Washington WAS a terrible tactician. He was also far more aware of position in Society than people tend to be taught - as was Jefferson and the bulk of the rest.

He desperately wanted a King's Commission into the regular Army and could not get one - so became a militia officer instead. Then, he managed to start the shooting in the Seven Year's War (French and Indian) by firing on a French scouting party, building a small fortification (Fort Necessity) and in turn surrendering it when the French showed up in force.

Where he stood out was managing to survive Braddock's disaster of building a road into the wilderness so his (Braddock's) army could move easily and beat the French like gentlemen. That he did survive, and managed to get some troops out was a feat that many Regular officers failed to do, including Braddock himself.

He DID manage to demonstrate a skill that would stand him in good stead in the 1770's - he could draw troops to him and hold them by force of will. He was theatrical, melodramatic (by today's standards), vain, incredibly conscious of position of society and perpetually hurt that because he was a "colonial" he would never fit into the London society he desperately wanted to join.

The result was he learned to keep an "Army in Being" in the field against far superior forces. When war came, he managed to fight a hit-and-run war, even tho he wanted to fight a classic set piece to show what a great leader he was. He learned (the hard way) that doing so would have the war over by mid-1776. So, he took the un-glorious route and fought when he could and ran when he could not fight.

He also made a point of not blaming subordinates for his mistakes (eg., Long Island, Brooklyn and Fort Washington) - a lesson current leaders should learn from.

Having read McCullough's book, rather than "praising" George III and other leaders, he points out that they were not evil incarnate. His reivew, in short, is "balanced" - looking at what the record actually shows, not what we have learned in Mythology Class... ummmm... I mean History Class.