George Washington

As the first President of the United States of America under the Constitution (1789-1797), George Washington 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).

File:George-washington-thumbnail.jpg

(Public domain image from Lyndon Baines Johnson Library

full size image)

Born: February 22 (February 11, Old Style), 1732

Died: (date), (year), Mount Vernon, Virginia

Gravesite: (place)

Washington served as an officer in the British Army prior to and during the French and Indian War.

Washington 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, by electors selected by state legislators and not by popular vote. Nevertheless, Washington remains the only president unanimously elected by the Electoral College.

His image is on the one dollar bill and the quarter-dollar coin.

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 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.

He also selected West Point, New York, as the site for the United_States_Military_Academy.

His estate, Mount Vernon, is located in what is now a suburb of Washington, D.C.

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.

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Inaugural Addresses:

• First Inaugural Address
• Second Inaugural Address

Related articles

• Previous President: Cyrus Griffin (President under the Articles of Confederation)
• Vice President: John Adams
• Next President: John Adams

• U.S. presidential election, 1789
• U.S. presidential election, 1792

• Famous military commanders