Discovery Channel's Greatest American # 4: George Washington

I suppose it's no surprise that George Washington's favor among Americans has slipped. Decades past, he would have been a lock for the top slot, being as he was the Father of our Country.

But that was then and this is now.

Now we know him as a slave master so cruel he refused to free his slaves until after his death. That emancipating them at all was an extremely rare act for a Virginia gentlemen of his age matters not a whit, for what is history but a collection of meaningless dates?

He was clearly the pawn of the factions which ultimately tore his administration apart.

He wasn't even a great commander, given he spent every battle except the last one losing, like Ho Chi Minh and Vo Nguyen Giap.

And on top of that, he had the nerve to serve just 8 years, setting the precedent which unfortunately made FDR look gauche when he desired to be President-for-Life.

Inexcusable.

Except that Washington, called the "Modern Cincinnatus", saved the fledgling republic at numerous junctures, and through strict moral example built this new society on classical ideals which endured at least up until the point the Supreme Court decided it was a self-appointed oligarchy in the 50s.

Washington remains my top pick. No other man made America in his own image, as Washington did.