Quick Question with Soren and Daniel - George Washington's $1 with Hannah Hart | Dead Presidents Episode 1

Episode Date: May 13, 2025

The guys introduce Dead Presidents, a 5-part miniseries, hosted by Daniel and pre-dating Quick Question, about the men on the money. We hope you enjoy! -George Washington is our nation’s esteemed first president, but does he really belong on the $1? If he was so great, why isn’t he on a more valuable bill? Answering these questions will take host Daniel O’Brien and YouTube comedian Hannah Hart on a journey through the worlds of strippers, dollar coins, and a president who might have been immortal.Daniel O'Brien: @DOB_IncHannah Hart: @harto

I've got a quick quick question for you alright I wanna hear your thoughts, wanna know what's on your mind I've got a quick quick question for you alright The answer's not important, I'm just glad that we could talk tonight So what's your favorite? Who did you get? Who would I be if you remember about the word it on there? Oh forget it I saw a movie, Daniel O'Brien Two best friends and comedy writers If there's an answer they're gonna find it I think you'll have a great time here I think you'll have a great time here Hey everyone, we've got a bit of a different, very special episode for you today.

We are thrilled to announce that we are the exclusive home of a new, old podcast series. We're going to debut the first episode of Dead Presidents with Daniel O'Brien today right here on the main feed. And after that, if you want to listen to the remaining four episodes, you can do so by subscribing to our Patreon. But first, you get this first taste for free, the way drug dealers do it. And I'm going to give you some background. Years ago, I recorded this show called Dead Presidents with Daniel O'Brien for a network or an app that no longer exists.

We're just going out to a bunch of funny people and trying to get them to make exclusive shows as a way to lure subscribers to download this new app. And it didn't work. The app collapsed completely and the show just disappeared. I recorded five episodes of a show, very different from Quick Question. But if you like me and you like my book, How to Fight Presidents and the kind of writing that I used to do at Crack, you will like this series. It's all about presidents who are on money.

And it disappeared from the internet. And I was bummed and I was trying to track it down for a while and I didn't know how. So I reached out to friend of ours, the guy who first connected me with this podcast a million years ago, Lex Friedman. And with the help of podcast royalty, like Brett Morris and Dana Wickens, he tracked it down and gave it to me and I have it. And so we're putting it on the Patreon. And I talked to the people who found it in a hard drive somewhere. And I was like, can I just have this and put it, is anyone going to be mad at me? And they're just like, I don't think anyone who would be mad

knows what this is or who you are. No one even knows how to properly be mad about this. I also want to give some my own personal background of this. Like this is like a Rashomon episode. Though my introduction to this was that Daniel was doing a podcast called Dead Presidents right after he had written his book, How to Fight Presidents. And obviously a perfect fit. He was like, well, you do a pilot with me.

And he and I did a pilot episode where I was just the guest. And it was just like a proving case. It was like, hey, look how good this podcast. It could be fun. It could be good. And it was the first time that I think Daniel and I had done a podcast alone together. And it was... Boy did it sing in a way where I was like... Electric.

This was so fun. Like, this was such a... It was fun to do. It sounded good. It was great. That was a pilot. So that wasn't even like their first episode of whatever this ended up being. No. They then got guests that are a lot funnier than I am, which is good. Like, and I was like, this is I was genuinely excited for the show. So as we introduce these again, I'm excited that we're putting this out on our on our network, because it's great. It's these were wonderful shows. And they shouldn't be shut away in the dark forever. Yeah, you were so incredibly gracious about recording an episode of podcast that was that

was not going to be released for anyone ever, including now that the pilot episode is definitely gone forever. But like we recorded that episode and my producer Erica move who did fantastic work. She was like, that was a really good test episode. And I was like, yeah, let's fucking run it. She was like, no, it was a really good test episode. And I went like myself heartbroken, ready to break Soren's heart to tell him that this like electrifying thing that we did will never see the light of day.

And even then you were just like, no, I know, it's a pilot, I wasn't expecting it to. It was fun, I'm glad I got to help. Cause that's just the kind of guy Soren is. He's terrific. He is nowhere in this show. It's still really good though. I'll say that. I think it's really good. And I think that that was also the precursor to this, where we realized like, oh, we actually have... After this, we would go to conventions and stuff, and Daniel and I would do a panel together. It was like, oh, this is really fun and good.

