Free Republic

his 4th of July marks the 247th anniversary of American Independence. 2023 marks two other important events: the 240th anniversary of George Washington’s resignation as the Continental Army’s commander and the 230th anniversary of his first and only presidential reelection. American Independence was just the beginning of the nation’s liberty. The decisions of one man, Washington himself, could have torpedoed the entire project; his greatest contribution to US governance was setting the precedent, and creating the custom that kept politicians from concentrating institutional powers upon themselves. In light of his other contributions, it is easy to take George Washington’s humility...

George Washington’s bust is back on a monument at his namesake D.C. university. The College Fix confirmed on July 27 that a bust of the nation’s first president is back on “Townhouse Row” at 23rd and F Street NW. Someone first removed the head of Washington at the end of May or on June 1, 2020. Police found the head sitting next to its base early in the morning of June 1. Law enforcement closed the investigation. The College Fix emailed the media relations team for the university and left a voicemail on July 27 but did not receive a...

Today is the anniversary of a day all but forgotten. On this day , Dec 23 1783 , Washington resigned his commission. It would be as if Alexander the Great simply walked from his empire after having won everything.  "They wanted me to be another Washington," said the defeated Napoleon. King George III of England said "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.". To find a similar example one has to go all the way to 458 BC. Lucius Quintus Cincinnati after his victory as Rome’s emergency dictator simply went back to his farm. As Good as...

His annotated Constitution was worth $9.8 million at auction — but was priceless to a nation When George Washington’s personal, annotated copy of the Constitution sold last week for $9.8 million at auction in New York, it didn’t just set a record. It allowed us to see, for the first time, how cautiously our first president assumed the office, his eyes not toward history but the future. “This shows that he let the presidency define him, rather than for him to define the presidency,” says Edward Lengel, military historian and author of two books on Washington. “He was a man...