Random Small But Poignant Facts We Just Learned About George Washington (13 items)

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  (#9) As A Boy, He Was So Committed To Becoming A Gentleman That He Copied Out 110 Rules Of Etiquette

  Though born to a wealthy family, George Washington likely didn't get a formal education. His hopes of going to England for school were dashed when his father passed when Washington was 11. His schooling probably stopped when he was 15. But that didn't mean that he stopped educating himself.

  Part of his self-education meant refining his manners so that he could embody gentlemanly virtues. To do this, the young Washington actually memorized manners by copying out 110 rules from an etiquette book dictating how to behave.
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  (#2) He Was A Devoted Father To His Stepchildren, Grandchildren, And Wards

  George Washington never fathered his own children. Martha Custis had children from her first marriage, and it is likely that Washington was rendered sterile from sickness. 

  Washington raised and loved his wife's surviving children - John and Patsy - as if they were his biological children. He also helped raise his stepgrandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

  Though he was a disciplinarian, Washington tried to guide his young charges on matters of the heart as well.  
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  (#12) His Lifelong Dental Issues Likely Left Him In Constant Pain

  George Washington struggled with dental issues his entire life. Consequently, he lost teeth and had some extracted to the point that he required dentures. Washington's dentures were from a variety of materials, perhaps including teeth from enslaved people.

  Though Washington was dependent on the dentures to eat and speak, they were painful to wear and required him to avoid hard food.
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  (#5) Soldiers Performed His Favorite Play At Valley Forge

  One of George Washington's favorite pastimes was going to the theater. As biographer Ron Chernow recounts, Washington once "attended the theater five nights" during a single week in June 1770.

  In fact, he loved the theater so much that he even had soldiers perform a play at Valley Forge, since he thought it would be good for morale. They performed Cato, which happened to be Washington's favorite play.
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  (#7) He Opted To Lead The New Nation Without A Salary

  Admirers claimed George Washington embodied civic virtue when he declined a salary as the first president of the United States. 

  But rather than an act of patriotic benevolence, Washington's move was a smart one. He only asked that, in place of a salary, Congress pay for his expenses incurred in office. He ended up spending $25,000, which is what he would have received in the form of a salary. 
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  (#6) He Lost His Mother To Breast Cancer Just Before He Was Elected President

  George Washington's relationship with his mother, Mary Ball Washington, was strained. She often turned to George, her eldest son, for help and financial assistance, which he came to resent. After all, as a young widow with six children, her position was precarious.

  His mother passed two years short of seeing her son become the first president of the United States. In August 1787, she succumbed to breast cancer.

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