"I learned that Washington never told a lie" refers to President George Washington - this legend is a staple of US American national mythology. "Mao Zedong" may be a Chinese counterpart, not the locality of Zhongnanhai.

Children are always lied to in school by teachers - That may well be a worldwide problem!

Absolutely so. In authoritarian countries, most people know that schools serve the state rather than the truth; democratic countries need a Pete Seegers to remind them from time to time.

There are three kinds of lie from state authorities: those that are believed, those they get away with, and those they do not. The proportion varies between countries, and can be changed by good writers (- provided they pass censorship -) and an attentive public. -

Yes, poetry is often hard to understand and to appreciate; nobody does it perfectly.