February 2016 – Page 3 – The Intelligent Collector Magazine

When George Washington Told a Lie

The U.S. Capitol first appeared in its entirety on Series 1869 $2 Legal Tenders.

By Jim O’Neal

George Washington died in December 1799 at age 67 and numerous writers sensed an opportunity to record the details of his life. One of the first to get a publisher’s approval was an itinerant book peddler and Episcopal priest by the name of Mason L. Weems.

He rushed out The Life of Washington in pamphlet form in mid-January 1800. In that and succeeding volumes, he began manufacturing enduring myths regarding Washington, including the famous “chopping down the cherry tree.” In Weems’ version, 6-year-old George told his father “I cannot tell a lie, I used my little hatchet to cut it down.”

Generations of schoolboys (including me) were taught about the virtues of truth using this delightful little parable. However, there was one man who caught President Washington in an embarrassing lie.

The story begins with a dinner hosted by Thomas Jefferson for Alexander Hamilton and James Madison to resolve two thorny issues being debated. The first was the permanent site for the capital. The second was Hamilton’s insistence on the federal government assuming all the states’ debts from the Revolutionary War.

Jefferson and Madison finally agreed to passage of the debt assumption bill. In return, Hamilton promised to lobby the Pennsylvania delegation to endorse Philadelphia as the temporary capital and a site on the Potomac as the final.

Congress passed the Residence Act, which approved Philly as the capital for 10 years and then a permanent home on a 10-mile-square federal district on the Potomac near Mount Vernon.

When the capital moved to Philadelphia, Washington decided to bring his favorite chef from Mount Vernon, the slave Hercules, who ran an immaculate kitchen. The handsome and talented Hercules had a lot of freedom in Philly and plenty of cash from selling the food left over from presidential dinners.

However, Attorney General Edmund Randolph startled Washington when he told him that under Pennsylvania law, any adult slave residing for six consecutive months was automatically a free person.

So George sent Martha back to Mount Vernon before six months lapsed and told Hercules he wanted him to accompany her to be sure she was well cared for. Hercules became enraged since he was well aware of the law. He was also angered because he was so loyal to the family and this ploy questioned his integrity and fidelity.

He was so sincere that he was allowed to stay in Philadelphia and thus became the only man known to be lied to by George Washington!

P.S. Hercules took advantage of the law and secured his freedom, permanently.

Intelligent Collector blogger JIM O’NEAL is an avid collector and history buff. He is President and CEO of Frito-Lay International [retired] and earlier served as Chairman and CEO of PepsiCo Restaurants International [KFC Pizza Hut and Taco Bell].

Presidential Election Has All the Elements for a Third-Party Surprise

This Roosevelt & Johnson campaign flag for the 1912 “Bull Moose” Progressive Party ticket realized more than $5,900 at a May 2010 Heritage auction.

By Jim O’Neal

Former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently indicated he may once again consider a run for the presidency, presumably as a third-party candidate. He had similar aspirations in both 2008 and 2012, but finally concluded it would be futile.

Most politicos presume this is a low possibility, primarily because historically, third-party aspirants have not fared well at the ballot box. Most believe that the current two-party system is tilted against third parties, unless there are unusual situations.

The most prominent example was over 100 years ago when Teddy Roosevelt broke his promise of “no third term” by declaring he had actually meant “no consecutive three terms.” Once he failed to get the Republican nomination, he broke away and ended up finishing second as a Progressive (Bull Moose) candidate in 1912. This ended up dividing Republican support for President Taft and allowed Woodrow Wilson to capture the presidency in an upset.

A similar situation occurred in 1992 when Ross Perot siphoned off 19 percent of the popular vote and Bill Clinton defeated the incumbent President Bush 41 with 43 percent of the popular vote.

Another example is the Libertarian Party, which fielded their first presidential candidate in 1972. After a convention in Salt Lake City, they chose John Hospers (who was chairman of the Philosophy Department at USC) for president and Theodora “Toni” Nathan for vice president.

Out of 77 million votes cast, they received a grand total of 3,674 official votes.

However, there was one “faithless elector,” Roger MacBride from Virginia, who decided that the Libertarians were more deserving than Nixon/Agnew and cast his vote for them (maybe he knew something?). Regardless, the result was that Hospers became the last third-party candidate to win an electoral vote and Toni Nathan became the first, last and only female to ever win one (as a third-party candidate).

For the record, Strom Thurman snagged 39 electoral votes in 1948 and George Wallace ended up with 46 in 1968. Ross Perot received almost 20 million votes in 1992, but ended up with zero electoral votes.

The “Corrupt Duopoly” that journalist Tom Friedman labels the current political elite has become very effective at limiting third-party efforts to break through. This may be a good thing when compared to the multi-party systems in Europe that require odd coalitions to form governing majorities.

This election year has all the elements to provide a surprise for the first time in many years.