“Father of His Country,” “The Sage of Mount Vernon,” “The Foundingest Father of them all” … Martha Washington called him her “Old Man.”
On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first President of the United States. He wrote James Madison,
“As the first of every thing, in our situation will serve to establish a Precedent, it is devoutly wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles.”
Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the morals, manners and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia gentleman.
The unexpected death of their father, when George Washington was eleven, prevented him from receiving a classical, Latin-based education at Appleby School in England. Instead, private tutors and possibly a local school in Fredericksburg provided the young man with the only formal instruction he would receive.
Throughout his life, George Washington felt keenly embarrassed by his lack of a formal education, privately admitting that he was “conscious of a defective education,” and for good reason.
The majority of the founders were college-educated gentleman who had spent years reading law and studying the classics. Washington was one of the few in his generation who rose to leadership without these advantages.
In addition to reading, writing, and basic legal forms, Washington studied geometry and trigonometry – in preparation for his first career as a surveyor – and manners – which would shape his character and conduct for the rest of his life.
The printed word, as much as the trials of battle, forged George Washington the soldier and was central to his efforts to create disciplined, effective armies.
The war stories told by his half-brother, Lawrence Washington, an officer in the Virginia militia likely ignited Washington’s interest in a military career, but printed histories may have also inspired him.
He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western expansion.
In 1747, Washington executed his first practice surveys, and in 1749 he secured the lucrative office of county surveyor in Culpeper County, Virginia. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax.
Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen. Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him.
In March 1755, Washington rejoined the British Army, this time as an unpaid aide-de-camp to General Edward Braddock. However, he was still seen as a second-rate aide and Braddock did not listen to colonists despite their experiences. The result was a disaster.
After years of frustration, Washington resigned from the British Army for good. Continuing to serve with his men was clearly his preference, but he could no longer do so.
From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses.
In both the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, George Washington faced the frustrating task of transforming liberty-loving colonists into disciplined soldiers.
Officers were often as unfamiliar with the basic commands as their troops, and Washington urged them to read military manuals. One Hessian soldier recalled with surprise the books found in the captured bags of American officers: “This was a true indication that the officers of this army studied the art of war while in camp.”
Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced his resistance to the restrictions.
Washington knew British control extend too far within the government as well. As the British Parliament continued to tax the colonies his anger grew.
The first time George Washington ran for public office, he lost. Despite the loss, Washington decided to run again for the House of Burgesses. It seems that by November 1757, some already knew Washington’s intentions to run in Frederick County.
The last session of the House of Burgesses Washington attended was in May 1774. During the session burgesses called for a day of “fasting, Humiliation and prayer,” to show support to those being punished by Parliament for the Boston Tea Party.
British Governor Dunmore promptly dissolved the House of Burgesses and did not recall it until June 1775.
When the Second Continental Congress assembled in Philadelphia in May 1775, Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, 1775, and John Adams nominated George Washington to serve as the army’s Commander-in- Chief.
On June 16, 1775, Washington addressed the Continental Congress … “Mr President, Tho’ I am truly sensible of the high Honour done me in this Appointment, yet I feel great distress, from a consciousness that my abilities & Military experience may not be equal to the extensive & important Trust:”
“However, as the Congress desire i⟨t⟩ I will enter upon the momentous duty, & exert every power I Possess In their service & for the Support of the glorious Cause: I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished testimony of their Approbation.”
“But lest some unlucky event should happen unfavourable to my reputation, I beg it may be rememberd by every Gentn in the room, that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do not think my self equal to the Command I ⟨am⟩ honoured with.”
“As to pay, Sir, I beg leave to Assure the Congress that as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to have accepted this Arduous emploiment at the expence of my domestk ease & happi⟨ness⟩ I do not wish to make any proffit from it: I will keep an exact Account of my expences; those I doubt not they will discharge & that is all I desire.” (Washington, National Archives)
On July 3, 1775, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years.
Despite having little practical experience in managing large, conventional armies, Washington proved to be a capable and resilient leader of the American military forces during the Revolutionary War.
While he lost more battles than he won, Washington employed a winning strategy that included victories at the Battle of Trenton in 1776 and Yorktown in 1781.
First President of the United States
Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon. But he soon realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787.
When the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President.
He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became principally a Presidential concern.
When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.
He retired at the end of his second term. In his 1796 Farewell Address, Washington’s principal concern was for the safety of the eight-year-old Constitution. He believed that the stability of the Republic was threatened by the forces of geographical sectionalism, political factionalism, and interference by foreign powers in the nation’s domestic affairs.
White House
George Washington, selected the site for the White House in 1791, but he never lived in it. The following year, the cornerstone was laid and a design submitted by Irish-born architect James Hoban was chosen. After eight years of construction, President John Adams (the 2nd US President) and his wife Abigail moved into the still-unfinished residence.
George Washington’s Mount Vernon mansion is ten times the size of the average home in colonial Virginia. Mount Vernon was the home of George Washington.
Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at Mount Vernon; he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months the Nation mourned him. (White House)
Click the following link to a general summary about George Washington:
