SubscribePresident George Washington would bow to guests at presidential receptions to avoid physical contact and the tradition lasted through the presidency of John Adams. Washington would rest one hand on a sword and the other holding a hat to avoid the remote possibility of anyone forcing a handshake! Thomas Jefferson ended the tradition of “bowing” by shaking hands when greeting people.
“‘You are now a King, under a different name,’ James McHenry told Washington in March 1789 and wished that the president ‘may reign long and happy over us.’ It was not surprising that some people referred to Washington’s inauguration as a ‘coronation.’Pages 50 – 54, Revolutionary Characters by Gordon S. Wood (2006)
….In his public appearances he rode in a elaborately ornamented coach drawn by four and sometimes six horses, attended with four servants in the livery, followed by his official family in other coaches. ‘When he travels,’ declared a British observer, ‘it is in a very kingly style.’ In Washington’s public pronouncements he referred to himself like a king in the third person, and sat for dozens of state portraits, all modeled on those of European monarchs. Indeed much of the iconography of the new nation, including its civil processions, was copied from monarchical symbolism.
….If the president was to resemble a European monarch, what should his title be? Led by Vice President Adams, the Senate debated for a month in 1789 the proper title of the president. He could not be called simply, His Excellency, for governors of the states were called that. ‘A royal or at least a princely title, said Adams, ‘will be found indispensably necessary to maintain the reputation, authority, and dignity of the President.’ Only something like ‘His Highness, or, if you will, His Most Benign Highness’ would do. Eventually under Adam’s prodding a Senate committee reported the title ‘His Highness the President of the United States of America, and Protector of their Liberties.’ When Jefferson learned of Adams’s obsession with titles and the Senate’s actions, he could only shake his head and recall Benjamin Franklin’s now-famous characterization of Adam’s as someone who means well for his country, is always and honest man, and sometimes and in some things is absolutely out of his senses.
Perhaps in this respect not really out of his senses, for apparently Washington himself had initially favored for a title ‘His High Mightiness, the President of the United States and Protector of their Liberties’ But when Washington heard the criticism that such titles smacked of monarchy, he immediately changed his mind and was relieved when the House of Representatives under Madison’s leadership succeeded in fixing the simple title of Mr. President”
“Drink the Kool-Aid” has long been a part of the vernacular, used in both a positive and negative sense when we talk about following a mission or philosophy; that is, “buying the program” or “swallowing the party line.” But its origin lies in the 1978 tragedy at Jonestown, where over 900 members of Peoples Temple took poisoned fruit punch at the behest of their leader, Jim Jones.BTW -- I do recall an image in the recent documentary “Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple” that showed a trunk containing boxes of cyanide, Flavor Aid and Kool-Aid. Nonetheless, it is believed that the majority of people were killed by the cyanide mixed with Flavor Aid at Jonestown.
For those connected personally to this horror, the ubiquitous “Kool-Aid” metaphor, often used frivolously, recalls an unending nightmare. One little known footnote: the fruit drink actually used at Jonestown on that day was a British product*, Flavor Aid. In Guyana, it was cheaper than Kool-Aid.
-Stephen Stept, writer and producer, “Witness to Jonestown”
John Adams on his first meeting with King George after we had won the revolutionary war gave the traditional three court bows upon entering the royal chamber
Shortly after the peace was signed, the story began, the Revolutionary War hero Ethan Allen "had occasion to visit England," where he was subjected to considerable teasing banter. The British would make "fun of the Americans and General Washington in particular and one day they got a picture of General Washington" and displayed it prominently in the outhouse so Mr. Allen could not miss it. When he made no mention of it, they finally asked him if he had seen the Washington picture. Mr. Allen said, "he thought that it was a very appropriate [place] for an Englishman to Keep it. Why they asked, for said Mr. Allen there is Nothing that Will Make an Englishman Shit So quick as the sight of Genl Washington."-- One of Abraham Lincoln's favorite stories, from Team of Rivals
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posted by dibblda at 8:40 PM on April 10