He’s the guy on the dollar bill. The frozen face on Mount Rushmore. Honestly, we’ve turned the man into a statue so effectively that we’ve basically forgotten he was a real person who dealt with toothaches, bad weather, and a crushing fear of being buried alive. When people ask what did George Washington do, they usually want the highlights—the revolution, the presidency, the cherry tree. But the cherry tree story is fake, invented by a biographer named Mason Locke Weems to sell books to kids.
The reality is much more interesting and a lot more stressful.
Washington didn’t just "lead" an army; he kept a dissolving group of farmers from quitting for eight straight years. He didn't just "act" as president; he had to invent how a president even walks and talks because there was no manual. He was an improviser. A massive, 6-foot-2-inch risk-taker who was surprisingly good at retreating when things went sideways.
The General Who Won by Losing
Most people think Washington was a brilliant tactical genius like Napoleon. He wasn't. In fact, he lost more battles than he won. If you look at the numbers, his record is kind of spotty. But what did George Washington understand that his British counterparts didn't? He realized that as long as his army existed, the revolution lived.
Take the Battle of Long Island in 1776. It was a disaster. The British had him pinned against the East River. Most generals would have surrendered. Instead, Washington organized a silent, middle-of-the-night retreat using small boats in a thick fog. He was the last man off the beach. By morning, the British found an empty camp. He saved the entire war by being a master of the exit strategy.
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He spent most of the war in a "Fabian" strategy. Basically, he just annoyed the British. He avoided big, decisive battles where he might lose everything and instead focused on survival. It wasn't glamorous. It was cold, muddy, and miserable. At Valley Forge, he wasn't just sitting in a tent; he was begging a broke Congress for shoes. He lived in the same conditions as his men, which is why they didn't desert when they were literally eating "firecake" (flour and water baked on a rock).
Inventing the Presidency from Scratch
When he took office in 1789, nobody knew what to call him. Some people wanted "His Highness" or "His Elective Majesty." Washington insisted on "Mr. President." It sounds small now, but back then, it was a radical rejection of royal pomp.
He was obsessed with precedents. He knew that every single thing he did—how he had dinner, who he met with, how he handled the cabinet—would be copied by every person who came after him. He basically invented the Cabinet. The Constitution doesn't actually say the President has to have a group of advisors like the Secretary of State or Treasury. Washington just realized he couldn't do it all himself, especially with Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson constantly screaming at each other in his office.
One of his most underrated moves was the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. Farmers in Pennsylvania were refusing to pay a tax on liquor. They were getting violent. Washington didn't just send a letter; he put on his old uniform, hopped on a horse, and led 13,000 militia members toward the chaos. It was the only time a sitting U.S. president has ever led troops in the field. The rebellion melted away without a real fight. He proved the new federal government actually had teeth.
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The Struggle with Slavery and Mount Vernon
We can’t talk about what did George Washington do without looking at the 317 enslaved people at Mount Vernon. This is the part where the "Founding Father" image gets complicated and uncomfortable. Washington was a man of his time who also knew his time was wrong.
By the end of his life, he was privately writing letters expressing his desire to see slavery ended. Yet, he continued to use the labor of enslaved people to run his massive estate, which included a world-class distillery and a high-tech (for the 1790s) 16-sided treading barn. He was caught in a moral contradiction he couldn't quite resolve while he was alive.
In his will, he did something unusual for the Virginia elite: he ordered that the 123 enslaved people he owned directly be freed after his wife Martha passed away. It was a final, complicated statement from a man who helped birth a nation dedicated to "liberty" while participating in a system that denied it.
The Most Famous Walk-Away in History
Perhaps the most important thing Washington ever did was leave.
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Twice.
First, at the end of the Revolutionary War, he resigned his commission and went back to his farm. King George III supposedly said that if Washington actually did that, he would be "the greatest man in the world." In an age of emperors and dictators, a guy giving up total power was unheard of.
Then, after two terms as President, he did it again. He was tired. He was sick of the partisan bickering (which he warned against in his Farewell Address). By stepping down voluntarily, he established the two-term tradition that lasted until 1940. He ensured the United States would be a country governed by laws, not by a single "strongman" who stays until they die.
What You Can Learn from Washington Today
You don't have to be a 18th-century surveyor to use Washington's "operating system" for life. His success came from a few specific habits that are still relevant.
- Master the art of the tactical retreat. If you're losing a project or a business venture, don't go down with the ship out of pride. Live to fight another day.
- Focus on precedents. Ask yourself: "If everyone did what I’m about to do, would the world be better or worse?" Washington lived his life by that rule.
- Listen to opposing views. He kept Hamilton and Jefferson in the same room even though they hated each other. He wanted to hear the best arguments from both sides before making a choice.
- Prioritize the exit. Knowing when to stop is often more important than knowing when to start. Whether it’s a job, a relationship, or a leadership role, leaving with dignity is a skill.
To really understand Washington, you have to look past the oil paintings. Look at the guy who was constantly worried about his reputation, who lost his teeth to poor dental hygiene and cracked nuts, and who somehow managed to hold a fractured group of colonies together through sheer force of will. He wasn't a god; he was just a very disciplined man who showed up when everyone else wanted to go home.
If you're looking to dive deeper into the primary sources, check out the George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress. Reading his actual letters—complete with his original spelling and clear frustrations—is the best way to see the man behind the myth. You can also visit Mount Vernon's digital archives to see the farm records that show just how much of a data-driven "numbers guy" he actually was.