George Washington
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George Washington
Order 1st President
President from April 30, 1789 - March 3, 1797
Vice President John Adams
Preceded by None
Succeeded by John Adams
Born February 22, 1732
Westmoreland, Virginia
Died December 14, 1799
Mount Vernon, Virginia
Political party None (1789-93)
Spouse Martha Custis Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732 - December 14, 1799) was the successful Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1783, and later became the first President of the United States, an office to which he was elected, unanimously, twice and remained in from 1789 to 1797. Washington first gained prominence as an officer during the French and Indian War and as a leader of colonial militia supporting the British Empire. After leading the American victory in the Revolutionary War, he refused to lead a military regime, though encouraged by some of his peers to do so. He returned to civilian life at Mount Vernon.
In 1787, he presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the current United States Constitution, and, in 1789, was the unanimous choice to become the first President of the United States. His two-term administration set many policies and traditions that survive today. After his second term expired, Washington again voluntarily relinquished power, thereby establishing an important precedent that was to serve as an example for the United States and also for other future republics.
Because of his central role in the founding of the United States, Washington is often called the "Father of his Country". [1] Scholars rank him with Abraham Lincoln among the greatest of United States presidents.
Early life
According to the Julian calendar, Washington was born on February 11, 1731; according to the Gregorian calendar, which was adopted during Washington's life and is used today, he was born on February 22, 1732 (Washington's Birthday is celebrated on the Gregorian date.) At the time of his birth, the English year began March 25 (Annunciation Day, or Lady Day), hence the difference in his birth year. His birthplace was Popes Creek Plantation, on the Potomac River southeast of modern-day Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia.
Washington's parents Augustine Washington (1693-April 12, 1743) and Mary Ball Washington (1708-August 25, 1789) were of British descent and were slave-owning planters in Virginia, but they were not nearly as wealthy as the neighboring Carters and Lees. Washington spent much of his boyhood at Ferry Farm in Stafford County, near Fredericksburg and visited his Washington cousins at Chotank in King George County. The death of Augustine Washington left the family in difficult circumstances and prevented young George from receiving an education in England.
An early biography of Washington by Parson Weems, who met Washington and interviewed people who knew Washington as a young man, included a story about his honesty as a child. In the story, he wanted to try out a new axe, so he chopped the bark of his father's cherry tree; when questioned by his father, he admitted responsibility and uttered the famous words: "I can't tell a lie." The story first appeared in 1800 in Weems's biography (titled "Life of Washington")[2]. Indeed, strict integrity was a hallmark of Washington's life.
He was home schooled and was also trained as a surveyor, obtaining his certificate from the College of William and Mary. He surveyed the Shenandoah Valley in western Virginia for Lord Fairfax, a distant relative, and retained a lifelong interest in western lands, particularly the areas reached from the Potomac River as his thinking was that this water source was the central entrance for oceanic ships. His only foreign trip was a short visit to Barbados [3] in 1751, during which he survived an attack of smallpox although his face was scarred by the disease. He was initiated as a Freemason in Fredericksburg on February 4, 1752. On brother Lawrence's death in July 1752, he rented and eventually inherited the estate, Mount Vernon, in Fairfax County (near Alexandria).
French and Indian War: 1754-1763
At twenty-two years of age, Washington fired some of the first shots of what would become a war between colonial powers. The trouble began in 1753, when France began building a series of forts in the Ohio Country, a region also claimed by Virginia. This was part of an overall strategy by the French, with the support of the indigenous population, to destabilize the American frontier and tie up British military forces in the American colonies. Robert Dinwiddie, the governor of Virginia, had young Major Washington deliver a letter to the French commander, asking them to leave. After the publication of Washington's accounts of this tale appreared in local newspapers, he became a legend. The French refused, and so, in 1754, Dinwiddie sent Washington, now promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in the First Virginia Regiment, on another mission to the Ohio Country. There, Washington and his troops ambushed a French Canadian scouting party. After a short skirmish, Washington's American Indian ally Tanacharison killed the wounded French commander Ensign Jumonville. Washington then built Fort Necessity, which soon proved inadequate, as he was compelled to surrender to a larger French and American Indian force. The surrender terms that Washington signed included an admission that he had "assassinated" Jumonville. (The document was written in French, which Washington could not read.) The "Jumonville affair" became an international incident and helped to ignite the French and Indian War, a part of the worldwide Seven Years' War.
