When I was in school in the 60's the worm was starting to turn regarding our 
attitudes toward historical figures. I recall the rather cutesy remark, "We 
all know that George Washington  fathered more than just our country." 
Wink. Wink.
Well. He most probably did not father anyone or anything except this 
country....if you happen to accept him as the grand patriarch of the 
hagiography of yesteryear.
This is a minor example of how stuff gets started, is bandied about 
classrooms without a shred of evidence and works its way into history.

DF Mills
York County, VA




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Jurretta Heckscher" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, May 21, 2007 5:00 PM
Subject: Re: Anne Pemberton's query


> Anne Pemberton's query is interesting as a manifestation of a certain kind 
> of persistent historical folklore.  Among Americans, at least, who are (or 
> used to be) taught to see major national figures as impossibly heroic, 
> there is a compensatory counter-stream of popular stories attributing 
> various types of sexual misconduct to them.  (I imagine the same goes for 
> other "rulers" in other societies.)
>
> For instance, one friend of mine, who attended high school several decades 
> ago, swears her U.S. history teacher taught her some particularly lurid 
> tale (whose details, alas, I've forgotten) involving GW and some salacious 
> escapade.  She was amazed when I told her I thought the story was wildly 
> improbable.  I found it interesting that her decades-long belief in the 
> story hadn't seemed to cause her to question GW's place in history: 
> instead, against all the heroic mythology, the tale apparently functioned 
> for her as a balancing assertion that GW could misbehave like any other 
> man.