USS George Washington Fighter jets are parked on the USS George Washington aircraft carrier on Nov. 14, 2024, as the three-day trilateral Freedom Edge exercise between South Korea, the United States and Japan is under way,

A triumphant general in Washington’s position might have tried to seize power, but Washington, like other Americans, saw himself and his army as agents of the Continental Congress. During the war, he deferred to its directives even when he disagreed with them. At war’s end, he returned to private life.