Yesterday I told you about two Presidents who weren’t Fathers—other than being Founding Fathers.
Did you know that no American President has been an only child in his family?
Bill Clinton had his own half-brother. Of course you’ve heard about him.
President Gerald Ford came from a family and had two half-sisters, and four half-brothers.
And the longest serving President, Franklin D. Roosevelt also had a half-brother, a younger sibling.
George Washington also had a half-brother, Lawrence. , and a half-brother Augustine, Jr. Augustine, George’s father, then re-married and with Mary Ball had six children, of which George was the oldest.
And James Madison, known as “The Father of the Constitution” also had no children of his own. He married Dolley Madison, who had children from a prior marriage, and who, like Martha Washington, was a widow when she married James Madison. He helped raise her children, but again they had no children together.
When the U.S. Constitution was ratified and George Washington was elected as the first President of the United States of America, not only was a new nation created, but also a new culture.
Betsy Ross was a recent widow, and she was a poor, struggling seamstress when the story goes, she was approach by a team, including General George Washington to create a new flag for the hope of a new nation. It was apparently a secret meeting. General Washington asked her for help in the preparation of a brand new flag, and a new concept for a struggling nation.
“I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.” –Martha Washington, First American First Lady, 1732-1802.