The former Cheers and Frasier star Kelsey Grammer, who has long been known as one of the only openly conservative stars in Hollywood, is begging Americans to look to our Founding Fathers for guidance amidst modern divisions. This comes days before the 250th anniversary of the founding of America.
Grammer’s Plea For America’s Future
Grammer, 71, stars in the new movie Young Washington, which hits theaters on Friday, July 3. In the film, which follows George Washington during the French and Indian War, before he became president, Grammer portrays the aristocrat Thomas Fairfax.
While promoting the movie, Grammer told Fox News that the nation’s Founding Fathers still offer a blueprint for overcoming division and preserving the American Dream.
“This is something I’ve been sorting through for a while now, but I do think the greatest hope for any future wisdom in America has already been written in the actions and words of our Founding Fathers,” Grammer explained. “We need to look to them for the guidance that they have, that we have today, to become the great nation that they dreamed of.”
“We can share that dream. It’s a dream that still holds up. It’s a dream that holds up for everyone. No matter what your origin is, the diversity that we all talk about, this is a unifying concept about what greatness is in a nation, and it has to do with us all being equal,” he continued. “And it doesn’t mean there’s an equal result. It just means we have an equal opportunity to carve out our happiness.”
When asked what one American quality he hopes never goes out of style, Grammer lit up as he responded, “Optimism.”
Check out a trailer for Young Washington below.
Grammer’s Love For Washington
Grammer has a lengthy onscreen history with Washington that spans over forty years. Indeed, in 1984, Grammer portrayed Lt. Stewart in the CBS miniseries George Washington. This was one of his earliest television roles before he was cast in Cheers later that same year.
Then, in 2003, Grammer portrayed Washington himself in the TV movie Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor. Later, in 2022, he hosted Fox Nation’s Historic Battles for America. This was an eight-part series that explored the military conflicts that helped shape the United States.
Grammer most recently explored Washington’s legacy in 2024. That year, he hosted and executive produced the Fox Nation docudrama George: Rise of a Revolutionary.
What Would Grammer Ask Washington?
After so much history with Washington, Grammer could not help but laugh when he was asked what question he would pose to the first president of the United States if he got the chance to sit down with him. After contemplating for a few seconds, Grammer quipped that the question would be, “Did you really chop down the cherry tree?”
This was a reference to the legend that as a child, Washington accidentally chopped down his father’s beloved cherry tree. When confronted about this, Washington is said to have replied, “I cannot tell a lie, Pa; you know I cannot tell a lie. I did cut it with my hatchet.”
Legend has it that instead of punishing his son, Washington’s father was so impressed by his honesty that he forgave him.
“I don’t know,” Grammer said of the tale. “I doubt he chopped down a cherry tree unless he thought it was a dying tree…It would’ve been a pretty silly thing to do.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” he went on to joke. “I say that to my sons all the time. That seems to be a universal question for most fathers to their sons, ‘What were you thinking?’”
Grammer’s Message To Modern Politicians
Earlier this month, Grammer told Page Six Hollywood that modern politicians could learn a lot from Washington.
“George Washington was not particularly tolerant of fools,” Grammer said. “He stood up against stuff that he thought was whimsical, or not particularly focused on what really saves the people. I don’t think he was a fan of big government. I think he was a fan of small government.”
“He was humble enough to say, ‘I am not perfect, but I am not going to quit,’” he concluded. “That’s what I’d like to see in Washington, [DC], honestly.”
In the liberal entertainment world, it’s rare to find a celebrity who loves this country as much as Grammer does. If only we had more stars in Hollywood like him.
God bless you, Kelsey Grammer, and God bless America!