Suite 308 – 2708 Alternate 19
Palm Harbor, Florida 34683
Copyright 2008 by
Stanley L. Klos All Rights
reserved including the Right
of Reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
Medallion Design and Artwork by: Mike Shaudis & Stanley L. Klos
Edited by:
Michelle Gerson
Special Thanks To:
Richard J. Pomazal, Ph. D
ISBN: 0-9752627-8-5
Manufactured in the United States of America
Introduction
Chapter I The Presiding
Presidency - 6
Chapter II Continental
Congress Presidents - 32
Chapter III Constitution of
1777 Presidents - 45
Chapter IV
What Would Peyton Do? - 190
Bibliography 200
End Notes
207
Introduction
John
Trumbull's "Washington Resigning His Commission," a painting in the
Rotunda of the current Capitol building of the United States of America.
Washington’s resignation as the First Commander-in-Chief of the United States
and Colonies of America occurred in Annapolis at the Maryland State House.[i]
This
book was written as a companion to the author’s previous work, President Who?Forgotten Founders. The work is divided into four chapters. The first
chapter provides a brief history of the Presidencies of the Continental Congress
and United States in Congress Assembled. The second chapter focuses on the
Continental Congress Presidents with a sampling of author’s traveling exhibit:
Forgotten Founders - Historic Documents of Freedom. The third chapter
covers the current $1.00 Presidential coin controversy, Klos v. Paulson with
crisp biographies on the Constitution of 1777 Presidents. This chapter
also unveils the coins the author proposed to Secretary of the Treasury Paulson
representing the Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled on the
obverse with the reverse capturing ten different Capitol buildings of their
presidencies. The fourth and final chapter is entitled “What Would Peyton
Do?” and it is a clever chapter challenging the reader to speculate, along
with the author, on what the founders would do? as 21st Century U.S.
Presidents.
Peyton
Randolph was the first President of the Continental Congress of the United
Colonies, which was the seed that flourished into today’s U.S. Presidency.
Randolph, the Attorney General of the Virginia Colony and Chairman of the
Virginia House of Burgesses, was an important mentor of George Washington. As
Attorney General, Randolph backed his appointment as an officer in the Virginia
Militia, which led to Washington’s remarkable journey to Jumonville Glen
sparking the French and Indian War. Peyton
Randolph was proclaimed a rebel and traitor to the Crown long before George
Washington and orders were issued for his arrest shortly after serving his first
term as President of the Continental Congress.
[ii]
Randolph, unswayed by the royal death warrant, served a second term as
President. During his second term Randolph, along with John Adams, heavily
supported Washington’s candidacy and subsequent appointment of
Commander-in-Chief over John Hancock in 1775. Randolph was so revered in
Virginia that after serving his second term and returning home the Williamsburg
Militia, in direct opposition to the Royal Governor, voluntarily offered him its
protection in a public address that concluded:
"May heaven grant you long to live the father of your
country – and the friend to freedom and humanity!"
[iii]
The
title of the fourth chapter, What Would Peyton Do?, is taken from a
letter Thomas Jefferson wrote to his grandson declaring that:
I had the good fortune to
become acquainted very early with some characters of very high standing, and to
feel the incessant wish that I could ever become what they were. Under
temptations & difficulties, I would ask myself what would Dr. Small, Mr. Wythe,
Peyton Randolph do in this situation? What course in it will insure me their
approbation? I am certain that this mode of deciding on my conduct, tended more
to its correctness than any reasoning powers I possessed. Knowing the even &
dignified line they pursued, I could never doubt for a moment which of two
courses would be in character for them. Whereas, seeking the same object through
a process of moral reasoning, & with the jaundiced eye of youth, I should often
have erred. From the circumstances of my position, I was often thrown into the
society of horse-racers, card-players, fox hunters, scientific and professional
men, and of dignified men; and many a time have I asked myself in the
enthusiastic moment of the death of a fox, the victory of a favorite horse, the
issue of a question eloquently argued at the bar or in the great council of the
nation, Well, which of these kinds of reputation should I prefer? That of a
horse-jockey? a fox-hunter? an orator? or the honest advocate of my country's
rights? Be assured, my dear Jefferson, that these little returns into ourselves,
this self-catechizing habit, is not trifling nor useless, but leads to the
prudent selection and steady pursuit of what is right."[iv]
Chapter IV asks this question; What would the
Presidents do today to improve 21st Century America?
In this
Internet age, communication is instantaneous. The amount of misinformation
permeating the written and visual record is astounding. Careful scholarship,
now more than ever, must be observed, especially on matters historically
important to the national identity of the United States of America, which
founded the Internet. This author, whenever possible, has gone directly to
primary sources to minimize human error striving to give an accurate account of
the United States Presidency’s founding and progression from 1774 to 1788. This
is a serious effort to present, outline and discuss the era and dispel commonly
held myths about the earliest history of the United States
The
chapter discussing “What the Presiding Presidents Would Do? in 21st
Century America has been covered simplistically as “everything should be made
as simple as possible, but not simpler” – Albert Einstein. Bridging 18th
and 21st Century issues in conjunction with the U.S. founding is no
small task. Additionally, there is a plethora of scholars, politicians,
philosophers and citizens who have an intellectual treasure chest of knowledge
and competency on the above topica far superior to this author. Therefore, it
is this writer’s hope that these brief biographical chapters will act as a
catalyst to stimulate creative patriotic minds to whole heartedly research the
U.S. Founding Era and what the Presidents accomplished under national challenges
far greater than we face today. History is the Crystal Ball to the Future and
We the thinking People are life’s Oracles.
General George Washington First
Commander-in-Chief June 16, 1775 to
December 23, 1783
The
origin of the U.S. Presidency can be traced back to the convening of the
American Colonial Congress on September 5, 1774 when the delegates elected
Peyton Randolph of Virginia as their President. Originally just called
Congress, the word Continental was added to the name on October 20, 1774 in the
Articles of Association primarily to distinguish this Congress from the many
Congresses being held throughout the Colonies at that time.
[i]Journals of the United States in Congress Assembled, December 23,
1783
[ii]
Force, Peter; AMERICAN ARCHIVES: Containing A Documentary History Of The
United States Of America , Letter From London To A Gentleman Of New-York,
Dated January 30, 1775”
[iii]
Peyton Randolph House at Colonial Williamsburg, http://www.history.org/, The
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation 2008.
[iv]
Leicester, Paul Editor, The Works of Thomas Jefferson General
Correspondence, Thomas Jefferson to his grandson, Thomas Jefferson Randolph,
November 24, 1808
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