President George Washington: America’s ‘First Entrepreneur’
The Epoch Times cites Director of Finance Policy John Berlau on President George Washington:
Private enterprises he founded had an effect on the future of American agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing, says John Berlau, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute and the author of the book “George Washington, Entrepreneur: How our Founding Father’s Private Business Pursuits Changed America and the World.”
Berlau’s portrait of Washington, drawn in large part from his journals and letters, shines a light on the founding father’s endeavors as an innovator and entrepreneur.
The book presents “another side of Washington’s greatness and how our country is rooted in entrepreneurship,” Berlau told The Epoch Times.
Washington devoted his life to the improvement of his farm at Mount Vernon and American agriculture. His passion for his farm never ceased on the battlefield or during his presidency, Berlau wrote in his book.
Washington, on his estate, grew countless varieties of trees and built a greenhouse, which became a showcase for exotic fruits, herbs, and plants from around the world.
“Unlike his Virginia neighbors who remained wedded to tobacco, Washington planted seven types of wheat,” according to the book. “Transforming Mount Vernon from a tobacco plantation into a diversified farm with wheat as its main crop was a great entrepreneurial feat.”