by Richard G. Williams, Jr. by Richard G. Williams, Jr.
"I always knew it was impossible to disobey my father."
~ Robert E. Lee, Jr.
Becoming a successful young man in America today, as always, includes giving due consideration to your father's admonitions and wisdom.
For the most part, your father is wiser than you are – and he always will be. Wisdom comes chiefly through getting older. Since your father will always be older than you, he will always be wiser. Young men should also read the words and deeds of great men of the past – especially fathers. One such example is that great Virginian, Robert E. Lee.
Most remembered for his military leadership of the Confederacy, Lee should also be known for his wisdom as an educator, husband, and father of four girls and three boys. Lee was a man's man and his example of self-control, self-denial, patience, humility, and principled approach to life is worthy of emulation. As Lee's military career kept him away from his family for extended periods, he maintained a steady and intimate correspondence with them. His letters often contained words of wisdom for both his wife and children. Lee imparted his accumulated wisdom to not only his own family, but also to the young men of Washington College (renamed Washington and Lee after Lee's death) while he served as the school's president. Lee took the opportunity of offering advice seriously. After accepting the presidency of Washington College, he wrote: "I have a self-imposed task. I have led the young men of the South in battle. I must teach their sons to discharge their duty in life."
Lee's letters and correspondences reveal the character of the man as pointed out by author Bishop Robert R. Brown: "There is no recorded instance when his conversation in the field or barracks could not have been equally acceptable in a lady's drawing room. An examination of the two-thousand letters which still exist fails to uncover the slightest suggestion of vulgarity." Fortunately, many of these letters are in the process of being made available online in a searchable database.
