George Washington

George Washington (1732-1799) was the Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783, and later the first President of the United States, an office to which he was twice elected unanimously (unanimous among the Electoral College) and held from 1789 to 1797. In 1787, he presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the current United States Constitution. His two-term administration set many policies and traditions that survive today. Washington did not run for a third term, thereby establishing an important precedent that was to serve as an example for the United States and also for other future republics.

Because of his central role in the founding of the United States, Washington is often called the "Father of his Country." Scholars rank him with Abraham Lincoln among the greatest of United States presidents.

Aside from portraits which hang in school classrooms and post offices, the painting Washington Crossing the Delaware is also one of the classic interpretations of the President.

Muppet characters

as part of Mount Rushmore

as a child in a Sesame Street News Flash segment
performed by Jerry Nelson

as an Orange Gold Anything Muppet in two Season 18 Sesame Street sketches

in the Muppet Meeting Film "Great Salespeople in History"
performed by Peter Linz

Visual depictions

Rowlf the Dog as Washington in a 1968 IBM meeting film

Miss Piggy as Washington in I Love Liberty

George Washington (Henson) in "The People in Your Neighborhood"

Washington crossing the Delaware, as seen on Lydia

Jim Henson takes the place of Washington on the US $1 bill in Time Piece

"Kermit Washington" in "This Old Nursery"

An Elvis as Thomas Jefferson, standing before Washington's portrait

On the wall of a classroom at Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School

Spectator Washington in "Jazz #10"

Old West sketch

Sesame Street Episode 0962

Sesame Street Episode 1436

painting of Washington, adorning George Washington High School in Kermit's Swamp Years

Kermit as Washington for US State Quarters

US Mint commercial video shoot

Twiddlebugs' "portrait" of Washington

Sesame Street cartoon animated by Gene Barretta

The Street We Live On

"President the Musical"

Kermit in a 2014 Presidents Day video Disney Studios Facebook

Bert in a 2015 Presidents Day image Sesame Street Instagram

Elmo as Washington in a Hamilton promo

Piggy as Washington in The Muppets Present… Great Moments in American History

a portrait in Principal Sherman's office on Aliens in the Family

References

• A photo of Jim Henson from the 1950s is reproduced in a resource book for the Jim Henson's Fantastic World exhibit, in which he is holding his pet cat, named George Washington.
• Jim Henson's head appeared in the place of George Washington's on the one dollar bill in Time Piece.
• Two Washington heads appear in the Sesame Street animated insert Jazz #2, and make an encore appearance in Jazz #10.
• Thomas Twiddlebug brings home a George Washington postage stamp picture to hang on the wall. The Twiddlebug family mistakenly hangs it upside down and deduce that "maybe George Washington liked to stand on his head."
• Lydia, the pig who danced to "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" in episode 102 of The Muppet Show, has a tattoo of Washington crossing the Delaware River on her body.
• The Sesame Street Muppets reenact the crossing of the Delaware in The Sesame Street 1976 Calendar, with Bert playing the role of Washington.
• In The Sesame Street Dictionary, Roosevelt Franklin is showing writing the date George Washington became president on the chalkboard for the entry for "date."
• The Muppets appeared in a sketch about the Second Continental Congress in the 1982 special I Love Liberty, a celebration of the 250th anniversary of Washington's birth. Miss Piggy appeared in that sketch as George Washington, despite Kermit's insistence that Washington wasn't at the Continental Congress. She also appeared as Abraham Lincoln and the Statue of Liberty.
• In the unaired Muppet Minute segments for 60 Minutes, Washington's visage on Mount Rushmore periodically discussed his historical achievements or reputation (such as being first in war and first in peace or his wife Martha). In one sketch discussing the fall 1983 TV season, the three part miniseries George Washington comes up after George expressed disdain for television in general. He scoffs at the notion of Barry Bostwick playing him and feels Patty Duke Astin is too short for Martha. However, the inclusion of Jaclyn Smith (as Sally Fairfax) meets with mutual approval.
• Bert and Ernie look at a portrait of Washington in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the 1983 special Don't Eat the Pictures.
• An Elvis appeared as Washington in a Great Moments in Elvis History sketch on episode 101 of Muppets Tonight.
• Kermit appeared as "George Washingtoad: The First Amphibian to Cross the Delaware" in the 1997 coloring book Great Muppets in American History.
• The name of the school that Dr. Hugo Krassman teaches at in Kermit's Swamp Years is George Washington High School.
• George Washington appears in front of 123 Sesame Street in The Street We Live On, as a false answer to Elmo's question about who lives on Sesame Street.
• In a Sesame Street cartoon, Washington is seen trying to get an even number of shipmates on his boat.
• In the Sesame Street sketch "Are You Smarter Than an Egg Layer?", contestant Miriam guesses that two eggs plus one is George Washington.
• A talking portrait of Washington appears in President Elmo's office in the "Elmo the Musical" segment "President the Musical."
• A 2016 Presidents Day post of the official Sesame Street Instagram account showed a picture of "Bert Washington." (view)

See also

• Muppet Portrayals of US Presidents
• Washington, D.C.
• Washington Monument
• "George Washington Bridge"