George Washington
| Rank: | 1st (1789-1797) |
| Followed: | Cyrus Griffin |
| Succeeded by: | John Adams |
| Date of Birth | February 22, 1732 |
| Place of Birth: | Westmoreland County, Virginia |
| Date of Death: | December 14, 1799 |
| Place of Death: | Mount Vernon, Virginia |
| First Lady: | Martha Dandridge Curtis |
| Occupation: | farmer, soldier |
| Political Party: | Federalist |
| Vice President: | John Adams |
As the first President of the United States of America under the current Constitution, George Washington (1789-1797) is recognized by Americans as "The Father of Our Country."
The earliest known image in which Washington is identified as such is on the cover of the c.1778 Pennsylvania-German almanac, "Lancaster: Gedruckt bey Francis Bailey". This identifies Washington as "Landes Vater" (Father of the Land).
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Career
Washington was part of the economic and cultural elite of the country at that time, that is, the slave owning planters of Virginia. He served as an officer in the British Army prior to and during the French and Indian War. He was initiated as a Freemason in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on 4 February 1752.
He was commanding general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. After the war, he presided over the American Constitutional Convention in 1787. He was elected president, in 1788 and 1792. Washington remains the only president unanimously elected by the Electoral College.
Personal information
Washington's estate, Mount Vernon, is located in what is now a suburb of Washington, D.C.
Admirers of Washington circulated a story about his honesty as a child. In the story, he wanted to try out a new axe and chopped down his father's cherry tree. When questioned by his father, he gave the famous non-quotation "I cannot tell a lie. It was I who chopped down the cherry tree." The story first appeared after Washington's death in a naive "inspirational" children's book by Parson Mason Weems, who has been rector of the Mount Vernon parish.
In 1790 George Washington sent a letter to the Jewish community in Rhode Island. He wrote that he envisions a country "which gives bigotry no sanction ... persecution no assistance". For the first time in history, Jews live in a country where they enjoy full and equal human and political rights - as a birthright of citizenship ([1]).
Legacy in contemporary U.S.
The capital city of the United States, Washington, D.C., is named for him. The District of Columbia was created by an Act of Congress in 1790, and Washington was deeply involved in its creation, including the siting of the White House. At this time, the future site of the capital was a swamp, and Washington remained largely marshland well into the 19th century. The capital was placed in the South, rather than in the major towns of the North, at the insistence of Southerns.
Washington also selected West Point, New York, as the site for the United_States_Military_Academy.
His image is on the one dollar bill and the quarter-dollar coin.
Inaugural Addresses: