“George Washington’s Ascension to Heaven” – “[T]he present-day American religious right, anxious to appropriate the Revolution for their own version of modern American patriotism, have sought comfort in the ultimate Founding Father, George Washington, but here too there is much to doubt… In the nineteenth century, patriotic and pious artists often spiced up Washington’s deathbed with religion, giving him on occasion an almost Christ-like ascension into Heaven accompanied by a heavenly choir, but the reality of the scene in 1799 did not include any prayers or the presence of Christian clergy.” – Diarmaid MacCulloch, loc. 14806 – 14809