George Washington was a Master Mason and the first President of the United States of America, remembered as an enduring inspiration to patriotism, loyalty, nobility of character, higher thoughts and aims, and a fervent renewal of obligations and of the teaching and practice of the cardinal virtues and tenets of the Masonic profession. He was held up as a figure who lives in the hearts of those who follow after him, whose example should guide one generation to serve the next as Washington served the fathers before them. His memory was portrayed as a source of strength for the institution and for liberty itself, and he was praised as the faithful ruler of a brave people, mourned so deeply that the children cried in the streets. Having no descendants, he was presented as belonging to the whole nation, which might call him father.