Washington was commissioned in 1754 as an Colonel in the Virginia Militia and built a series of Forts in the western frontier of Virginia. He accompanied the Braddock Expedition of the British Army during the French and Indian War. During the battle of the Wilderness near the Monongahela he had three horses shot out from under him. He showed his coolness under fire in organizing the retreat from the debacle. Washington then organized the First Virginia Regiment, which saw service through the war; however, Washington left the Regiment to serve in the House of Burgesses.
Washington retained an army in being throughout the Revolution, keeping British forces tied down in the center of the country while Generals Gates and Benedict Arnold won the battle of Saratoga in 1777. This victory led to French recognition of the United States.
His election as president was a disappointment to his wife, the first First Lady of the United States, who wanted to continue living in quiet retirement at Mount Vernon after the war. Nevertheless, she quickly assumed the role of hostess, opening her parlor and organizing weekly dinner parties for as many dignitaries as could fit around the presidential table.
In 1793, the revolutionary government of France sent diplomat Citizen Genet, who attempted to turn popular sentiment towards American involvement in the war against Great Britain. Genet also was authorized to issue letters of marque and reprisal to American ships and gave authority to any French consul to serve as a prize court. Genet's activities forced Washington to ask the French government for his recall
In 1791, the Federal government imposed an excise tax on whiskey. This tax was highly unpopular on the American frontier, and in July, 1794, in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, a Federal marshal was attacked by a mob and a regional inspector's house was burned. On August 7, 1794, Washington called out the militias of several states and led a force of 13,000 to suppress the unrest. The event has gone down in history as the "Whiskey Rebellion".
Admirers of Washington circulated an apocryphal story about his honesty as a child. In the story, he wanted to try out a new axe and chopped down his father's cherry tree. When questioned by his father, he gave the famous non-quotation "I cannot tell a lie. It was I who chopped down the cherry tree." The story first appeared after Washington's death in a naive "inspirational" children's book by Parson Mason Weems, who had been rector of the Mount Vernon parish. See also George Washington's axe for an elaboration of this story.
Because of Washington's involvement in Freemasonry, some publicly visible collections of Washington memorabilia are maintained by Masonic lodges. The museum at Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York City includes specimens of Washington's false teeth.
George Washington was plagued throughout his adult life with bad teeth, losing about 1 tooth a year from the age of 24. In his later years he consulted a number of dentists and had a number of sets of false teeth, (but none of wood). For a more or less definitive chronicle of his struggles see George Washington's Teeth, Madeleine Comora and Deborah Chandra, illustrated by: Brock Cole, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003, hardcover, ISBN 0374325340.
At his time of death, Washington last held the rank of major general, appointed by John Adams in anticipation of a possible war with France.
Over the years, many military officers outranked him. In 1976, President Gerald Ford posthumously appointed George Washington as General of the Armies of the United States, and specified that he would always outrank all officers of the Army, past and present.
Modern day doctors now believe that Washington died from either a streptococcal infection of the throat, or, since he was bled as part of his treatment, a combination of shock from the loss of blood, asphyxia, and dehydration. He was buried in a family graveyard in Mount Vernon.
Washington was an early supporter of religious pluralism. In 1790 he wrote that he envisioned a country "which gives bigotry no sanction...persecution no assistance....May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid." This letter was seen by the Jewish community as a significant event; they felt that for the first time in millennia Jews would enjoy full human and political rights.
In recent years, a number of anti-Semitic groups have promulgated forged quotes from George Washington and other founding fathers of the USA, with the intention of inciting anti-Semitism. This subject is discussed in Neo-Nazi Theory (American founding fathers).