Happy Day after Independence Day! Yesterday, we saw the new movie Young Washington. It was so good! I didn’t want it to end. I felt the Holy Spirit confirm to me as I watched the movie that George Washington truly was a man that God raised up to do what he did. God gave him experiences to shape him to become the selfless and magnanimous leader that he was as the Father of America, the first president of the U.S. I’ll be doing a full review of the movie soon, so stay tuned! I highly recommend it as a movie for ages 13 and up. (The violence shown in the movie of the French and Indian War makes it unsuitable for young children.)

July 4, 2026 may be over, but I’m celebrating America’s sesquicentennial all year long. As such, I’m continuing with my series of ideas to Celebrate America 250, until I blog 250 ideas.

Idea #14 is to read the article called “Wise Men Raised Up” by LeGrand Baker and Frank W. Fox. Go here to read it. It is about the signers of the U.S. Constitution, which includes George Washington. The Declaration of Independence, which we celebrated yesterday, paved the way for the founding of a new government, as set forth in the U.S. Constitution.

Here are the first two paragraphs of the article:

In the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord said that he had “raised up … wise men” for the “very purpose” of writing the Constitution of the United States. (D&C 101:80.) President George Albert Smith added, “I am saying to you that to me the Constitution of the United States of America is just as much from my Heavenly Father as the Ten Commandments.” (Conference Report, April 1948, p. 182.) President Wilford Woodruff, seventy-eight years ago, reported that a tithe of those “wise men,” those who had also signed the Declaration of Independence, appeared in the St. George Temple with George Washington at their head, and “demanded” temple ordinances. (Conference Report, April 10, 1898, pp. 89–90.)

Who were the men who wrote the Constitution? What personal characteristics qualified them for the task of creating a document which the Lord says he “established”? (D&C 101:80.)

Here are some traits of these wise men raised up. The bullet points below are copied and pasted from the article:

-“The framers of the Constitution were mostly young men, aggressive and energetic.“

-“The Founding Fathers were well educated.“

-“The Convention delegates were natural leaders.“

-“The Convention delegates had few illusions about human nature.“

-“The Founding Fathers were men of vision and hope.“

-“The Framers were religious men—in their own way. But we must be careful about making them religious in ways they were not.”

One of these men was George Washington. I have full confidence the God indeed raised him up to be there at the Constitutional Convention, so people would trust this new government being formed. He had earned trust as a leader because of the way he turned down power after gaining popularity as the general of the army during the Revolutionary War.

I agree with the conclusion of the article, that the establishment of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights prepared the way for the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the establishment of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I hope and pray we can be as wise as these men, and as wary of human nature and the tendency for power to corrupt. I hope and pray we can be defenders of the principle of the importance of limited government with checks and balances, which the Founders put in the Constitution. I hope and pray we will each study the Constitution. Then only elect leaders who vote Constitutionally and kick out those politicians who don’t. Go to the freedomindex.us so you know how they are voting, and vote for them accordingly. You can look up both your state legislators and your Congresspeople. Doing so is one way you can protect the liberty that we celebrate on Independence Day.

Want more Celebrate America 250 ideas? Go here. Celebrate all year long!