WASHINGTON (CNN) -- At a ceremony honoring America's first president at his Mount Vernon estate, President Bush praised George Washington's leadership in the American Revolution and drew parallels between that war and the war in Iraq.

"Today we are fighting a new war to defend our liberty, our freedom and our way of life and as we work to advance the cause of freedom around the world we remember that the father of our country believed the freedoms we secured in our revolution were not meant for Americans alone," Bush said.

In his official proclamation of Washington's 275th Birthday, Bush said the first president would see an "America fulfilling the promise of her Founders.

"Today, he would see in America the world's foremost champion of liberty -- a nation that stands for freedom for all, a nation that stands with democratic reformers, and a nation that stands up to tyranny and terror," he said in the proclamation.