In Confronting America<\/em>, Bill O\u2019Reilly and Josh Hammer argue that Americans have lost sight of the values that made America the greatest land of opportunity and no government program is going to fix the problem. O\u2019Reilly states that \u201cAmericans need to wise up\u201d and be willing to put country and community ahead of self if we hope to return America to its former glory. Start reading an excerpt of the new book in this bestselling series.<\/strong><\/p>\n Mythologizing presidents is not new. What is new is the media now gleefully participating if the candidate fits their ideology. But throughout history, some major whoppers have found their way into the folklore.<\/p>\n George Washington is one of the greatest American heroes of all time; we all know that. A brilliant general and a president who did his very best to get the new republic up and running. But the mythology around Washington is incredible. The man, apparently, never made a mistake, was always in a good mood, and was dashing, perspicacious, and kind to every animal he ever met.<\/p>\n The truth, however, is a little bit different. This is not to say Washington was not a first-rate hero. He was. But if you read my book Confronting the Presidents<\/em>, you will find out that George\u2019s mom did not like him! And it all had to do with money.<\/p>\n Mary Ball Washington was widowed but remained on the vast Virgina estate of her deceased husband, Augustine. Mary could not afford to maintain the plantation. So, she wanted money from her son George, who didn\u2019t have much cash on hand. His wife, Martha Washington, controlled the funds while the general was out defeating the redcoats. This did not please Mary Ball, who began writing letters to Virginia newspapers calling her son \u201ccheap\u201d and \u201cmean.\u201d<\/p>\n Not good.<\/p>\n General Washington was very agitated by this. On February 15, 1787, he wrote to his mother:<\/p>\n My sincere, and pressing advice to you is, to break up housekeeping, hire out all the rest of your servants except a man and a maid and live with one of your Children. This would relieve you entirely from the cares of this world, and leave your mind at ease to reflect, undisturbedly on that which aught to come.<\/em><\/p>\n Upon receipt of this letter, Washington\u2019s mother responded, \u201cFine, I\u2019ll come live with you and Martha in Mount Vernon.\u201d<\/p>\n George quickly wrote back:<\/p>\n My House is at your service . . . but I am sure and candour requires me to say it will never answer your purposes, in any shape whatsoever\u2014for in truth it may be compared to a well resorted tavern, as scarcely any strangers who are going from north to south, or from south to north do not spend a day or two at it\u2014This would, were you to be an inhabitant of it, oblige you to do one of 3 things, 1st to be always dressing to appear in company, 2d to come into in a dishabille or 3d to be as it were a prisoner in your own chamber.<\/em><\/p>\n The breach between George Washington and his mom never healed. In fact, the nation\u2019s first president did not even attend her funeral.<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Abraham Lincoln. While practicing law in Illinois, Lincoln represented a Kentucky slave owner\u2014a man named Robert Matson. Five of Matson\u2019s slaves were traveling with him in Lincoln\u2019s home state when they absconded. Illinois was free soil. The chaos wound up in court. Lincoln put forth that owners of \u201cproperty,\u201d which slaves were considered at the time, could take their \u201ccargo\u201d anywhere in the country without local interference.<\/p>\n Lincoln lost. The court ruled that slavery was a \u201ccontravention of the Illinois Constitution.\u201d The Black family was declared free.<\/p>\n Now, you have never heard that story in any classroom or discussion about Abraham Lincoln. At least I don\u2019t think you have. The mythology surrounding Abe, like George Washington, paints him as an absolute saint.<\/p>\n Which he turned out to be. President Lincoln lost his life because he was so adamant about ending slavery in the United States. The heinous racist John Wilkes Booth was motivated to kill Lincoln at Ford\u2019s Theatre in Washington, DC, because the president supported freedom for Black people. If you read my book Killing Lincoln<\/em>, you will see that the man\u2019s entire body broke down as he tried to banish slavery and win the Civil War. He went through a horrendous ordeal and, in my opinion, is the best president the nation has ever had.<\/p>\n The moral of this story is simple: people change. Redemption is possible. But there is a subtext. Myths surrounding famous Americans, like Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, become truth.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not true at all, is it?<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/p>\n My favorite bit of mythology surrounds Teddy Roosevelt, who very much disliked being called Teddy. It reminded him of his sickly childhood. So, you had to call him Theodore, or Colonel, or Mr. President. Not Teddy. Anyway, Roosevelt was an extraordinary man who had very common problems. His first wife, Alice, died after childbirth. His second wife, Edith, was a good woman but could not control the six rambunctious Roosevelt children. Especially the eldest, teenager Alice Roosevelt, named after her deceased mother.<\/p>\n Alice was what they call a juvenile delinquent. They didn\u2019t have that term back then, but trust me, she fits the description. To the horror of her father, she pronounced herself to be a \u201cpagan,\u201d saying Christianity was \u201csheer voodoo.\u201d As Theodore Roosevelt was a traditional Protestant, that did not sit well with him.<\/p>\n Then there was Alice\u2019s social life. Apparently, she was very fond of accompanying unmarried young men through the streets of Washington, DC, where they partied hardy. On more than one occasion, she had to be corralled by the local authorities, who returned her to the White House. Alice did not like that very much. So, she began sneaking boys into the \u201cpeople\u2019s house.\u201d In addition, she enjoyed smoking cigarettes. When her parents banned that practice, Alice snuck up to the roof of the White House to inhale. I don\u2019t think she chewed tobacco, but I wouldn\u2019t put it past her.<\/p>\n Anyway, President Theodore Roosevelt has a famous quote about his rebellious daughter:<\/p>\n \u201cI can either run the country or I can control Alice, but I cannot possibly do both!\u201d<\/p>\n Final Alice story.<\/p>\n In 1909, when the Roosevelt family was moving out of the White House, she buried a voodoo doll of the new First Lady, Nelly Taft, in the front yard. As the Tafts moved in, they discovered the frightening figurine and banished Alice from the premises forever.<\/p>\n What they didn\u2019t know was that Alice may have also left a live snake, which she had named Emily Spinach, inside the White House. And you think you have problems with your kids?<\/p>\n ***<\/strong><\/p>\n So, you can see that accurate reporting about American presidents has always been a challenge for the political parties as well as the media, which is now at a level of corruption never before seen.<\/p>\n Obviously, covering up presidential deficits is wrong\u2014as all dishonesty is. But in today\u2019s world, the stakes are so high that we must know to whom we are giving power.<\/p>\n Mythologizing harms everyone.<\/p>\n Start listening to an audio excerpt of Confronting America<\/em>!<\/strong><\/p>\nPart of Chapter 12<\/h4>\n
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