This post was originally published on this site
“First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen,” wrote Henry “Lighthorse Harry” Lee of the nation’s first president George Washington. After successfully commanding the colonial and later the American armed forces in the War of Independence against Great Britain, Washington, like Rome’s hero Cincinnatus, returned to his farm only to be summoned back by popular will to lead the nation in peacetime. As President of the United States, Washington spent eight years endeavoring to unify the new nation and keep it out of foreign wars. He succeeded brilliantly. Near the end…