On December 23, 1783, then Commander in Chief of the Continental Army George Washington did something commanders of victorious armies didn't do: he resigned his military commission, and returned to his Mount Vernon estate as a private citizen. It may be the most important single act in American history, and the most selfless. West Point Historian Lt. Col. Sean Scully, Hillsdale College President Dr. Larry Arnn, and author David McCullough tell the story.
