George Washington
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America's Greatest Citizen
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Federalist, First President
1789-1797
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George Washington was perhaps the single most important American of all time. Others may have been greater presidents, in particular those like Abraham Lincoln or FDR who served the nation in times of great crises, but the U.S. Presidency was “modeled” with George Washington in mind. The famous quote of Henry Lee that George Washington was “first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen” is just as true today as it was some 200 years ago.

Washington lived an extraordinary life. Born in 1732 on a small Virginia plantation along the banks the Potomac River, he eventually rose to the rank of the landed gentry (through inheritance and his marriage to Martha Dandridge Custis). At 16 he served as a surveyor of the Shenandoah Valley for Lord Fairfax and discovered the urge for adventure. In 1753-55 he was involved in the French and Indian War, narrowly escaping death on several occasions. He received his greatest joy as the gentleman planter of his beloved Mt. Vernon that bordered the Potomac.

Elected a delegate to the Second Continental Congress in 1775, he was soon named the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army that was engaging the British for what was to be for American Independence.

The Revolutionary War was to last a grueling six years (essentially ending with the Battle of Yorktown, October 19, 1881).

Following the war, Washington he retired to Mt. Vernon only to be called to his country’s service again in 1787 as the President of the Constitutional Convention. Two years later, he was unanimously elected to be the first president of the United States and to bring life and precedent to the new Constitution, which was no more than a framework, silent on many details.

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His greatest priorities for the Presidency were to 1) establish the proper precedent for the office of the presidency and leave the office voluntarily to an elected successor, 2) establish a bills of rights, 3) create a strong national financial system that would inspire trust and confidence in the new country, 4) take advantage of the great resources in the Western frontier, America’s greatest asset, and 5) stay out of world conflicts and war until America had a chance to mature as a country.

Eight years later, his service to his country complete, he was able to return to Mt. Vernon for his final years His retirement was brief, however, for he died of throat infection December 14, 1799.