Random Things You Didn't Know About George Washington (16 items)

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  (#10) He Remains One of the Richest Presidents

  George Washington remains one of the wealthiest presidents in American history. Washington's estimated net worth would be around $525 million in today's money. This is partly because his Mount Vernon estate consisted of five farms on 8,000 acres of farmland. The value of his many enslaved workers contributed to his net worth.

  Washington's wife Martha Dandridge Custis also brought significant wealth to the marriage. Her property - which she inherited on the passing of her first husband Daniel Park Custis - was worth £40,000, a significant sum.
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  (#6) By The Time He Became President, His Dental Issues Limited What He Could Eat

  When George Washington was sworn in as President, he had lost or extracted every single one of his adult teeth - save one. He thus had to rely on dentures to function as teeth. Made from different materials, Washington's dentures were likely painful to wear. They also limited what he could eat: in the White House, he largely couldn't eat hard food.

   
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  (#1) He May Have Been Bloodlet To Death

  George Washington happily settled into retirement in 1797. But he wasn't able to enjoy it for very long - just two years later, he unexpectedly passed.

  On December 13, 1797, Washington fell ill a day after riding in the cold rain. Doctors examined the feverish Washington and determined that he needed bloodletting, or the purposeful bleeding of a person as a medical cure. The doctors ended up taking out a lot of Washington's blood - upwards of 40% of it. Washington soon passed.

  The excessive bloodletting likely contributed to Washington's demise.
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  (#11) He Was A Genuine Theater Geek

  George Washington was an unabashed theater-lover who went to playhouses as often as he could. By some estimates, he went to the theater three or four times a week. Washington liked both dramas and comedies. Some of his favorites included Cato and The School for Scandal, a popular comedy by Irish playwright Richard Sheridan.
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  (#3) He Launched A Smallpox Inoculation Program That Helped The Continental Army

  As tight-knit communities where thousands of men live in close, unhygienic quarters, 18th-century armies were hotbeds of diseases. The last thing that George Washington, head of the Continental Army, wanted was an outbreak to debilitate his troops. He considered a smallpox epidemic in particular to be worse "than... the Sword of the Enemy." 

  Getting inoculated against smallpox became increasingly popular in the 18th century. Inoculation was an early form of vaccination; it involved introducing a limited amount of infection to people so that they would develop a milder form of smallpox and develop immunity. 

  To protect his troops from such an outbreak, Washington launched what historians call "the first mass military inoculation" program: his troops were inoculated against smallpox. Washington's foresight prevented a medical disaster and arguably enabled American victory. 
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  (#12) He Was Technically a French Citizen

  France's support during the American Revolution was valuable politically. So when France began its own revolution in 1789, some revolutionaries looked with admiration on what the Americans had accomplished in declaring their independence and building a nation built on democracy, rather than monarchy.

  In that spirit of democratic brotherhood, George Washington was actually made an honorary citizen of France in 1792. Other Americans who received French citizenship at the time included Thomas Paine and Alexander Hamilton.

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