he bought his mother a beautiful house in fredericksburg and had given her a lot of money and that was his reward. i speculate in the books that the first grade general said george washington never had to do battle with was his mother. it is a difficult mother to deal with and a father who died when george was 11. it is no wonder he doesn't start out as a saint. then what happens is fascinating. in the 1760s with the stamp act and the intolerable acts and the boston tea party washington begins to realize that all of his personal grievances simply reflect a larger political problem in that the deck has been stacked against the colonists. and then suddenly and rather gloriously all of his feelings about the british are elevated into the universal principles of freedom and liberty and justice, rather miraculous to behold. he begins to find his political voice and that political voice is very strong and very militant. if ever there was a man who was noble by circumstances, if ever there was a man who was fired up by a just and righteous cause of that man is george washington who is you sha

and it's hiding out there in fredericks burg primarily because admiral anymore miss was from fredericksburg. but there's a symposium there every september, and it's attended by academics like me and also by world war ii vets. now, i say this because it's very clear in speaking to the world war ii veterans -- and now we're 60 years out from world war ii -- that this was for very many of them the most important experience in their lives. this was, in my -- many ways, the thing that defined their lives. when ed was giving the introduction, he pointed out that theodore roosevelt felt this way, that he had missed something by being too young for the civil war. and as one of the contributors of theodore roosevelt's enthusiasm -- and that's not putting it too strongly -- >> spiewz yam for war in the 1890s. it was said that he was looking for a war. he didn't care who the enemy was, he was just looking for any war. and the point was to define himself the way, for example, the generation of world war ii has defined it. and i say this with the greatest respect because for people who participate in wa

vernon volvo she lived in fredericksburg which is not very far away. historic rumor has even tagged her as a possible tory during the war. george's father died when he was 11. george was the eldest son. mary felt that george should be taking care of her rather than pursuing his career. even in his 20s on the western frontier he suddenly received a letter from his mother saying she urgently needs a new dutch servant and some butter as if he is supposed to drop his regimental duties and go fetch his poor mother some butter. late in the revolutionary war much more bizarre, washington received a letter from the speaker of the virginia assembly to says dear general, something has been going on in the virginia state capitol at richmond and no one has had the courage to tell you about it. your mother has been here for a couple months. she has applied for a special petition for emergency relief claiming poverty and hinting at abandonment by you know who, the commander in chief. washington was a very dutiful son and brought his mother's beautiful house given he

caller: this is alex and fredericksburg, maryland. my thinking is that there are lots of secondary courses here and there is a root cause, and if we do not get to the root cause, it does not matter what it amplifies the problem it will continue to happen as it happened at virginia tech. guest: what is the root cause? caller: i am against the ruling of the second amendment. and i think their ruling is saying it is a militia, as opposed to what it was set up for in the early 18th century. host: you think the supreme loosening up gun laof gun laws has led to this? caller: yeah. if your jurisdiction has a high crime rate, you really do not have to report it, and i think it is spending statistics -- bending statistics. host: it is possible we may seek an legislation introduced in the wake of the shootings. there is reports that a congresswoman is developing such legislation. independent fine, go ahead. i would like to set the political rhetoric, all of this western ankle and her second amendment solution, honestly this is off the hook. as