"We search history in vain to find a parallel to Washington. As a
statesman, as a general, as a thoroughly good man, he stands
pre-eminent. He was so emphatically the Father of his country that it
may almost be said that he created the Republic." --John S.C. Abbott,
Preface, 1875
American historian John S.C. Abbott wrote George Washington--Life in
America One Hundred Years Ago (1875) as part of his American Pioneers
and Patriots series. George Washington (1732-1799), "Father of His
Country," was an American general and commander-in-chief of the patriot
forces in the American Revolution and served as the first president of
the United States from 1789 to 1797.