Editing George Washington (section)

===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>