Tubegazing: Washington the Warrior

Washington the Warrior (The History Channel, Monday, May 29 at 9 p.m. EDT/8 p.m. CDT): George Washington may be the consummate American, but he cut his (pre-wooden) teeth in the British military and spent most of his career becoming the man who has defined America since it was born. The History Channel's Memorial Day biography takes viewers through the future president's military exploits, from his first triumphs and disasters (an early raid on French troops killed a diplomat and helped ignite a war) through his final, defining act as a soldier - his resignation as the supreme military leader of the young nation. As the program says, the man and the nation came of age together and in the end proved that liberty, not power, was the highest goal a nation could have. Grade: A