There's a lot of throwing about of the term 'socialism' nowadays, mostly from the Wingnut quarters, and mostly in connection either with the bailouts, or with Obama's health care plan.
What does Washington have to do with it? Well, on the face of it, calling him a 'socialist' is absurd - it's anachronistic, as the term wasn't invented until the 1830's (an all too little-known fact; Socialism predates Marxism). In another way, it'd almost be offensive as well - to socialists - to refer to a slave-owning colonial plantation owner as such.
On the other hand, actual socialism has little to do with what the wingnuts are ranting about. Apparently, their definition of 'socialist' is anyone who thinks that government ownership of a corporate entity, in whole or part, should be an available tool in promoting the public good. In which case it would in fact appear that the label would apply just as well to good old George...