What is important about Washington is that he played the key role in extending civil rights to Jews. Remember that Jews had no rights in any colonies before the Revolution, and were officially banned from about half the colonies. As part of a policy of establishing religious pluralism (which was critical for national survival given the diversity of the colonists/rebels in 1776), he went out of his way to make sure that pluralism included Jews. The stuff about his clever intelligence operations is interesting, but his role in establishing American religiousity combined with religious diversity, is critical (especially to us).
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