what is george washington's legacy?
United States Military Academy Society of the Cincinnati Continental Army Culper Ring United States Army Corps of Engineers
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 Washington : A Life is a 2010 biography of George Washington , the first President of the United States , written by American historian and biographer Ron Chernow . The book is a " one @-@ volume , cradle @-@ to @-@ grave narrative " that attempts to provide a fresh portrait of Washington as " real , credible , and charismatic in the same way he was perceived by his contemporaries " . 

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 Historian Gilbert Chinard wrote in 1936 : “ Lafayette became a legendary figure and a symbol so early in his life , and successive generations have so willingly accepted the myth , that any attempt to deprive the young hero of his republican halo will probably be considered as little short of iconoclastic and sacrilegious . ” That legend has been used politically : the name and image of Lafayette were repeatedly invoked in 1917 in seeking to gain popular support for America 's entry into World War I , culminating in the famous phrase , " Lafayette , we are here " . This occurred at some cost to Lafayette 's image in America : veterans returned from the front singing " We 've paid our debt to Lafayette , who the hell do we owe now ? " A longer @-@ term threat was the increasing sophistication of Americans and the lessened need for symbols of patriotism ; by 1971 , according to Anne C. Loveland , " Lafayette no longer served as a national hero @-@ symbol . " In 2002 , however , Congress voted to grant Lafayette honorary citizenship . 

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 In Washington 's final years , he sold the " Franklin Farms " property , and lived in a home on New Vernon Road in Mendham . 

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 During the United States Bicentennial year , George Washington was posthumously appointed to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States by the congressional joint resolution Public Law 94 @-@ 479 passed on January 19 , 1976 , with an effective appointment date of July 4 , 1976 . This restored Washington 's position as the highest @-@ ranking military officer in U.S. history . 

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 At his death in 1799 he left a critical legacy ; he exemplified the core ideals of the American Revolution and the new nation : republican virtue and devotion to civic duty . Washington was the unchallenged public icon of American military and civic patriotism . He was also identified with the Federalist Party , which lost control of the national government in 1800 to the Jeffersonian Republicans , who were reluctant to celebrate the hero of the opposition party . 
