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HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE

February 22, 2006

Today is George Washington's 274th birthday. He dominated the American political scene for over four decades -- an amazing run, when you think about it. It's hard to imagine anything comparable today - it woutld be as though, for example, John F. Kennedy were still a political kingmaker in the late Clinton years.

Washington's biography is full of achievements that are unlikely to be repeated -- not least in tax policy. It's hard to imagine President Bush taking the field to lead the army to suppress a tax protest. Yet George Washington donned military uniform in 1794 to crush The Whiskey Rebellion, a Pennsylvania revolt against a whisky tax. From the Wikipedia biographical entry on George Washington:

In 1791, Congress imposed an excise tax on distilled spirits, leading to protests. By 1794, after Washington ordered the protesters to appear in U.S. district court, the protests turning into full-scale riots, and outright rebellion. On August 7, Washington invoked the Militia Law of 1792 to summon the militias of Pennsylvania, Virginia and several states. He raised an army of militiamen, and marched at its head into the rebellious districts, making him the only sitting US President to march at the head of a column of troops. There was no fighting, but Washington's forceful action proved the new government could protect itself. In leading the military force against the rebels Washington became the only president to personally lead troops in battle while commander-in-chief. It also marked the first time under the new constitution that the federal government had used strong military force to exert authority over the states and citizens.

Not "battle", exactly - the rebellion collapsed with troops on the way - but he was ready to rock and roll. So next time you get a letter from the IRS, just be glad that it's not President Bush and a division of armored cavalry.

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