Was George Washington better....

[Mr. Christopher]

Was GW a better general, or better president?

[One Bad Pig]

GW was merely an average general, but as the first president he set the standard (and tone) for presidents to come.

[NJon]

Was GW a better general, or better president?

I'd say a better general. Washington lost almost every battle that he ever fought, but he was able to do something extraordinary: he took what was essentially 13 separate nations with 13 different cultures and he united them under a common cause. His ability to evade larger armies and tire them out, as well as to work with France to execute the blockade at Yorktown, was crucial. After Yorktown, the English Prime Minister declared, "It's all over!" Cornwallis' southern armies were captured. The English taxpayers didn't want to keep funding the war effort to chase Washington's armies around the Americas.

So, though Washington wasn't a great battlefield tactician, he was a great strategist. As president, he mostly stayed out of the way. He was really a puppet for Hamilton and Jefferson; Hamilton mostly, though. In his farewell address, Washington warned against forming political parties because it would deeply divide the nation and ultimately get nothing constructive done. I can see how well we've listened to that advice...

[Mr. Christopher]

I'd say a better general. Washington lost almost every battle that he ever fought, but he was able to do something extraordinary: he took what was essentially 13 separate nations with 13 different cultures and he united them under a common cause. His ability to evade larger armies and tire them out, as well as to work with France to execute the blockade at Yorktown, was crucial. After Yorktown, the English Prime Minister declared, "It's all over!" Cornwallis' southern armies were captured. The English taxpayers didn't want to keep funding the war effort to chase Washington's armies around the Americas.

So, though Washington wasn't a great battlefield tactician, he was a great strategist. As president, he mostly stayed out of the way. He was really a puppet for Hamilton and Jefferson; Hamilton mostly, though. In his farewell address, Washington warned against forming political parties because it would deeply divide the nation and ultimately get nothing constructive done. I can see how well we've listened to that advice...

True, but if you read headlines and papers back then, it was MORE divided than what it is now. People think it's bad now, as far as division, but it was worse then.