Editing George Washington (section)

==Legacy==
{{further|Legacy of George Washington|Historical rankings of presidents of the United States}}
{{see also|Cultural depictions of George Washington}}
[[File:Dean Franklin - 06.04.03 Mount Rushmore Monument (by-sa).jpg|thumb|alt=Washington and other figures engraved into the side of a mountain|[[Mount Rushmore]] National Memorial|upright=1.2]]

Washington is one of the most influential figures in American history.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/meet-100-most-significant-americans-all-time-180953341/|date=November 17, 2014|last=Frail|first=T.A.|title=Meet the 100 Most Significant Americans of All Time|magazine=Smithsonian|archivedate=December 11, 2024|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20241211102804/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonianmag/meet-100-most-significant-americans-all-time-180953341/}}</ref> Virginia's Governor [[Henry Lee III|Henry Lee]] [[s:The Father of His Country|eulogized him]] as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen".<ref name=anb/> Polls have consistently placed Washington among the highest-ranked of presidents.{{sfn|Murray|Blessing|1994|pp=7–9, 15}}<ref>{{Cite web |publisher=Siena College Research Institute|url=https://scri.siena.edu/2019/02/13/sienas-6th-presidential-expert-poll-1982-2018/ |title=Siena's 6th Presidential Expert Poll 1982–2018 |date=February 13, 2019 |archivedate=July 19, 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719163759/https://scri.siena.edu/2019/02/13/sienas-6th-presidential-expert-poll-1982-2018/ |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=George Washington |series=Presidential Historians Survey |year=2021 |website=[[C-SPAN]] |url=https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?personid=39784 |archivedate=August 22, 2021 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822004246/https://www.c-span.org/presidentsurvey2021/?personid=39784 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Washington became an international symbol for liberation and nationalism as the leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire.{{sfn|Cunliffe|1958|pp=24–26}} In 1879, Congress proclaimed [[Presidents' Day|Washington's Birthday]] to be a federal holiday.{{sfn|Ferling|2009|p=4}} In 1976, he was posthumously appointed General of the Armies of the United States during the [[United States Bicentennial|American Bicentennial]]. President [[Gerald Ford]] stated that Washington would "rank first among all officers of the Army, past and present".{{efn|In ''Portraits & Biographical Sketches of the United States Army's Senior Officer'', William Gardner Bell states that Washington was recalled to military service from his retirement in 1798, and "Congress passed legislation that would have made him General of the Armies of the United States, but his services were not required in the field, and the appointment was not made until the Bicentennial in 1976 when it was bestowed posthumously as a commemorative honor."{{sfn|Bell|1992|pp=52, 66}}}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://history.army.mil/html/faq/5star.html|title=How Many U.S. Army Five-star Generals Have There Been and Who Were They?|year=2017|publisher=U.S. Army Center of Military History|accessdate=November 1, 2018|archivedate=May 29, 2021|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20210529123258/https://history.army.mil/html/faq/5star.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> On March 13, 1978, Washington was officially promoted by the Army.{{sfn|Kleber|1978}}

In 1809, [[Mason Locke Weems]] wrote a [[Hagiography|hagiographic]] biography to honor Washington.{{sfn|Weems|1918|p=22}} Chernow maintains that Weems attempted to humanize Washington, inspire "patriotism and morality", and foster "enduring myths", such as that of [[Mason Locke Weems#Cherry-tree anecdote|Washington's refusal to lie about damaging his father's cherry tree]].{{sfnm|Chernow|2010|1pp=813–814|Levy|2013|2pp=6, 217|Weems|1918|3p=22}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/04/books/bookend-life-literature-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|title=Life, Literature and the Pursuit of Happiness|first=Andrew|last=Delbanco|date=July 4, 1999|archivedate=December 31, 2023|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20231231005904/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/07/04/books/bookend-life-literature-and-the-pursuit-of-happiness.html|url-status=live|authorlink=Andrew Delbanco}}</ref> Weems' accounts have never been proven or disproven.{{sfn|Levy|2013|p=6}}

