So what do I think about on this the 275th anniversary of George Washington’s birth? His heroics as a general? His leadership of our new nation? His wooden teeth? Nope. It is Washington’s success as an entrepreneur. If you’ve ever taken the tour of Mount Vernon, you already know the rest of this story. But for the rest of you, read this article at Opinion Journal by John Fund titled Moonshine Patriot: George Washington, whiskey entrepreneur.
“He thought like an American businessman,” says Jim Rees, the executive director of Washington’s Mount Vernon estate. “He was a true disciple of the free enterprise system, and he sensed that our new system of government would encourage people to think creatively, take chances and invest.”
Here is a picture of the archaeological dig site of the distillery at Mount Vernon:
If you want an historic account of George Washington’s pursuit of free enterprise read this paper from the Mount Vernon archives.
(Thanks to John Russell for suggesting this post).
I found the John Fund article fascinating! I wrote a blog about Washington’s business practices at http://www.thenierenblog.typepad.com . Thanks for the interesting post.