Please Click LIKE at the bottom of this commentary, and share it everywhere!! By Craig Andresen – The National Patriot – Commentary
Those of us lucky enough to have received an education rather than an indoctrination think of our nation’s Founding Fathers as serious men on a mission. History books are filled with their grand achievements, their deep thoughts, boldness, courage and their vision for a new nation.
That particular association of the Founders regarding their gravitas has been made more compelling through paintings and etchings depicting them as very serious fellows, but there are things about them that while true, seem to have been glossed over unless one is willing to take a deeper dive into their…quirkiness.
Let’s start at the top with the Father of our Country – George Washington.
We all know that certain presidents have been known to spout off from time to time. Harry S. Truman reportedly had no problem calling a “son-of-a-bitch” a “son-of-a-bitch,” and both LBJ and Nixon were widely known to use colorful language, but a deep dive into our first president reveals the man had an explosive temper and a short fuse. He was also, reportedly, fond of swearing.
In spite of issuing a general order on August 3rd, 1776, which stated, “The General is sorry to be informed that the foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing, a vice hitherto little known in our American Army is growing into fashion. He hopes that the officers will, by example as well as influence, endeavor to check it and that both they and the men will reflect that we can little hope of the blessing of Heaven on our army if we insult it by our impiety and folly. Added to this it is a vice so mean and low without any temptation that every man of sense and character detests and despises it,” but apparently, Washington was immune from his own order.
In the lead-up to the Battle of Monmouth in 1778, General Charles Scott, who witnessed the event, said he cussed “until leaves shook on the trees … never have I enjoyed such swearing before or since.” On another occasion, General Washington supposedly nudged his heavyset artillery chief, General Henry “Ox” Knox, with his boot while boarding the rowboat to cross the Delaware and said, “Shift that fat ass, Harry, but slowly, or you’ll swamp the damned boat.”
After he become our first president however, there are no reported cases of George using such colorful metaphors.
Over the past couple of centuries there has been no shortage of either suspected, or blatant cases of high-level extracurricular carousing by our top officials. JFK apparently couldn’t keep it in his pants, and we’re all familiar will Bill Clinton’s escapades including his Oval Office humidor. Looking back in history to our Founding Fathers, we find that perhaps the first well-known instance of doing the hanky-panky involved none other than Alexander Hamilton.
The Reynolds Affair involved Hamilton and a married woman, Maria Reynolds. When her husband threatened to make the matter public, which would have ruined Hamilton’s political career, as well as probably ending his stint as U.S. treasury secretary, Alex penned a pamphlet detailing his side of the story to get out in front of the scandal. Maria Reynolds, in turn, later sued her husband for divorce.
Oddly, Maria’s attorney in that divorce was the one and only…Aaron Burr…who, years later, shot and killed Hamilton in a famous duel, thus converting Burr from an American hero into a villain, and Hamilton from a white Founding Father into a black Broadway musical icon.
Next up – John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
While the two were colleagues, and worked together to create our new nation, they were far from friendly to one another most of the time. That’s pretty much well-known, and it’s somewhat well-known that Adams hated being the Vice President, as he believed the office to be useless. In fact, Adams once wrote that the office was the “most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived.” But there were things Adams and Jefferson had a shared interest in, one of those being ardent admirers of William Shakespeare. In 1786, Tom and John sailed to England and while there, toured Bill’s home in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Tom thought it cost too much for the tour, John was happy to fork over the coinage but there was one thing BOTH of those Founding Fathers did while on that tour together – both those historically stoic men actually CHIPPED OFF PIECES OF THE BARD’S CHAIR, and kept them as souvenirs.
Before I get to our quirkiest Founding Father, allow me to provide a couple of honorable mentions regarding Thomas Jefferson.
While President Trump has famously, or infamously used social media to express his thoughts on any spur-of-the-moment topics, such technology wasn’t available to Thomas Jefferson. In his day, broadcasting one’s thoughts consisted of shouting through an opened window, which often required repeating one’s self over and over, and it let in the flies. Jefferson however, was a prolific writer of letters. In fact, he penned roughly 19,000 letters in his lifetime, sending one copy to the intended recipient and keeping a second copy for his own files. Oddly, while minister to France, Jefferson often wrote letters to Abigail Adams, but never wrote one to his own wife.
Presidential use of the White House lawn for spectacles like Biden did with his topless, dancing tranny celebration, or Trump did recently with his UFC fight night event is nothing new, but did any of our quirky Founding Fathers ever do such things?
Do bears shit on the White House lawn?
In 1807, a U.S. Military Captain gifted two GRIZZLY BEARS to President Jefferson, and until he could make arrangements to have them taken to a handler in Philadelphia, those bears were kept in a cage, doing what bears do on the White House lawn, for two months. It was the first time a military officer ever gave the President of the United States a gift.
The second time was when Doug McArthur gave Harry S. the finger.
Okay, the quirkiest of our favorite Founding Fathers –Ben Franklin.
At the young age of 19, Ben didn’t believe in free will and self-published a pamphlet entitled ‘A Dissertation Upon Liberty and Necessity, Pleasure and Pain,’ in which he tried to make the case that humans didn’t actually have free will and thus weren’t responsible for their behavior…making Franklin perhaps our nation’s first liberal. As he got a bit older, Ben did the 18th century equivalent of deleting his X account by gathering up all the copies of his early paper he could find, and burning them.
Franklin is historically well know for lots of things including kite flying in the rain, and inventing the pot-bellied stove and bifocals, but it was his personal habits that raised eye brows but failed to be included in most history books. Ben Franklin found flatulence…funny. In an attempt to irritate the Royal Academy of Brussels, which he found a bit too stuffy and focused on impractical science, Franklin penned a text titled “Fart Proudly,” in which he championed a scientific breakthrough in making toots more pleasant-smelling. He never did send it to the Academy, but he did apparently share it amongst friends in polite society.
Franklin also had a peculiar habit of taking what he referred to as “air baths.” Franklin would wander about his quarters, or sit near an open window for up to an hour every morning…stark naked…claiming that the practice cured all sorts of ailments. While on a diplomatic mission in Europe, in 1776, Franklin and John Adams had to share a room at an Inn, and when Ben proceeded with his daily “air bath” ritual, Adams was taken aback and insisted the window be closed. We only know about this because Adams noted it in his diary, and according to Adams, Franklin won the argument, the window remained open, and while Franklin lectured Adams regarding ventilation and respiration, Adams fell asleep.
That’s Adams’ version, but one has to wonder if Adams didn’t relent after remembering Franklin’s fondness of flatulence humor and let discretion win out over valor.
As disgusted as Adams was at having to share a room with a naked man taking an “air bath,” perhaps had he tried on a pair of Franklin’s bifocals, he would have realized it really wasn’t as…big of a deal…as he initially believed it to be.
Now then, the next time you gaze upon portraits of our Founding Fathers, along with the stoic courage depicted in such paintings, you’ll smile…knowing their gravitas was, from time to time, interrupted by the quirkiness omitted from history books.
Copyright © 2026 Craig Andresen / thenationalpatriot.com all rights reserved
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For more political commentary please visit my RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS partner Diane Sori’s latest Op-Ed at The Patriot Factor, On America’s 250th Birthday.
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RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS…LIVE!
Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 30th, from 7 to 8:30pm EST, RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS Craig Andresen and Diane Sori discuss ‘‘,On America’s 250th Birthday” – ‘Our Quirky Founding Fathers’; and important news of the day. Tune in to RIGHT SIDE PATRIOTS on https://rspradio1.com Click ‘LISTEN LIVE.’
