<p>&ldquo;We search history in vain to find a parallel to Washington. As a statesman, as a general, as a thoroughly good man, he stands pre-eminent. He was so emphatically the Father of his country that it may almost be said that he created the Republic.&rdquo; &mdash;John S.C. Abbott, Preface, 1875</p><p>American historian John S.C. Abbott wrote <em>George Washington&mdash;Life in America One Hundred Years Ago</em> (1875) as part of his American Pioneers and Patriots series. George Washington (1732&ndash;1799), &ldquo;Father of His Country,&rdquo; was an American general and commander-in-chief of the patriot forces in the American Revolution and served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797.</p>