Washington was later released by the French, on parole, with his promise not to return to the Ohio Country for one year.
Washington was always eager to serve in the British Army, which, on the other hand, had a low regard for colonials. His opportunity came in 1755, when he accompanied the Braddock Expedition, a major effort by the British to retake the Ohio Country. The expedition ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. Washington distinguished himself in the debacle?-he had two horses shot out from under him, and four bullets pierced his coat?-yet he sustained no injuries and showed coolness under fire in organizing the retreat. In Virginia, Washington was acclaimed as a hero, and he commanded the First Virginia Regiment for several more years, although the focus of the war had shifted elsewhere. In 1758, he accompanied the Forbes Expedition, which successfully drove the French away from Fort Duquesne.
Washington's goal at the outset of his military career had been to secure a commission as a regular British officer?-rather than staying a mere colonial militia officer. The promotion did not come, and so, in 1759, Washington resigned his commission and married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy widow with two children. Washington adopted her two children, but never fathered any of his own. The newlywed couple moved to Mount Vernon where he took up the life of a genteel farmer and slave owner. He held local office and was elected to the Virginia provincial legislature, the House of Burgesses.
American Revolution: 1774-1783
Main articles: American Revolution and American Revolutionary War
In 1774, Washington was chosen as a delegate from Virginia to the First Continental Congress, convened in the wake of the Boston Tea Party, the British government's punitive closure of Boston Harbor, and the annulment of legislative and judicial rights in Massachusetts. After fighting broke out at Lexington and Concord in April, 1775, Washington appeared at the Second Continental Congress in military uniform?-the only delegate to do so, signaling his interest in becoming commander of the colonial forces. Washington was the unanimous selection, on June 15, 1775. The Massachusetts delegate John Adams suggested his appointment, citing his "skill as an officer... great talents and universal character." He assumed command of the American forces at Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 3.
Washington drove the British forces out of Boston on March 17, 1776, by stationing artillery captured at Ticonderoga on Dorchester Heights, overlooking Boston and its harbor. The British army, led by General William Howe, retreated to Halifax, Canada. Washington moved his army to New York City in anticipation of a British offensive there. In August, the British invaded in overwhelming numbers and Washington led a clumsy retreat that almost failed. He lost the Battle of Long Island on August 22 but managed to move most of his forces to the mainland. However, several other defeats sent Washington scrambling across New Jersey, leaving the future of the Revolution in doubt.
On the night of December 25, 1776, Washington staged a brilliant comeback, the Battle of Trenton. He led the American forces across the Delaware River to smash the Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey. Washington followed up the assault with a surprise attack on General Charles Cornwallis' forces at Princeton on the eve of January 2, 1777. The successful attacks built morale among the pro-independence colonists.
In summer 1777, the British launched a three-pronged attack, with Burgoyne marching south from Canada while Howe attacked the national capital of Philadelphia. Washington moved south, but was badly defeated at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11. An attempt to dislodge the British, the Battle of Germantown, failed as a result of fog and confusion, and Washington was forced to retire to winter quarters at the miserably inadequate Valley Forge.
The winter of 1777-1778 was seen as the low point for the Continental Army (and as a result, for the Revolution as a whole), due to their string of crushing losses, and their wretched living conditions. Washington, however, stood steadfast, demanding more supplies from Congress. His men recovered their morale despite the harsh winter conditions. A new system of drill and training was established by Baron Friedrich von Steuben, who had served on the Prussian general staff. Von Steuben's task was to improve the army's fighting capabilities so that it could match the British in the field. As a result, Valley Forge proved to be a watershed for the fledgling Continental Army which emerged more battle ready than when they first encamped.
Washington attacked the British army moving from Philadelphia to New York at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778, a drawn contest, but the British effort to disrupt the national government had failed. Burgoyne's invading army, meanwhile, was captured at Saratoga in October, giving the British a crushing defeat. It now seemed likely that the British would never re-conquer the new nation, and France signed a formal alliance with the U.S.