We should capitalize on this energy. If anything, what you're listening to ends up being the precursor to this podcast. That's right. But in the meantime, what it will practically sound like is a thoroughly researched comedy podcast where I explain a president to a guest who has very little knowledge of that president and they riff and learn as we try to figure out why presidents were put on certain bills of American currency and a bunch of funny stories along the way. These guests include Hannah Hart, Leona Mabey, Patrick Stump from Fallout Boy, Golden Globe winner Rachel Bloom, and Ralph Garman, one of my genuine audio heroes.

Those are all the guests on the show. None of them are soaring. It sucks, but it's great that we got all those fun guests to listen to me blab around about presidents. You can listen to the first episode about George Washington and the dollar bill with Hannah Hart here right now once we finished talking and the rest you can listen to if you subscribe to our podcast and oh and Pay a certain amount of money on patreon That is the only place this podcast will live for the rest of time. I am exacting my very slow plot to retain the rights of all the things that I made for

years that are otherwise just going to disappear. And this is the first step. Listen to it. Bye. Bye. Take a minute and think about what you've got in your wallet. Uhhhhhhhhh... Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Literally my last birthday. Chances are you also have a few pictures of some dead white guys in your wallet, which will be especially true of the serial killers in my audience, but also vaguely true of most of you. And these guys are super dead and super white. There's George, Andrew, Abraham, Ulysses.

Yep, we're talking about dead presidents on dollar bills, yo! Welcome to the very first episode of Dead Presidents with Daniel O'Brien. I am your host, Daniel O'Brien. Some of you might know me from the comedy website crack.com where I'm the creative director of video. And some subset of you folks know that I am a hardcore presidential junkie. I've studied American presidents for over 10 years in my free time. I make videos about presidents, and last year I wrote a book about fighting our crazy presidents that John Hodgman called very funny and the United States government called lightheartedly

treasonous. Still, there's one weird presidential question that I haven't been able to answer. Why are these guys on our money? Even the US Treasury, and this is true, doesn't know, or at least they claim to not know, why certain presidents were chosen to appear on our cash. And since the Treasury Department will never reveal why certain presidents were chosen for certain denominations, I think you and I can figure it out, with some help from our guests.

So, on this episode of Dead Presidents, we're going to start at the obvious source, the man on the mighty $1 bill our very first American president George Washington Joining me to talk Washington's is YouTube comedian Hannah Hart of my drunk kitchen fame. Hi, Hannah Welcome, you know I liked about that intro I liked when you said now and this is true The blah blah blah Treasury da da da da da and it implies that everything else you say is not true Yeah, you don't add and this is true I'm gonna call out all the facts and you could just assume that everything else is just complete bullshit And this is true. I like that now because every time I give a vague science facts I'm like now this is actually real. Yeah, and it just kind of I guess discredits everything else

I say well great way to start a podcast And I want everyone to know that I've asked you to prepare absolutely nothing We just grabbed you from the street and brought you in. That's true. I was walking by Just picking up a banana and a cup of coffee and then suddenly So just some casual kidnapping Yeah Is fine because it's a podcast so it's art Putting the cash in casual Yeah, oh it begins

I should go But just you've nothing prepared, but I just want you to do what are your like knee-jerk thoughts on the $1 bill? Has it impacted you in any meaningful way? Wow. You know, when I first think of the $1 bill, I actually think of the dollar coin. That's the first time I really put any time thinking about money, which is when they came out with the Sacajawea coin, the gold coins.

