Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News and Analysis - BONUS: Listen to the First Chapter of Bill's New Book

Episode Date: August 28, 2024

Listen to a sneak peak of 'Confronting the Presidents,' read by Robert Petkoff. More at http://BillOReilly.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 30th, 1789, one week after moving into the presidential residence, Washington steps out the front door of the Greystone Mansion and into a horse-drawn coach. The streets are packed with well-wishers who call out his name. Washington waves, but otherwise remains silent. He is calm but nervous as he is driven to Federal Hall on Wall Street, where the crowds are even larger. locals and tourists alike have come to witness the first inauguration day. George Washington is cheered as he steps from the carriage.

The crowd parts as he walks up the steps and strides out onto the public balcony in full view of citizens, soldiers, and foreign diplomats. Vice President John Adams is among the dozen dignitaries standing behind him. At six feet two, Washington stands several inches taller than Robert Livingston, the chancellor of the state of New York, who will administer the oath of office. Washington faces Livingston and places his right hand on a Bible. He wears a brown coat with breeches, a matching vest, and pants with white stockings. His long gray hair is pulled back off his face.

Washington repeats the simple 35-word oath of office outlined in the Constitution, in which he promises to perform his presidential duties and defend that document. Afterward, Washington raises the Bible to his lips, kissing the Holy Book. Livingston cries out to the crowd, Long live George Washington, President of the United States. Thunderous cheers rock, Lower Manhattan, followed by a salvo of 13 cannon blasts. There will be fireworks later tonight,

but for now, that's supposed to be the end of the ceremony. Yet Washington has other plans. He wishes to give a speech. So, he faces the crowd and begins to read his prepared words. He has faced years of difficult situations on the battlefield and never showed signs of fear. Yet Washington's voice trembles and his hands shake as he speaks to the crowd. He stares at the paper, never lifting his eyes. Very often, the president stumbles over his words.

The speech is most important. pedestrian, expressing gratitude for the position. Washington, however, does depart from politics speaking about the Almighty Being. He injects a deep religious belief into his remarks. The reason the new president stumbles over the speech is that he has only one tooth of his own. The rest of his dentures are made up of animal teeth, the bicuspids of other humans, and ivory. This makes it very difficult for him to chew hard food, let alone give a public speech. He is voracious in his pursuit of knowledge and is a great horseman. Those who know him well marvel at his feats of physical strength,

such as throwing a rock across the width of the Rappahannock River and climbing the 215-foot-tall limestone crag known as the Natural Bridge in Virginia. Yet despite his reputation for virility, one of the general's great frustrations is that he is sterile and unable to father children of his own. He makes due by serving a stepfather to Martha's two children from a previous marriage, though his preference for corporal punishment as a form of discipline clashes with his wife's more maternal approach to parenting. George Washington gets right to work.

His first task is defining what it means to be president. Problems quickly mount. America has a massive national debt from the Revolutionary War, no standing army, and a navy that has no ships. Yet the greatest headache George Washington endures is the hand-picked group of men he has chosen to advise him. This bickering cabinet of four politicians includes Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton,

Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph. Jefferson and Hamilton in particular loathe each other. At issue is whether the federal government should be a strong central power, as Hamilton believes, or if the states should wield the most strength, as in Jefferson's point of view. This debate will continue for generations to come. For now, Alexander Hamilton will win this argument, and it is George Washington who casts the deciding vote.

Thank you.