I grew up near the Delaware River, a few miles from Washington's Crossing, named after—you guessed it—the spot where George Washington's Continental Army crossed the icy river in small boats. Upon arriving in Trenton, N.J., they launched a surprise attack on the Hessians: German mercenaries the Brits had hired to help quell the Revolution.
The nation's first president was a serious and principled man. In his 1789 Inaugural Address to Congress, Washington hoped the "rights of freemen, and a regard for the public harmony, will sufficiently influence your deliberations on the question how far the former can be more impregnably fortified, or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted." He refused any pay for his efforts.