And that was the first time I thought to myself, wait a minute, yeah, all the faces on all of our currency are dead white guys. Yeah. yeah yeah what's that all about yeah so that's that's the patriarchy yeah i like dollars i like dollar dollar bills y'all big fan of money sure yeah you know we could also live without it i think we'd be fine yeah i don't we'll just go back to burning man like a barter system that is such a bold stance like you've just immediately shut down my entire podcast without money No, no, nobody's great. I have a very limited connection to dollar bills

I brought one today, and this is and this is another thing that is true I have right in front of the dollar bill that is has been ripped in half by my dog Jackson Did that oh my god Andrew Jackson? He's named after Andrew Jackson. Yeah, his full name is Jackson president O'Brien I really like presidents Hannah. Did you know I could tell well? Yeah, his full name is Jackson President O'Brien. Are you still? Yeah. I really like Presidents Hannah, did you know? I could tell. Well yeah, I just- and he's not a destructive dog. I leave him home a lot and he's totally fine. And there was just a few days ago I came home and this dollar bill was like- I want to say wordlessly, but it's a dog so that always happens-

just ripped in half and like dropped on the ground. There was a dollar bill in my coffee can. How do you know it was a dog? Because there's- I mean it could have been a ghost, I guess, nothing else. Yeah, I mean, but I'm trying to figure out how your dog ripped this in half. It's a very clear tear down the center.

It's very clear, yeah. It's not chewed up or anything. There's not a piece missing. No. It's just, I think my best guess is that I was working a lot and my dog is trying to send me a message that is like, ugh. Ugh, I miss you, I miss money.

Money isn't everything. Also, isn't it, I don't wanna say sacrilege I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, I miss you, Many more interesting things than by fingerprints, I'll tell you that much. Yeah. You got some? No, I'm just saying, you know, dollars they got. I think that what else is it that... I've read fecal matter. I've read that there's lots of fecal matter on money that... And if that isn't a statement about our economy, I don't know what is. Yeah, let's get absolutely real.

Yeah, so that's my only dollar story and we're gonna get into president soon But I again you prepared nothing so it's fine if you don't but you have any why do you think George Washington in particular? Is on the one? Why do I think George Washington is on the one? Well, it's actually kind of obvious right? He's number one, right? Yeah, he's the first president that should be enough Yeah The dollar the dollar is something that you know is I would say probably the most common form of currency and in the states and so why not have George Washington our

Lord and Savior On the dollar bill. Yeah, well, let's get into let's talk about dollar bills a little bit the average lifespan of a dollar bill This is just some some fun facts for you is five point. Are these true? Yeah, these are all true The first dollar bill ever printed featured Lincoln's Secretary of Treasury, Salmon Chase, otherwise known as some fucking guy. Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.

The first dollar bill ever printed featured Lincoln's Secretary of Treasury, Salmon P. Chase. So when did George Washington get on the dollar bill? A few years after that. In the 1800s at some point. But it's crazy that- Because everybody was like, wait, who is this guy?

Right. Well, I think it's amazing that the guy tasked with like, hey, we should create money for the people. You know who would look good on it? Me. Just the Secretary of Treasury was like, this is people who really like seeing me. Even though I personally know President Lincoln in real life right now, I'm still gonna- I still think I belong on this bill.

Yeah, definitely. Definitely not President, you know, our current President, but you know, me. Me! I made up money. Salmon Chase. Everyone loves me. No country has ever had money before now. But I actually think that that's a really American way of looking at things, which is believing that no other country has ever done something that we're about to do, and it's revolutionary. Right. All of our thoughts. done something that we're about to do and it's revolutionary. All of our thoughts. You mentioned coins before, the dollar coin, and this is one of my favorite things to learn

in the research of this podcast, that in 2012 there was this amazing House subcommittee meeting about replacing the dollar bill with dollar coins. And you can read the transcripts like I did, like a maniac, there's like 42 pages of the transcripts of this subcommittee meeting, because it's filled with a lot of fascinating stuff. The request was shot down, I mean, obviously. It would have saved the American taxpayer $4.4 billion over 30 years. What?

But it was still shot down. Why was it shot down? One of the more resonant objections, there was representative, let me get his name, Lacey Clay, who, and this is also true, said, men don't like carrying coins in the pockets of their suits That was like all the objections that everyone like my god Yeah, because every single man in America every single person in America first of all so that's only talking about men

Yeah, every single person in America has a suit and they'd rather fill it with their crisp dollar bills Men don't prefer to jangle about like some silly woman I suppose. But it was crazy that like, you know who did, and this is true and fun, you know who was overwhelmingly in favor of switching to the coins is strippers. Like strippers as a union I suppose. I don't know if this poll was brought just to- Polls in the stripper poll? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know if it was brought was brought just to In the stripper poll yeah, yeah

I don't know if it was brought just to them or if they came out of the woodwork to say this would be really great But they know that men don't like Throwing coins they don't want to go to a strip club and bring a bunch of coins It's not like an easy way to right but wouldn't slide that into someone's g-string So if all dollars were coins that means most men are going to be using fives and above and strippers would object to this. No, they they they want the dollar coin. Oh, yeah. More than anything else.

