I consider this more of a theory...
When in 2016 Author J.K. Rowling revealed "essays" on what the wizarding world of America is like, it was responded with both positive and negative feedback. While fans praised the detailed backstory of the school of magic; Ilvermorny for instance, it also gained a series of backlashes for the inaccurate historical details on the timeline, how the evil spirit in Native American lore; the Skinwalker, was treated with such kindness, and even geographical distances between locations told in a much smaller scale from actuality like with Plymouth and some random location in the state of Massachusets. One of the more notable backlashes was the inclusion of what the American Wizarding Government stands for with the mention of "congress" and the "United States of America" long before the land was branded as such name. The Year the landscape became a nation as the United States was in 1776 on July 4th. However, Rowling did include a loophole, the Americans' ability of precognition, and therefore could see the future. Which is all fine and all; by precognition they can see what the no-majes will have in the future and model after what is to be. But one major detail is the use of "Washington" for the District of Columbia. Fans noted that the point of time in the story of its address could not have used the name, even thou most likey it was written as a modern telling. Before 1776, the area was actually called New Rome as a concept name before being named after the President of the United States and General, George Washington. There is a bit of a conundrum with this detail thou given the rules the author made for her world and that is that the Muggle World is not the world we know. Places and events would exist but not people, and this is evidenced in both "Fantastic Beasts" and "Harry Potter". While I will focus on George Washington and his place in the world, I will also mention other details that were explored in what is the relation of the Muggle/No-Maj world to our actual history.
J.K. Rowling uses the technique to build around the known world to bring her own magical world to life as the real world and she does this without the inclusion of real people. In the Harry Potter novels, not once was an actual person was told of, and moreso, there isn't a hint of any historical accounts of the muggle world. Perhaps a most notable moment in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is the intro when the reader is taken through time and over the different points of time in the series from the perspective of someone who is a muggle. The Muggle is the Prime Minister who is shown to discuss the magical world with the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. He is only referred to as such and not in name. In actuality, the Minister is a man named John Major who was in office from 1990-1997 before being replaced one Tony Blair from 1997-2007. But the in-world take is a fictional version of who the PM is and the same could be said for the "President" whom he was waiting for a call for:
Prime Minister: "Er, listen… It's not a very good time for me… I'm waiting for a telephone call, you see… from the President of –
"Portrait: "That can be rearranged."
Prime Minister: "But I really was rather hoping to speak –"
Portrait: "We shall arrange for the President to forget to call. He will telephone tomorrow night instead. Kindly respond immediately to Mr Fudge." (HPHBP, CH1: The Prime Minister)
In actuality, we have no idea who this President is and of what nation thou foreign. Suppose it is the U.S., it is one of the rare occasions of mention."Far Distant". Other possible references to America including Zombies in the first book and in that same book by Quirrel, "An African Prince", who I theorize as it is in par with Zombies, a wizard in the southern lands of the U.S., John the Conqueror. As noted by the author, Inferi is of European lore and not zombies which are American. John is someone in the far south which are the states of African inhabitants like New Orleans. One largely mentioned is Nicolas Flammel, a real-life philosopher and in-world french wizard. Nick could be seen as the once inter-world character between actuality and fiction within the world of the author. But by the time Fantastic Beasts is released, due to story, the muggle world is very much what we know and it is by design to parallel with the story. This is largely seen in the Essays of Magic in North America with the witch trials, the Revolutionary War, and World War 1. Here she breaks the rules entirely yet, in the first film, we continue to see indications of a divide like the existence of a National Bank in 1926 before it even was established, The New York Clairton; while it existed, it stopped production the year before, and most importantly the character and characters of the Shaw family, and Senator Henry Shaw Jr. who is to be "the future president." If Credence did not attack him, he would have become a leader of the nation and further shows a divide in the reality of what we know. Yet, the author did include the current real-life president, Donald Trump; when a reporter; Olliver Willis was saying how he would be a Slytherin, something Rowling saif he wouldn't be as he needs a letter (https://www.seventeen.com/celebrity/news/a46016/jk-rowling-says-the-trumps-would-not-be-in-slytherin/). The inclusion does show he exists in some fashion, yet breaks her rule. The idea of world rules are important to the design, the fact she broke it means anything goes. In the short essays, she mentions Washington D.C. So what does this mean?
While it would not make sense to say the name as such in 1693, the city was indeed named after the first real-life president. The inclusion of the name, also suggests that George Washington exists, which also means the others, like Abe Lincoln, also exists, and to note: her favorite president is John F. Kennedy as her hero. General Overview: George Washington was a No-Maj who was born in 1732 in the state of Virginia and died in 1799 in the same state. He was a general under Edward Braddock who replaced him after he was shot during the Seven-Years' War (1756-63). Along the way, he met such characters as Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Jackson and finally as president in 1790. George Washington became a father of a nation and while he was a man in every stature, he also was a myth with every story. George survives a slew of oncoming bullets that never impacted his body, he made suggestions in war that should not have worked but did, and he could summon storms of lightning. It is these very myths that make the man into something else, folklore, and part of that myth was something I read, perhaps falsely, that the Washington D.C. district was not named atter the man named George Washington but rather the deity himself. Strangely I have no idea where I read this detail to back it up, but the god figure of the name is seen in a mural in purple drapes; The Apotheosis of George Washingon.
