Washington’s Birthday (Presidents Day)

This Inside the Vaults video short highlights a letter written by President George Washington to his friend, Gov. Henry Lee of Virginia, on July 3, 1792. In the letter, Washington turns down the request of the artist William Williams, who wished to paint the President's portrait. Mount Vernon associate curator Laura Simo explains that Washington was weary of frequently posing for portraits during his Presidency.

This Inside the Vaults video short tells the story of formerly missing letters between President Abraham Lincoln and Union surgeons that appeared in the auction catalog of a rare documents dealer and were returned to the National Archives in 2011. The letters are dated shortly after the Battle of Antietam occurred: Union surgeons wrote to President Lincoln requesting that he appoint a chaplain to serve the wounded, dying and dead in hospitals near Hagerstown, Maryland.

Using George Washington's extensive but often overlooked financial papers, Edward G. Lengel chronicles how this self-educated man built the Mount Vernon estate into a vast, multilayered enterprise; prudently managed meager resources to win the Revolutionary War; and as President, helped establish the national economy on a solid footing.

Lincoln's Greatest Speech: The Second Inaugural.

The film features actor Richard Dreyfuss giving a dramatic reading of the speech, followed by historical analysis. Filmmaker Ken Kebow and author Ronald C. White, Jr.