The bells will ring every day until his burial,” (Source 1). The author of the letter not only wants citizens to mourn the death of their beloved President, but let them mourn as if they had just lost one of their family members. The citizens of the United States did exactly what the author asked. They rang the bells and mourned as if Washington was one of their family members at the time of death of George Washington people not only saw him as the first president of the United States but instead saw him as a physical representation of their republic Washington was seen as the protector of the republic as he led his army against the army of the tyrannical British government The people felt that Washington himself was protecting and winning their freedoms from the British. When it came time to elect a president there was no doubt that the people would choose George Washington to lead the new nation to what they wanted.