Happy Birthday to my pal George

Did you ever play the totally nerdy party game of "who is your favorite Founding Father"? Of course I have, many times. As a self-respecting WM alum I cannot say the pompous "Mr. Jefferson." While I respect the intellects of John Adams and James Madison, and Benjamin Franklin's' wit, there is only one dead white male who can claim my heart- George Washington. Maybe it's because of  that Barry Bostwick miniseries that aired when I was a child, or the awesomeness of Mount Vernon's back piazza overlooking the Potomac, or his action hero/political patron saint status. Or maybe it's because our birthdays are a few days apart. Either way, my first president crush has not subsided.

As an early present to myself, I picked up this set of coasters at the museum's President's Day sale. They are like the "greatest hits" of the museum's Washington portraits, and I'd had my eye on them for weeks.

Clockwise from upper right we have:

• George Washington at the Battle of Princeton-James Peale 1804 (Note the tragic battle death scenes happening in the background.)
• George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army - Charles Peale Polk 1787-93 (There are about 70 copies of this "Princeton portrait" floating around various museum galleries)
• George Washington Reviewing the Western Army at Fort Cumberland, the 18th of October 1794 - Frederick Kemmelmeyer, 1794-1800 (Go suppress that Whiskey Rebellion, G-dubs!)
• Washington at Verplanck's Point - John Trumbull, 1790 (They say this was Martha's favorite portrait of her husband. This is also my favorite version of his horse.)