character.........................

 

     Although he understood power and knew how to use it, unlike the case with almost every other political leader of his importance, there is no strong evidence that George Washington loved power, either for its own sake or for the prerequisites it brought him.  He was a thoughtful but not a speculative man, and neither is there any serious evidence that he had a strong vision for America, a vision of stately grandeur or of human happiness.  Why then did he accept the most arduous service his nation offered, not once but over and over again?

     Because, the only answer is, of a profound sense of duty that derived from his, Washington's, moral character.

-Joseph Epstein, Essays in Biography, George Washington: An Amateur's View