Courage & Leadership
George Washington
Farmer. General. First President.
1732–1799
He resigned power when he could have kept it. That act may have saved the republic he helped found.
1 min read
Washington was not the cleverest founder or the most eloquent. He was the one men followed into winter quarters and across an ice-choked river because he showed up, stayed, and did the work when others quit.
He farmed Mount Vernon with his own hands. He led from the front. When the war ended, he surrendered his commission to Congress — an almost unheard-of act for a victorious general. When his presidency ended, he went home.
That is the model: strength in service of something larger than yourself, then the grace to walk away.