Money. Yeah. So again, another strong argument for the dollar coin. Yeah. So we have two. Yep. So we've talked a lot about strippers and coins today. Now let's get back to Washington. He's pretty inarguably the most important president we've ever had. And we're going to talk about today, is it strange that he's on the one? Because every other bill has more value, and this one falls apart after, again, 5.9 years. Jefferson is on the two, which is like the rare currency, and it's interesting. And if someone has one, it's like, oh, that's so cool that you have that.

You can go to the bank and ask for them. Yeah, I'm not going to. I haven't walked inside of a bank in 10 years because I'm not a serial killer. Oh, because walking into a bank is right up there with carry-around coins and suit pockets? Yeah, absolutely, of course. If I can avoid... If I can use a machine instead of like actually interacting with a human, I will take that option any day of the week. 100%, is that how you feel? I like going into a bank and getting a crisp $2 bill. Ugh, that sounds like a fun Wednesday afternoon. Oh, you know. But again, if George is our most important president,

shouldn't we put him on like the million or the billion or something that is either more valuable or more rare or interesting? Is this blanket statement that George Washington is the most important president like a fact or is this your opinion? I guess it's your opinion. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I don't know if you heard, but I said he's pretty inarguably the most important president. I did hear that. I heard it. I didn't qualify that with this is true, but we'll add it in the post.

But back to Washington, I'm going to talk to you about him and why I think he belongs on the bill and you're entitled to jump in whenever you want. And you listeners at home cannot. This is a pre-recorded podcast. There's nothing you can do. You can shout at the comments below. Yeah. One of my favorite things about George Washington is his reluctance. He truly embodied this idea that all future candidates up to and including right now try to ape and echo.

He said he didn't want to be president. He just like had the calling of president thrust upon him like Cincinnati before him. He was a farmer who became a soldier when his country needed him to and then he went back to being a farmer. And then his country needed him to be a commander. So he went back to that. And he would have been a farmer,

but then his country just, like, needed him to be president. There was no one who could stand up against him. I know. And he's just like, I don't want to do this, but I heard the calling of God. And that was just, like, actually true of him. He was a simple guy. He liked gambling and farm work and every time he advanced politically he always did

it with like actual reluctance. Like he had no ambition but fate and circumstance had thrust upon him for the betterment of the country and people. That sounds like getting famous off YouTube. Just getting thrust more and more. This burden that you have to carry. That you have to bear. You're so brave.

I don't see any difference between you and George Washington. I literally see it. So, oh my God, when they reprint the dollar coin. Mm-hmm. Oh no, they already did that with Sacagawea. OK, I'm out. Sure. I'm out of the running.

See, humility. Yeah. Me and George. Yep. Yep. We're now changing the point of this podcast. Thank you. Back to Washington, even when he stepped down in his speech,

he said, having now finished the work assigned to me, I retire from the great theater of action and bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body under whose orders I have so long acted. I here offer my commission and take my leave of all the employments of public life. Wow. Which no one talks that cool anymore.

That's amazing. It's so beautiful. How awesome would that be when a president's done like for them to make so guys It's all corruption in a lie. I'm done and good luck America. God bless Have fun with whoever the next jump is. Yeah, yeah, but watching it he didn't like having now finished the work assigned to me is such a Beautiful thing to say and he didn't he didn't try to stay or anything even though he could have there weren't term limits Obviously he could have just kept being president

But he felt like he had done he had responded to his calling faithfully and now it was time to step down and he also Didn't say like PS I fucking crushed it. You're welcome. I won the war and then ran this country for eight years. Yeah Give me whatever I want for the rest of my life. He didn't say that. He was just like, I did my job dutifully. How many years was he president? Eight. Eight. So he is kind of where we get the, but that was only quote unquote, it was a term, but

not a term anymore because they didn't start limiting it until. Until FDR. Until FDR? Until FDR. Yeah. Really? I didn't know that. Because no one was, no one even wanted to.

