Beginning with George Washington, it has been a custom for the President of the United States to have an official portrait sculpted or painted during his time in office.
From the beginning artists were faced with conflicting demands of aesthetics, the need to evoke the significance of the nation’s highest office, and the personal inclination of the sitter (varying from modesty to pomposity). How to reconcile such different strands in a work of art? [Read more…] about Portraying Presidents: A Sketch of Cultural History
Washington’s Headquarters State Historic Site is set to celebrate General George Washington’s 288th birthday on February 15th, 16th and 17th. Events will include demonstrations, topical talks, historical presentations, take-home crafts, and more. 
Acting Director of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History, Matthew R. Costello’s new book The Property of the Nation: George Washington’s Tomb, Mount Vernon, and the Memory of the First President (University Press of Kansas, 2019) looks at the life of George Washington, and how he has been viewed throughout history. 
Following the capture of British forces by the allied armies of France and America, 
Over the winter of 1780-81 at this headquarters, General Henry Knox organized the artillery for the projected attack on New York City. Soldiers, at the nearby encampment, repaired and trained on the guns, howitzers and mortars.
On November 26, 1883, a large statue of George Washington by the American Sculptor John Quincy Adams Ward was erected in front of New York City’s Federal Hall at 26 Wall Street, which statue remains there to this day.
General 
Peter Stark’s new book Young Washington: How Wilderness and War Forged America’s Founding Father (Ecco, 2018) recounts the wilderness trials, controversial battles, and emotional entanglements that transformed George Washington from a temperamental striver into a mature leader.