George Washington was cold and formal — when he wanted to be. Other times, he lavished affection upon the Marquis de Lafayette, as seen in this very long letter from September of 1779. A few choice passages:

Your forward Zeal in the cause of liberty—Your singular attachment to this infant world—Your ardent & persevering efforts, not only in America but since your return to France to serve the United States. your polite attention to Americans—and your strict & uniform friendship for me, has ripened the first impressions of esteem & attachment which I imbibed for you into such perfect love & gratitude that neither time nor absence can impair

Everyone loved Lafayette, basically.

…after our Swords & Spears have given place to the plough share & pruning-hook, I see you as a private Gentleman—a friend & Companion—I shall welcome you in all the warmth of friendship to Columbias shore; & in the latter case, to my rural Cottage, where homely fare & a cordial reception shall be substituted for delicacies & costly living.

“My rural cottage” = Mount Vernon. Lol.

if the lovely partner of your happiness will consent to participate with us in such rural entertainment & amusemts I can undertake in behalf of Mrs Washington that she will do every thing in her power to Make Virginia agreeable to the Marchioness—My inclination & endeavours to do this cannot be doubted when I assure you that I love every body that is dear to you. consequently participate in the pleasure you feel in the prospt of again becoming a parent & do most Sincerely congratulate you and your Lady on this fresh pledge she is about to give you of her love.

The Marquis named his next child Georges Washington, btw.

You are pleased my dear Marquis to express an earnest desire of seeing me in France (after the establishment of our independancy) & do me the honour to add, that you are not singular in your request. let me entreat you to be perswaded, that to meet you any where after the final accomplishment of so glorious an event would contribute to my happiness—& that, to visit a country to whose generous aid we stand so much indebted, would be an additional pleasure—but remember my good friend, that I am unacquainted with your language—that I am too far advanced in years to acquire a knowledge of it. and that to converse through the medium of an interpreter upon common occasions, especially with the Ladies must appr so extremely aukward—insipid—& uncouth—that I can scarce bear it in idea.

George did not want to visit France because he thought his inability to speak French would embarrass him. I mean he had a point.

When I look back to the length of this letter I am so much astonished & frightned at it myself, that I have not the courage to give it a careful reading for the purpose of correction—You must therefore receive it with all its imperfections—accompanied with this assurance that though there may be many incorrections in the letter, there is not a single defect in the friendship of my dear Marquis

He was kind of rambling. Two paragraphs before this one he goes on for awhile about how he would like to flirt with the Marquis’ wife, but she wouldn’t be interested in an “old man.” Oh George, you cad!!