The painting shows George surrounded by other gods of greek/roman lore and one American, Columbia the Goddess of Freedom in place of War. He is seen wearing his blue/gold attire which, apparently, was chosen by his tailor to emulate spirituality and the highest level of it. People saw him, mistakenly, as a Deist, but he was a man who wanted knowledge, and like others, is disciples, wanted a Rosicrucian Society. I think the word was misplaced with another similar word for knowledge seekers, and if it's not the case, I blame my history teacher. "Deism is a theological view that affirms the existence of God, but denies miraculous or supernatural occurrences in the natural world." ( https://study.com/academy/lesson/deism-the-founding-fathers-definition-beliefs-quiz.html#:~:text=Deism%20was%20a%20direct%20product,or%20was%20not%20a%20deist )
Personally, I think the idea was he was a God and that was a goal, yet, according to History Channel documentary, he never wanted the presidency or any of it. Again, myths take over the man himself and in the end, he comes off as some sort of wizard. The first President of MACUSA was a "war-like" man named Josiah Jackson who fought scourers and became president in 1693. The personality tease is from George Washington, therefore I can assume, or see that perhaps the author fictionalized George as a separate character unlike that of Flammel. In some sense, this means that it should have been named after Jackson, but that would be an issue on of itself. While he is modeled after Washington's life, his name suggests a composition of likenesses. Josiah/Jackson. Josiah Jackson could be named after 2, possibly 3 figures. Josiah is notable as two figures in History and Biblical acknowledgments (thou the Big Book has historical accounts ill say this to divide into simpler explanations). Josiah is a King of Judah and also a generational name of American Politicians named Josiah Quincy; where the first was a patriot who wrote to Ben Franklin (1710-1784). As for Jackson, there is Andrew Jackson; the 7th President (1829-1837), who was also a General. Naming the location Jackson D.C. would be odd yet also in tune with the story. But Washington is mentioned, so he exists in the wizarding world of America perhaps, in fact, as a Great Wizard.
I once sought out who Josiah could be and theorized, while he was a Wizard, could be a White Giant. Taken from my Tumblr fan-page and headcanon: "Part fact; Josiah Jackson was the first President Of MACUSA(1293) whom was a “warlike” wizard and something of the original 12 Aurors in North America. What does warlike mean? Supposedly meaning a great general, could be a personality. Which is to say that he was an aggressive, hostile, and bloodthirsty wizard. Furthermore is that he might be a “white giant” or least halfway. This would mean that Josiah Jackson, a white giant, is the first to elected as the president of the Magical Congress of the United States of America. Course he could be just a traditional ready-to-fight wizard which is what I initially thought". The idea that he is a bloodthirsty wizard could reflect Jackson or others.
This is Important because it foretells Natives relationship to the visitors. The White Giant is of Native American Belief that a white giant came to visit them to warn them of an invasion. They did not know who or when until they saw them and referred to them as White Man. Nahullo of the Choctaw Tribe.
(https://medium.com/@nora.ml/the-ancient-race-of-white-giants-described-by-american-indians-611834d53e49). One known wizard in the Wizarding World is also a Choctaw, Wandmaker Shikoba Wolfe.
Least maybe a Half-Giant like Hagrid.
Is the city named after George Washington? Yes. Should he exist in the world? by rule no. But rules can be broken. It is a common flaw in the creative development cycle especially when there is a point. The whole thing that Grindelwald's war ended in 1945 is no accident when it comes to Hitler's war. and if Hitler exists.. what would that mean? Perhaps Hitler is Grindelwald of another name known to the Muggle nation, and that would mean George Washington could have had another name as well. But it is unlikely. The whole thing of the senator is simply a side story to a lesser-known person yet the newspaper makes it all impossible even in that angle of the question of a character's existence. George Washington does in fact exist but from a mythical perspective of that as a wizard who summoned storms and was bulletproof. Both can be fixed in-world to say he casted Metalojinx (creates a thunderstorm in a certain location [https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Metelojinx#:~:text=Metelojinx%20is%20the%20incantation%20of,creates%20a%20small%2C%20localised%20thunderstorm] and Protego, a defensive shield charm. And as a wizard who went to Ilvermorny, or maybe was trained by a wizard, Ben Franklin, he became a powerful wizard and leader of a secret society in a secret war and became the president of the Magical Congress of the United States of America.
Ilvermorny House: Wampus
Hogwarts House: Gryffindor
Wand: Unkown wood, Uknown Length, Snallygaster Core
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