A realist.................

     In dealing with the world, Washington was an utter realist.  He always sought, as he put it in 1775, at the outset of the war against Britain, to "make the best of mankind as they are, since we cannot have them as we wish." . . .

     If any single person was responsible for establishing the young Republic on a firm footing, it was Washington.  He was nearly as much of an aristocrat as the United States ever produced, in his acceptance of social hierarchy and in his belief that some were born to command and most to obey.  Although he trusted the good sense of the people in the long run, he believed that they could easily be misled by demagogues.  He was a realist who had no illusions about human nature.  "The motives which predominate most human affairs," he said, "are self-love and self-interest."  The common people, like the common soldiers in his army could not be expected to be "influenced by any other principles than those of interest."

- Gordon S. Wood, Revolutionary Characters:  What Made The Founders Different