What George Washington missed
Posted by Marc Hodak on September 8, 2009 under History, Unintended consequences | 
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Our first First Lady was nobody's fool
The Father of our country, for all his wisdom and brilliance, may have unintentionally put his wife’s life at risk.
President Washington was mindful of his place in the history of the young nation he did so much to bring about. But he was also deeply bothered by slavery, and aware that his slave ownership would be a stain on his reputation. He decided to limit that black mark as best as he legally could, promising to free his slaves in his will. But not wishing to leave his wife in the lurch economically, President Washington willed that his slaves would be freed after her death.
Well, Martha Washington was no fool. Abigail Adams, on a visit to Mount Vernon, wrote in 1800:
In the state in which they were left by the General, to be free at her death, she did not feel as tho her Life was safe in their Hands, many of whom would be told that it was [in] their interest to get rid of her–She therefore was advised to set them all free at the close of the year.
Smart lady. Martha died of natural causes two years later.