Wanted to, yeah. And then FDR was president for three terms. And afterwards, they were like, that was you did a really great job, FDR. But we really shouldn't let people be president longer than Washington. He was a great president. He was. That's why they they they let it slide a little bit. But in general, they they made so many rules that like no commander or general can be awarded more medals than Washington.

So even if someone gets that, they've posthumously added like medals and awards to Washington. That seems so fantastically silly and like the last thing he would possibly want as like a person who is a humble man. Yeah. Be like, oh, I'm dead. Oh, you're giving me awards now just because. He's just pinning a bunch of medals on my corpse. Trying to deify me. Got it. Go for it. Yeah, that was definitely the plan. Yeah. Be like, oh, I'm dead. Oh, you're giving me awards now just because. Pinging a bunch of medals on my corpse. Trying to deify me. Got it. Go for it. Yeah, that was definitely the plan. Yeah. That's exactly what I wanted. But this is why today we have politicians who refuse to admit they have presidential ambitions until they're actually running. Like you see that every year. It's like McCain a few years

ago was very coy about like, oh, I don't think I want to run until the last minute where he's like You know what I was thinking about not running and then in a dream God came to me and was like look at the country You have to run everybody does that kind of thing now Washington set a President precedent I love that diddly-dly president precedent Yeah, I love that and everyone since has followed it that makes him the one and that alone should be enough to justify Him being on the bill But there's something that I need to bring up regarding resiliency because we mentioned earlier that a house subcommittee got together to try to replace

The dollar bill with coins. It's the smart move It's the move that we should adopt because it would save us all that money and because coins would survive much longer than dollar bills Which die so easily but Americans refuse to make the switch so the dollar persists, which means by all metrics of logic we should be killing the dollar bill, but it refuses to die, just like George fucking Washington. I'm going to say something that is easy to say with the benefit of history, but I'm going to say it anyway. George Washington should be dead.

Which is fine to say now, when he's been dead for a very long time. But I'm saying he should have been even deader much, much sooner because he was a maniac who enjoyed being shot at. Well, OK. So things are taking a little bit of a turn. Yeah, yeah. And that's also a true thing. So at first he was humble. Now he's a bit of a sadist. Yeah, yeah. He's a pretty kooky guy, our first president. And it's not like this is another true thing. It's not conjecture that he liked being shot at and it's not like a tough guy who's like Come at me kind of thing. This is a quote from a letter to his brother about his time on the battlefield during the war for independence

He said I heard the bullets whistle and believe me there was something charming to the sound of bullets Okay, which is an insane thing to say and there's something charming to the sound of bullets. Yeah. Wow, I insane thing to say. And there's something charming to the sound of bullets. Yeah. Wow. I disagree. I strongly disagree. And this, according to rumor, prompted King George III to remark that Washington's attitude would change if he'd heard a few more bullets.

And as we all know, one of those George's is on the dollar bill and the other one is on toilet paper. City, silly British money or pamphlets. I have no idea. I don't know what King George III's face is on. It was not just that Washington liked getting shot at. Like he would return from battle completely unharmed with bullet holes in his jacket and his horse shot out from under him.

Oh my God. He lost two horses in the same battle. I wanna be there when he goes back to home base and is like, you guys are gonna kill me for this. I need a third horse. It's crazy. I know, it's so fun I'm so sorry but I need I need one more horse first two are dead I'm alive yeah so can't promise this one won't get shot and like George I don't think you're good at this and we really need

horses for the people who don't keep losing them oh my god that's incredible yeah did anybody check wait remember that movie? Not Unbroken. What's that movie with uh? Unbreakable? Unbreakable. Yeah. The George Washington story. Yeah. Yeah, that's what this was about. Yeah. Yeah But he'd gotten shot at so many times that he like in letters had said that he didn't think he could be killed oh, like he really and then the thing that is scary to me is that I killed. Oh, like he really and then the thing that is scary to me is that I Believe it. I can't disprove him like he eventually died, but he was like I think I'm so full of like Goodness and and fate and Providence need me so much that I can't die in battle. Whoa. No one can prove him wrong

