ritish, and the wounds of the Revolution fresh, their outcry was at times vociferous. They accused Washington of being a Whig and a traitor. Several newspapers were especially caustic. "If ever a nation was debauched by a man," wrote Philadelphia's Aurora in 1796, "the American nation has been by Washington." At the time of his death in 1799, Washington was still a controversial figure.
It was not until early in the next century that the image of the nation's first president assumed its patina of respectability. Much of the deification of Washington can be credited to a little-kno
...