Someone here made the point of imagining what it would be like if Reagan did not win the election. Our embassy personnel held hostage in Iran; the Soviet Union mighty and ascendant. It is scary to contemplate if Carter won re election.
True.
But without a George Washington, there would be no United States to worry about, possibly a Monarchy instead of a Republic, and a good part of our Federal Executive Structure was created by Washington.
At any rate, that's my thinking.
But I agree totally with your assessment of Reagan's significance. Carter's re-election would have been a national catastrophy. His Secretary of Defense Zbignew Brizinky(Spelling? Does he have a green card?) had the nerve to recently criticize Bush's efforts in the Middle East after the catastrophy they orchestrated in Iran.