Editing George Washington (section)

==Post-presidency (1797–1799)==
{{further|Post-presidency of George Washington}}

===Retirement===
[[File:Gilbert_Stuart,_George_Washington_(Lansdowne_portrait,_1796).jpg|thumb|alt=portrait of Washington standing with an outstretched arm|The [[Lansdowne portrait]] (1796)]]
{{See also|Finances of George Washington}}

Washington retired to Mount Vernon in March 1797 and devoted time to his business interests.{{sfn|Ragsdale|2021|pp=5&ndash;6}} His plantation operations were minimally profitable,{{sfn|Chernow|2010|p=53}} and his lands in the west (on the [[Piedmont (United States)|Piedmont]]) yielded little income; he attempted to sell these but was unable to.{{sfn|Ellis|2004|pp=255–261}} He became an even more committed Federalist. He vocally supported the [[Alien and Sedition Acts]] and convinced Federalist [[John Marshall]] to run for Congress to weaken the Jeffersonian hold on [[Virginia]].{{sfn|Flexner|1974|p=386}}
French privateers began seizing American ships in 1798, and deteriorating relations led to the "[[Quasi-War]]". Washington wrote to Secretary of War [[James McHenry]] offering to organize President Adams' army.{{sfn|Randall|1997|p=497}} Adams nominated him for a lieutenant general commission and the position of commander-in-chief of the armies on July 4, 1798.{{sfnm|Flexner|1974|1pp=376–377|Bell|1992|2p=64}} Washington served as the commanding general from July 13, 1798, until his death 17 months later.{{sfn|Bell|1992|p=64}} He participated in planning but delegated the active leadership of the army to Hamilton. No army invaded the United States during this period, and Washington did not assume a field command.{{sfnm|Kohn|1975|1pp=225–242|Grizzard|2005|2p=264}}

Washington was known to be rich because of what Chernow calls the "glorified façade of wealth and grandeur" at Mount Vernon.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|p=708}} However, nearly all of his wealth was in the form of land and slaves rather than ready cash. To supplement his income, he erected a [[distillery]] for [[whiskey]] production.{{sfnm|Hirschfeld|1997|1pp=44–45|Ferling|2009|2p=351}} He bought land parcels to spur development around the new [[Washington, D.C.|Federal City]] (named in his honor in 1791), and he sold individual lots to middle-income investors rather than multiple lots to large investors, believing the former would be more likely to commit to making improvements.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|pp=663, 704–705}} At the time of his death in 1799, his estate was worth an estimated $780,000,{{sfn|Lengel|2015|p=246}} and he held title to more than {{convert|58000|acre}} of land across Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, [[Kentucky]], and the [[Northwest Territory]].{{sfn|Lengel|2015|p=246}} Washington's peak net worth was estimated to be $587&nbsp;million in 2020 dollars.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sauter |first1=Michael B. |title=From Washington to Trump: This is the net worth of every American president |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/05/the-net-worth-of-the-american-presidents-washington-to-trump/114599966/ |work=[[USA Today]] |date=November 5, 2020 |archivedate=March 20, 2023 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320131228/https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/11/05/the-net-worth-of-the-american-presidents-washington-to-trump/114599966/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Death===
<!-- linked from redirect "Death of George Washington" -->
[[File:Life of George Washington, Deathbed.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Washington on his deathbed, with doctors and family surrounding|''Washington on his Deathbed'', an 1851 portrait by [[Junius Brutus Stearns]]]]

On December 12, 1799, Washington inspected his farms on horseback in inclement weather for five hours. He then dined with guests without putting on dry clothes.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|p=806}} He had a sore throat the next day but was well enough to mark trees for cutting.{{sfn|Ferling|2010|p=505}} Early the following morning, he awoke to an inflamed throat and difficulty breathing. He ordered his estate overseer, George Rawlins, to remove nearly a pint of his blood ([[bloodletting]] was a common practice of the time). His family summoned doctors [[James Craik]], [[Gustavus Richard Brown]], and [[Elisha C. Dick]].{{sfnm|Chernow|2010|1pp=806–810|Morens|1999}} Brown initially believed Washington had [[Peritonsillar abscess|quinsy]]; Dick thought the condition was a more serious "violent inflammation of the membranes of the throat".{{sfnm|Chernow|2010|1pp=806–807|Flexner|1974|2p=399}} They continued bloodletting to approximately five pints, but Washington's condition deteriorated further. Dick proposed a [[tracheotomy]]; the other physicians were not familiar with that procedure and disapproved.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|pp=806–810}} Washington instructed Brown and Dick to leave the room, while he assured Craik, "Doctor, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go."{{sfn|Ellis|2004|p=269}}

