Philipse Manor Hall State Historic Site

Yonkers
NY
Portrait to Come (Hidden)

Portrait by Artist to Come

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Home to loyalist Frederick Philipse III who successfully evaded the arrest ordered by General Washington in 1776; he eventually made his way to England. Highlights of the Hall include its 18th century, high style Georgian architecture and an impressive collection of presidential portraits, including five of Washington.
Associated People
Philipse, Frederick III

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.

— Gordon S. Wood
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789–1815 (2009)