George Washington lost more battles than he won. He was not the most brilliant military strategist in the Continental Army. What made him indispensable to the American founding was his character — specifically, the qualities of self-restraint, persistence, integrity, and the willingness to give up power voluntarily when his task was complete. Ricks documents how Washington deliberately formed these qualities, partly through studying Stoic philosophy and partly through the sheer disciplined practice of his own behaviour over decades. He kept journals of his conduct. He thought explicitly about how a leader should behave. He modelled himself on the Roman general Cincinnatus, who relinquished command and returned to his farm when the crisis was over. In an era when power was almost never voluntarily given up, Washington's resignation set a precedent that shaped the entire republic. Character was not incidental to his leadership. It was his primary instrument.