On his deathbed, afraid of being entombed alive, Washington instructed his private secretary [[Tobias Lear]] to wait three days before his burial.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|p=808}} According to Lear, Washington died between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. on December 14, 1799, with Martha seated at the foot of his bed. His last words were {{"'}}Tis well."{{sfnm|Flexner|1974|1pp=401–402|Chernow|2010|2pp=808–809}} The diagnosis of Washington's illness and the immediate cause of his death have been subjects of debate. The published account of Craik and Brown stated that his symptoms were consistent with "cynanche trachealis", a term then used to describe severe inflammation of the upper windpipe, including quinsy.{{efn|The first account of Washington's death was written by doctors Craik and Brown, published in ''The Times'' of [[Alexandria, Virginia|Alexandria]] five days after his death. The complete text can be found in ''The Eclectic Medical Journal'' (1858).{{sfn|Newton|Freeman|Bickley|1858|pp=273–274}}}} Accusations of [[medical malpractice]] have persisted since Washington's death.{{sfnm|Chernow|2010|1pp=806–810}} Modern medical authors have largely concluded that he likely died from severe [[epiglottitis]] complicated by the treatments he was given, which included multiple doses of [[Mercury(I) chloride|calomel]] (a purgative) and extensive bloodletting, likely resulting in [[hypovolemia|hypovolemic shock]].{{efn|Modern medical experts who blamed medical malpractice include Morens and Wallenborn in 1999,{{sfnm|Morens|1999|1pp=1845–1849|Chernow|2010|2p=809}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Wallenborn|first=White McKenzie|title=George Washington's Terminal Illness: A Modern Medical Analysis of the Last Illness and Death of George Washington|year=1999|url=https://washingtonpapers.org/resources/articles/illness/|work=[[The Papers of George Washington]]|publisher=University of Virginia|archivedate=July 22, 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200722060731/https://washingtonpapers.org/resources/articles/illness/|url-status=live}}</ref> and Cheatham in 2008.{{sfn|Cheatham|2008}}}}

===Funeral and burial===

Washington's funeral was held on December 18, 1799, four days after his death, at Mount Vernon. Cavalry and foot soldiers led the procession, and six colonels served as the pallbearers. The Mount Vernon funeral service was restricted mostly to family and friends.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|pp=808–810}} Reverend Thomas Davis read a brief funeral service, followed by a ceremony performed by members of Washington's Masonic lodge; Washington had been a Freemason since 1752.{{sfnm|Randall|1997|1p=67|Chernow|2010|2p=27}}{{sfn|Tabbert|2022|pp=196–197}} Word of his death traveled slowly, but as it reached other regions, church bells rang and many businesses closed.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|pp=810–811}} Memorial processions were held in major cities of the United States. Martha burned her correspondence with Washington to protect its privacy, though five letters between the couple are known to have survived.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|p=814}}

[[File:Tomb of George Washington - interior 02 - Mount Vernon.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A picture of the two sarcophagi of George (at right) and Martha Washington at the present tomb at Mount Vernon|The [[Sarcophagus|sarcophagi]] of George (right) and [[Martha Washington]] at the entrance to their tomb in Mount Vernon]]
Washington was buried in the Washington family vault at Mount Vernon on December 18, 1799.{{sfn|Lengel|2005|p=vii}} In his will, Washington left instructions for the construction of a new vault;{{sfn|Chernow|2010|pp=810–811}} this was completed in 1831, after a disgruntled ex-employee of the estate [[Attempted theft of George Washington's skull|attempted to steal]] what he thought was Washington's skull.{{sfnm|Nowlan|2014|1p=59|Costello|2021|2pp=77–78}} In 1832, a joint Congressional committee debated moving his body from Mount Vernon to a crypt in the [[United States Capitol]]. Southern opposition was intense, antagonized by an ever-growing rift between North and South; many were concerned that Washington's remains could end up, in the words of Representative [[Wiley Thompson]], on "a shore foreign to his native soil" if the country became divided, and Washington's remains stayed in Mount Vernon.{{sfn|Boorstin|2010|pp=349–350}} On October 7, 1837, Washington's remains, still in the original lead coffin, were placed within a marble [[sarcophagus]] designed by [[William Strickland (architect)|William Strickland]] and constructed by John Struthers.{{sfnm|Costello|2021|1p=182|Carlson|2016|2loc=chapter 1}}