I just finished reading a very good book titled “1776” by David McCullough — a Christmas gift from a fine and thoughtful friend. If you have not yet devoured this book, I highly recommend you do so. I learned many details of the Revolutionary War era that I never knew. High school history class may have included this information but I can safely assume I was not listening. No doubt my wandering, gymnastic, ADD, teenage mind was either focused on the girls in the class or on the pending basketball game against one of our rival schools.

This work of words is not the politically motivated encomium that one might hear on either Fox News or CNN. The author plays fair and gives equal description and weight to Gen. George Washington’s blunders and victories. For example, Washington secures Boston, only to completely lose New York City soon afterward — all due to tactical errors in strategy or ignoring the input of his war council members.

Triumph does eventually arrive but not without significant time and casualty. Our ancestors’ battle for independence was full of defeat, discouragement, defection and all too infrequent jubilation. They endured hardship and calamities none of us will ever experience. Descriptions of sickness, living conditions and brutal warfare paint a bleak prognosis for these revolutionary rebels.

I will forever be amazed and grateful for the eventual outcome that provides all the freedoms we possess — past, present and future.

Spurred by these forerunners of history’s experiences, I searched for my own ancestors on the Family Tree app. Low and behold, I find two fifth-great-grandfathers served in the Revolutionary War! One of them under Gen. Nathanael Greene, who was Gen. Washington’s right-hand man in many engagements. Another ancestor served as a pastor to the enlisted men. How proud am I to be well descended, but the glory does belong to my ancestors for doing their part in our fledgling country’s effort for independence from what they considered to be tyranny.

As I ponder our first president and my military ancestors, my thoughts turn to other individuals, at all levels of government. Past presidents, members of Congress and our own state of Idaho elected officials. Each one of these men and women, like Gen. Washington, are fallible humans — capable of misjudgement, oversights and bad decisions. We as a society need to accept that fact. As the 2022 legislative session continues in Boise, let’s give them all a fair chance of succeeding. Do not expect perfection but hope they possess and exert the perseverance of Gen. Washington to arrive at a beneficial and satisfactory outcome. They deserve our support and feedback, whether or not we agree with them at the moment. Whether or not that support continues at the ballot box is up to them.

Paraphrasing Benjamin Franklin in his description of members of the first Continental Congress, “Assembling a number of men for the advantage of their joint wisdom.” He correctly states that along with that wisdom, “comes their prejudices, their passions and their errors of opinion. Their local interests and their selfish vices.” His opine could be used to describe not just our Idaho Legislature but any and all state governments. Mr. Franklin did consent to the Constitution when the vote was tallied, acknowledging that it was not perfect but the best they could do.

To quote Thomas Paine, “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country (state) but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” This sentiment possibly carried Washington through the trials of war, may it also carry us and our leaders through our own unwelcome brand of troubled times.

Todd Thomas was born and raised in Preston. He’s currently serving his fourth term on the Preston City Council and works full time as a physical therapist. He can be reached at toddt@prestonid.us.