单项选择题

E

Some of the notebooks George Washington kept as a young man arc still in existence. They show that he was learning Latin, was very interested in the basics of good behavior in society, and was reading English literature. At school he seems only to have been interested in mathematics. In fact his formal education was surprisingly brief for a gentleman, and incomplete. For unlike other young Virginian gentlemen of that day, he did not go to the College of William and Mary in the Virginian cap ital of Williamsburg. In terms of formal training then, Washington contrasts sharply with some other early American Presidents such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. In later years, Washington probably regretted his lack of intellectual training. He never felt comfortable in a debate in Congress, or on any subject that had not to do with everyday, practical matters. And because he never learned French and could not speak directly to the French leaders, he did not visit the country he admired so much. Thus, unlike Jefferson and Adams, he never reached Europe.

The main idea of the passage is that______.