height |
"Very tall for his generation -- over six feet -- with reddish hair and gray-blue eyes, his face massive, his shoulders narrow for his height but his hands and feet tremendous, George exuded such masculine power as frightens young women just wakening to the opposite sex." His half-brother was rather short. [7a] After his death, Washington's frozen corpse was measured as 6 feet 3.5 inches in length [15a]. The body was 1 foot 9 inches across at the shoulders and at the elbows. Comment: One reference cites Washington as 6 feet 2 inches tall [13a]. A post-mortem height would be greater for at least two reasons: (1) If the corpse really was frozen, a frozen Washington would be taller because our bodies are 70% water and because water expands as it freezes -- the only liquid with this property. (2) A laid-out corpse would be relieved of gravity pressing on the spine. As astronauts know, people "grow" a few inches when weight on the spine is removed. |
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The painter Gilbert Stuart, who did not like Washington, remarked that
Washington's features
were indicative of the strongest and most
ungovernable passions. Had he been born in the forests, he would have been
the fiercest man among the savages. [2a]
Stuart was a portrait painter who, of course, paid careful attention to faces.
He further described Washington:
There were features in his face totally different from what I had observed
in any other human being. The sockets of the eyes, for instance, were larger than
what I ever met with before, and the upper part of the nose broader.
[13a]
Stuart once remarked to General "Light Horse" Harry Lee that Washington
had a terrible temper, but held it under wonderful control. Lee later
asked Washington about this. "With something like a smile, Washington
remarked, 'He's right'" [2b]. |
