GEORGE WASHINGTON WAS AN EMBEZZELER

It seems that the practice of making an extra buck in politics in America dates back to the very first Presidency.  We learn in school that America’s first President, George Washington was this “pure as the driven snow” type guy who could not tell a lie. Well it turns out that that’s not quite true.

In 1795, a Clerk of Congress had published in a Philadelphia newspaper a detailed breakdown of how much money Washington had taken from the U.S. Treasury beyond his Constitutionally-sanctioned $25,000 a year salary.  According to the paperwork seen by the clerk, the Father of Our Country started out honest, drawing exactly his salary of $25,000 during year one.  But over the course of the second year, Washington took $30,150, embezzling $5,150.  In his third year, maybe suffering a little guilt, he took a little less than his salary, $24,000.  But, he made up for it during his fourth year by taking an extra $1,000.

By Washington’s second term Congress had passed an act calling for the President to be paid $6,250 every three months.  However, in the first quarter of his second term, Washington took $11,000 from the Treasury.   At this point the Clerk of Congress must have lost access to Washington’s financial dealings because there aren’t any other references to any further embezzlement by the face on our dollar bill, George Washington.

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July 2nd, 2009 | Tags: 4th of July radio content, George Washington's embezzling | Category: Daily Blog, Holidays