In the 21st century, Washington's reputation has been critically scrutinized. The historian John Ferling maintains that Washington remains the only founder and president ever<!-- ahem --> to be referred to as "godlike", and points out that his character has been the most scrutinized by historians.{{sfn|Ferling|2009|pp=xviii–xix}} The author [[David Hackett Fischer]] defined Washington's character as "integrity, self-discipline, courage, absolute honesty, resolve, and decision, but also forbearance, decency, and respect for others".{{sfn|Fischer|2004|p=446}} Chernow describes Washington as always trying to be even-handed in dealing with Indigenous peoples, hoping they would abandon their itinerant hunting life and adapt to fixed agricultural communities in the manner of White settlers. He also maintains that Washington never advocated outright confiscation of tribal land or the forcible removal of tribes.{{sfn|Chernow|2010|p=666}} By contrast, [[Colin G. Calloway]] wrote that "Washington had a lifelong obsession with getting Indian land, either for himself or for his nation, and initiated policies and campaigns that had devastating effects in Indian country."{{sfn|Calloway|2018|p=38}} He stated:
{{blockquote|The growth of the nation demanded the dispossession of Indian people. Washington hoped the process could be bloodless and that Indian people would give up their lands for a "fair" price and move away. But if Indians refused and resisted, as they often did, he felt he had no choice but to "extirpate" them and that the expeditions he sent to destroy Indian towns were therefore entirely justified.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ammerman|first=Cassandra|date=October 18, 2018|title=Sitting down with author and historian Colin G. Calloway|url=https://blog.oup.com/2018/10/author-historian-colin-g-calloway/|publisher=Oxford University Press|archivedate=June 9, 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609224953/https://blog.oup.com/2018/10/author-historian-colin-g-calloway/|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Along with other Founding Fathers, Washington has been criticized for holding enslaved people. Though he expressed the desire to see the abolition of slavery through legislation, he did not initiate or support any initiatives for bringing about its end. This has led to calls to remove his name from public buildings and his statue from public spaces.<ref>{{cite magazine| last=Hirsh| first=Michael| title=If Americans Grappled Honestly With Their History, Would Any Monuments Be Left Standing| url=https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/24/america-statues-monuments-washington-jefferson/| magazine=[[Foreign Policy]]| date=June 24, 2020| archive-date=August 18, 2021| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210818064704/https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/06/24/america-statues-monuments-washington-jefferson/| url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfnm|Morgan|2005|1pp=419, 422|Twohig|2001}}

Washington's [[presidential library]] is housed at Mount Vernon,<ref>{{cite web|work=NPR|title=200 Years Later, George Washington Gets a Presidential Library|date=September 27, 2013|last=Peralta|first=Eyder|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/09/27/226957591/200-years-later-george-washington-gets-a-presidential-library|archivedate=August 15, 2024|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240815054422/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2013/09/27/226957591/200-years-later-george-washington-gets-a-presidential-library}}</ref> which is now a [[National Historic Landmark]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/places/mount-vernon-place-historic-district.htm|publisher=National Park Service|title=Mount Vernon Place Historic District|accessdate=December 24, 2024|archivedate=November 30, 2024|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20241130132458/https://www.nps.gov/places/mount-vernon-place-historic-district.htm}}</ref> His papers are held by the [[Library of Congress]].{{sfn|Nowlan|2014|p=56}}

===Namesakes and monuments===
{{further|List of memorials to George Washington|List of statues of George Washington}}
[[File:Washington Monument Dusk Jan 2006.jpg|thumb|alt=White obelisk|The [[Washington Monument]]|upright=0.8]]

