements to themselves, and this is selfish. People who believe in God will give all of the credit to Him. George Washington did this. He knew that if he wanted to win a battle, it had to be God’s will. He prayed all of the time, and never bragged about himself, rather God. He also tried not to judge people, because he knew God was the ultimate judge. George Washington wrote this in a letter to Benedict Arnold in 1774, “While we are contending for our own liberty, we should be very cautious not to violate the rights of conscience in others, ever considering that God alone is the judge of the hearts of men, and to him only in this case they are answerable.”

Another reason that Washington was a great man is because of his virtues. One virtue he had was honesty. One example of this is the tale of George and the cherry tree. Nobody knows if this story is true, but it does show how responsible and honest he was. Washington desired to be honest, because he once wrote, “I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man.” Another one of his virtues was humbleness (yes that is a word). Once in Congress, the founders were debating who should be the commander-in-chief of the army. John Adams stood up and started to brag about Washington. Washington couldn’t bear to hear praises in front of so many people, so he stood up and walked out the door. This is one of many examples of how he was humble.

One more reason he was a great man is because he was smart. He presided over the Constitutional Convention and helped form our government. He looked back at old governments to see if they had worked or not. He helped found the most successful government of all time. Do you think you have to be smart to do that? The fact that he was our first president alone says that he was brilliant and a genius. He could have become king or turned America into some kind of military dictatorship; he had the whole army and country on his side! But he was smart enough to know that was the wrong thing to do. Most people who have lived on Earth would have done that if they had that much power. Some people think that Washington wasn’t smart because he was in the army, and because he didn’t go to college. But he had to have been really smart to be the commander-in-chief and beat the most powerful country on Earth.

            How can we be like this man? There are simply three steps. 1. Believe in God. Any great man has to believe that there is someone who created the earth and rules over it. 2. Build good character. You cannot be great if you are immoral and dishonest. 3. Get an education. To be great, you have to be smart. I myself want to be like Washington and I am trying to follow these steps. I hope I can be as great as him, but that could be impossible.