Wow, what a complex guy, you know on one hand he's saying I, I am burdened with the task of running this country and rising to my calling, and also by the way, like you can't kill me. Yeah. So, yikes. I'm just a humble farmer turned soldier turned god, so please follow me into battle. Speaking of battle, one of the things that people forget about Washington,

or that they didn't know, depending on the thoroughness of your public school system, he lost more battles than he won. And also there were better commanders alive in the country, but he was chosen because the people loved him. And I don't want to beat a dead horse, but it's in the same way the current Americans prefer having dollar bills than dollar coins, even though coins make way more sense. Like there were better commanders, but they were like, no we prefer George. We like this guy.

We just like him and we're pretty sure he's invincible. So we'll stick with him. Yeah, we're pretty sure. But he shouldn't have been successful. He was rash and short tempered on the battlefield and took battles very personally. And took horses to their grave. Yeah, yeah. He just killed.

We lost so many good horses to Washington because he just he saw every battle is like a dick measuring contest like it like an opposing force was there and It was like oh, they think they're they think they're better than me. Well, let me show them what I've got and throw Wave after wave of my soldiers to prove. Oh wow good. I am. Yeah, that's not the best plan, right? Yeah, not strategically right we had to switch that like we lost a number of battles because early on he just kept my soldiers to prove how good I am with this. That's not the best plan. Right. Not strategically. Right. We had to switch that.

We lost a number of battles because early on he just kept stubbornly throwing men there. As somebody who is a demigod that can't die, he's like, look guys, just run out there. Don't get shot by any of their bullets. Right. Just get a couple horses down and just keep going. Don't worry. Why are they dying? Yeah.

Guys, bullets don't work on us. Just go. It's fine. Don't worry. Why are they dying? Yeah guys bullets don't work on us. Just go it's fine Don't forget it wasn't they didn't start really turning the battle around until he embraced this style of like strategic retreat which ended up Saving the day in the end. Yeah He sent his men into battle even when the odds were stacked against them and he refused to retreat or back down even at The cost of human lives all because he wanted his enemy to know that they weren't as brave as he was or that their Their dicks weren't as big and crazy as crazy. Yeah, yeah, that was Washington stance Which are the perfect parallels between him and the dollar bill becoming clear yet?

He was wrong and rational and impractical, but it still somehow worked for him And we're still keeping the dollar bill even though it's patently impractical and bad for us. That's it. Wow Yeah, I'm seeing this parallel you've drawn. Yeah, good. Okay, you're taking us on a journey, sir. The podcast does not work if you don't see the parallel. But now that we're both in total agreement that I'm 100% right about this,

the question becomes how? Because we've laid out that Washington shouldn't have won the revolution, but history tells us that he did. So how? Great question, me. Good job, That's a fascinating question, Dan. This is Dan talks to people about his favorite subject, presidents. Yeah, yeah. I get it.

At the midpoint of every episode, the guest will just like leave and I'll continue yammering. Yeah, he's like, I love presidents. So fascinating. I just love coins in general. Tell me more things, Dan. I just love coins in general Tell me more things dad I will Washington firmly believed that Providence or fate was on his side in everything he did and you could read in his journal and the Wrigger letters that survived that he only very briefly doubted America's chances And even then when he did it was less about America and more about the weakness and lack of discipline

Among the men around him that he should have been Among the men around him that he should have been to discipline the weakness and lack of demigod status around the fallible Mortals muddying up his plan right the fact that these cowards kept dying when shot by bullets ridiculous Yeah, but in his mind he and his cause were always right even in the face of overwhelming odds. He was like oh, huh weird I'm supposed to win this it's like no one told them that I'm George fucking Washington And that's how a first-time commander won a war against the most powerful army and Navy in the world which is sheer blind madness and all those dead bodies yeah yeah wave after wave of people who believed in him oh god believe yeah he's terrifying I know it's crazy right I'm really good to

believe in things or not if you're specifically if you're Washington yes if you're anyone else no no no it doesn't work out for you. And most of us aren't Washington. They did a poll recently, and in fact, none of us are anymore. Oh my god. So a real bummer. I know. I thought maybe a little bit me, but no.