Many places and monuments have been named in honor of Washington, including the capital city of [[Washington, D.C.]], and the state of [[Washington (state)|Washington]].<ref>{{cite web |title=George Washington: The First Face of America|last=Perry|first=Warren|work=Face to Face|publisher=National Portrait Gallery| date=February 22, 2013|url=https://npg.si.edu/blog/george-washington-first-face-america|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503033922/https://npg.si.edu/blog/george-washington-first-face-america|archivedate=May 3, 2022}}</ref> On February 21, 1885, the [[Washington Monument]] was dedicated, a {{convert|555|ft|adj=on}} marble [[obelisk]] on the [[National Mall]] in Washington, D.C.<ref>{{cite web |title=Washington Monument |url=https://www.nps.gov/wamo/index.htm |publisher=National Park Service |accessdate=July 1, 2023 |archivedate=March 22, 2022 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220322001937/https://www.nps.gov/wamo/index.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Nowlan|2014|p=62}}

Washington appears as one of four presidents on the ''Shrine of Democracy'', a colossal sculpture by [[Gutzon Borglum]] on [[Mount Rushmore]] in [[South Dakota]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Mount Rushmore National Memorial |url=https://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm |publisher=National Park Service |accessdate=June 13, 2024 |archivedate=June 12, 2024 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240612233759/https://www.nps.gov/moru/index.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Nowlan|2014|p=62}} The [[George Washington Bridge]], opened in 1931, connects [[New York City]] to [[New Jersey]].{{sfn|Rockland|2020|p=71}} A number of [[Washington (disambiguation)#Education|secondary schools and universities]] are named in honor of Washington, including [[George Washington University]] and [[Washington University in St. Louis]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://library.gwu.edu/scrc/university-archives/gw-history/a-brief-history-of-gw |title=A Brief History of GW |publisher=GW Libraries |accessdate=August 19, 2019 |archivedate=September 14, 2019 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914225450/https://library.gwu.edu/scrc/university-archives/gw-history/a-brief-history-of-gw |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wustl.edu/about/history-traditions/|title=History and Traditions|publisher=[[Washington University in St. Louis]]|accessdate=August 19, 2019|archivedate=April 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200408184414/https://wustl.edu/about/history-traditions/|url-status=live}}</ref>

He appears on contemporary United States currency, including the [[United States one-dollar bill|one-dollar bill]], the [[Presidential dollar coins|Presidential one-dollar coin]] and the [[Quarter (United States coin)|quarter-dollar coin]] (the [[Washington quarter]]).{{sfn|Tschachler|2020}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usmint.gov/learn/history/historical-documents/history-of-presidents-on-our-coins|title=The History of Presidents on Our Coins|date=July 2006|publisher=United States Mint|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20240907135412/https://www.usmint.gov/learn/history/historical-documents/history-of-presidents-on-our-coins|archivedate=September 7, 2024}}</ref> Washington was pictured on the nation's first postage stamp in 1847, and has since appeared on more United States postage stamps than anyone else.{{sfn|West|2014|p=8}}

{{multiple image
| align = center
| direction = horizontal
| caption_align = center
| total_width = 750
| image1 = Washington 1862 Issue-24c.jpg
| alt1 = 24-cent stamp showing a black-and-white portrait of Washington
| caption1 = Washington issue of 1862
| image2 = Washington WF 1917 Issue-5c (cropped).jpg
| alt2 = 5-cent stamp with a profile of Washington
| caption2 = [[Washington–Franklin Issues|Washington–Franklin]] issue of 1917
| image3 = 2006 Quarter Proof.png
| alt3 = United States of America Quarter-Dollar with Washington in profile
| caption3 = Washington [[Quarter (United States coin)|quarter dollar]]
| image4 = George Washington Presidential $1 Coin obverse.png
| alt4 = Coin with a portrait of Washington, reading "George Washington 1st President 1789-1797
| caption4 = Washington [[Presidential dollar coins|Presidential one-dollar coin]]
| image5 = US one dollar bill, obverse, series 2009.jpg
| alt5 = Paper currency with a portrait of Washington and a denomination of one US dollar
| caption5 = Washington on the 2009 [[United States one-dollar bill|dollar bill]]
}}