As in the case of his career as commander-in-chief, Washington’s most important act as president was his giving up the office. The significance of his retirement from the presidency is easily overlooked today, but his contemporaries knew what it meant. Most people assumed that Washington might be president as long as he lived, that he would be a kind of elected monarch like the king of Poland. Hence his retirement from the presidency enhanced his moral authority and set a precedent for future presidents.
Deane, Silas
Philadelphia, PA — Completed in 1770, this Georgian building was the meeting place of the First Continental Congress in 1774.
Wethersfield, CT — Three separate homes comprising a single museum, including the homes of Silas Deane, a member of the Continental Congress, and Joseph Webb; Washington and Rochambeau met there to lay out strategy.
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 (2009)