“First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” These are the words that Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee III spoke on December 1799 in his eulogy for George Washington. In a single phrase spoken during a moment of national mourning, Lee captured Washington’s generalship in the Revolutionary War, his role in shaping and forming the republic, and his enduring place in the American mind.
As we near our nation’s 250th birthday, no commemoration is complete without honoring Gen. George Washington as a founder among founders. From his wartime leadership to his statesmanlike conduct as our first chief executive, he exemplified the republican virtues we hold dear as Americans. Washington is more than another name in a dull history book – he is a model for leadership in a free society. We remember him not only for what he did, but for what he can teach us about service, duty, and character in our own time.
The American Founding, of course, was not finished when the Continental Congress declared independence – it had to be won by an army in the field. Could they survive long enough for a new nation to come into being? That responsibility depended upon Gen. Washington, who was in New York leading the Continental Army. British forces concentrated there to deliver what they expected would be a decisive blow to the rebels. Facing a professional army with superior numbers, naval dominance, and the initiative would test the endurance of both the Continental Army and its commander.
Washington’s leadership, especially during the difficult campaigns around New York in 1776, ensured that the political aims of the Declaration of Independence were achieved. Gen. Washington maintained the Continental Army’s existence, even though its destruction would likely have ended the Revolution. He absorbed losses without allowing them to become final. He traded space for time, maneuvered to avoid encirclement, and held together a force that might otherwise have dissolved under pressure.
Gen. Washington – our nation’s first general officer – remains the model and standard of command for today’s flag and general officers. His leadership was grounded in civilian control, respect for the authority of Congress, and a clear understanding that military power exists in service to constitutional government, even before that government was fully formed. He was guided by earlier models of civic virtue, particularly by the ancient Roman patrician, statesman, and military leader Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. Cincinnatus is celebrated for leaving his farm to serve the republic in crisis and, most importantly and uniquely in history, for relinquishing power and returning to private life when that service was complete.
Washington’s own career followed a similar arc. At the conclusion of the Revolutionary War, he resigned his commission and returned to Mount Vernon rather than convert his fame and military authority into political power. Years later, he again left private life to preside over the Constitutional Convention, helping to shape the framework of our U.S. Constitution that all military members still swear an oath to support and defend. After he joined the political arena and completed two terms as our first president, he stepped away once more, setting a precedent for the peaceful transfer of power that still defines the republic today. These decisions, taken together, established a standard of restraint and civic responsibility that represents America at her very best.
With the partisan fury and signs of distrust and disaffection that seem to dominate headlines in 2026, it can be difficult to think that a figure as unifying as George Washington once led this country. In his own time, of course, Washington faced plenty of factious criticism – but his example towered over all the invective. There is a reason most American schoolhouses hung his portrait on the walls. We once hoped that our boys and girls would learn to practice Washington’s virtues in whatever vocations they found as adults, whether civilian or military.
An education fit for true citizens must, therefore, be more than rote memorization of dates and facts or backward-looking nostalgia. Throughout his remarkable career as a military and political leader, Washington was always guided by the principles that undergird the Declaration of Independence. To him, they were not mere abstractions nor the remnants of a dead past. The ideas of liberty and equality were his fighting creed, the substance of a self-sacrificing patriotism.
Today, likewise, if we want to pass our republic down to the next generation, we must teach our children and grandchildren how to think like Washington, how to emulate his virtues, and how to rise to the call of country over self. And there could be no better time to do that than on America’s 250th birthday.
Maj. Gen. Mark Dillon (U.S. Air Force, Ret.) serves on the Board of Directors of the Flag and General Officers Network and the National Civics Council of the Jack Miller Center.
Dr. Steve Carney is a retired U.S. Army historian.
Hans Zeiger is president of the Jack Miller Center and author of “Puyallup in World War II.” Previously, he served in both houses of the Washington State legislature.