Yeah, was that like in the census last year? Are you George Washington? And the vast majority said no. Yeah, yeah. There was a slim group that said yes. Yeah. Coincidence though. But they were wrong, yeah.

They were not the real one. They're actually just named that. Back to Washington, he said he was going to win, yes. Yeah. Yeah. Coincidence. But they were wrong, yeah. But they were not the real one. They're actually just named that. Yeah. Back to Washington, he said he was going to win, and he did. He said he couldn't be killed, and he said it with such casual authority and certainty

that I don't know, I'm not going to tell him wrong, and no one else did. Even death waited on him. He died December of 1799. He fell ill, and a team of doctors tried for hours to restore his health. And then Washington, the most important person in the world at the time Sent the doctors away on his deathbed Washington told his aide Tobias Lear

I am just going and then he died while taking his own pulse. Oh My god. Yeah Wow. I want to go with that conviction. Yeah, like hey guys Um, you know what? I'm done. Yeah. Oh, I comically tilted my head to the side. Where is at home? Yeah. Yeah. And like taking his own pulse, I guess because there weren't like machines that were doing the beep thing back then. So he's like, I want to die.

I want to make sure. No, still alive, still alive. Oh, here it comes. There it is. So my final takeaway is from Washington's life and specifically how they relate to the dollar bill. They're both the first thing. And I put an asterisk on that.

On the word thing? On the word first actually because they're the first thing that we know of, but both of them coincidentally had predecessors. Like he wasn't, he was the first technical president of the United States, but when the Continental Congress met, and they're officially like, we're not part of Great Britain anymore, there was a president of that, John Hanson, I think, but no one talks about him.

So there's technically a president of what would be America, and we're like, no, we don't care, George Washington, just in the same way that- No, we should do that tall guy, that tall, humble demigod guy. Can't see that glow about him. Let's just, will you be president?

Yeah, and even in the first election, John Hanson was like, I don't know, I kind of nailed it. I have a little bit of experience being president. No, we still don't want me? Okay. Got it. In the same way that the dollar bill was like, the first one was Sam and Chase, we're still like, no that doesn't count. You're not the first anything. No one's gonna remember your name except Daniel. Wow, not much has changed about presidencies Huh, no, you know now or the way the people choose their leader to follow. Yeah, wow we never learn we never learn

Well, we can learn and that's what this podcast is about learning. Yeah, everyone. I hope you wrote down everything I said Other similarities between the two Other similarities between the two Memorize this entire conversation like a monologue and deliver it to strangers. Thank you. They all know Hannah yes, do you believe me do you think George should still be on the bill? Go Do I believe you do I think George should still be on the bill I? You know I've learned a lot about George Washington throughout the course of this conversation, but I

Still really miss FDR. Yeah, you want FDR on the bill? I want him on a bill. Maybe take out Andrew Jackson. I'd be down. You've seen Jackson's face change. I thought it got bigger. Yeah, it got bigger and they use like a different portrait of him. Yeah, but that's not like a person change. No, no, right I've never seen a person chain. I'll just any of her currency. Well, it's gonna happen in your lifetime, buddy Wow, but it's gonna be Hamilton, buddy Well, all right, all right, well there's that yeah, so yes, I think that Washington is very I mean I'm into it I'm into it. Okay, good. No, I'm gonna edit out everything so There's no disagreement and I say Hannah. Do you believe me and you say I'm into it and I'm into it. Okay good. You know I'm gonna edit out everything so There's no disagreement, and I say Hannah. Do you believe me and you say I'm into it, and that's gonna be the cut of the episode

Do you have any final thoughts we've reached the my final thoughts include Take Jackson off the 20 George Washington way cooler and more fascinating than I ever knew and also I'm pro dollar coins. Yeah, I feel I it's always my goal to educate and inspire. Inspire? I've written down everything you've said. Yeah good and I wanted to leave here with you like I understand why Washington is on the bill and I support it but I'm really happy that you've adopted these new causes like FDR needs to be on money, Andrew Jackson should be taken off and we should go to the dollar coins like I like that

I think George Washington would like that because you know of his humble nature He'd want me to leave the podcast with goals that were truly true to me. Yeah. Yeah, that's a really good Thanks, man end of podcast line Yeah!