After 1778, the British made one last effort to split apart the new nation, this time focused on the southern states. Rather than attack them there, Washington's forces moved to West Point in New York. In 1779, Washington ordered a fifth of the army to carry out the Sullivan Expedition, an offensive against four of the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy that had allied with the British and attacked American settlements along the frontier. There were no battles, but at least forty Iroquois villages were destroyed and the hostile Indians moved permanently to Canada. In 1781, American and French forces and a French fleet trapped General Cornwallis at Yorktown in Virginia. Washington had quick-marched south, taking command of the American and French forces on September 14, and pressed the siege until Cornwallis surrendered on October 17. It was the end of significant fighting, though British forces remained in New York City and a few other places until the final peace was ratified in 1783.
In March 1783, Washington learned about a conspiracy planned by some of his officers who were upset about back pay in the Continental Army's winter camp at Newburgh, New York. They were plotting a coup against the Continental Congress. He was able to convince them (through use of theatrics) that he had suffered equally or more than they. He was thus able to instill loyalty, and thus end the plot.
Later in 1783, by means of the Treaty of Paris, the British recognized American independence. Washington disbanded his army and on November 2 at Rockingham House in Rocky Hill, New Jersey, gave an eloquent farewell address to his soldiers. A few days later the British evacuated New York City, and Washington and the governor took possession of the city; at Fraunces Tavern in the city on December 4, he formally bade his officers farewell.
Home in Virginia 1783-1787
On December 23, 1783, General Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief of the Army to the Congress of the Confederation, which was then meeting at the Maryland State House in Annapolis. This action was of great significance for the young nation, establishing the precedent that civilian elected officials, rather than military officers, possessed ultimate authority over the military. Washington firmly believed that the people are sovereign and that no one should ever come to power in America because of military force, or because of birth in a noble family.
At the time of Washington's departure from military service, he was listed on the rolls of the Continental Army as "General and Commander in Chief." (See Retirement, death, and honors section below for more on this topic.)
Although the nation was at peace in the late 1780s, Washington worried that the fledgling nation had such a weak central government that it could not survive a future war. He therefore endorsed plans to create a new constitution. His support guaranteed it would happen and he presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. For the most part, he did not participate in the debates involved, but his prestige was great enough to maintain collegiality and to keep the delegates at their labors. He adamantly enforced the secrecy adopted by the Convention during the summer. Many believe that the Framers created the Presidency with Washington in mind. After the Convention, his support convinced many, including the Virginia legislature, to support the Constitution.
Washington farmed roughly 8,000 acres (32 km²). Like many Virginia planters at the time, he had little cash on hand and was frequently in debt, even though he owned much land. He eventually had to borrow $600 to relocate to New York, then the center of the American government, to take office as president.
Presidency: 1789-1797
Beginnings
George Washington was elected unanimously by the Electoral College in 1789, and remains the only person ever to be elected president unanimously (a feat which he duplicated in 1792). As runner-up with 34 votes, John Adams became Vice President-elect. The First U.S. Congress voted to pay Washington a salary of $25,000 a year?-a significant sum in 1789. Washington was perhaps the wealthiest American at the time; his western lands were potentially valuable--but no one lived on them as yet. He declined his salary. It was part of his self-structured image as Cincinnatus, the citizen who takes on the burdens of office as a civil duty. Washington attended carefully to the pomp and ceremony of office, making sure that the titles and trappings were suitably republican and never emulated European royal courts.
Washington's election was a disappointment to Martha Washington, the First Lady, who wanted to continue living in quiet retirement at Mount Vernon after the war. Nevertheless, she quickly assumed the role of hostess, opening her parlor and organizing weekly dinner parties for as many dignitaries as could fit around the presidential table.
Policies
In the beginning of his term, he met individually with his advisors, but, by 1791, held regular cabinet meetings. Washington had to referee between the Treasury's Alexander Hamilton, who had bold plans to establish the national credit and build a financially powerful nation, and Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, who usually opposed him. Hamilton won most of these battles and, after Washington denounced the Democratic-Republican societies as dangerous, he was hailed as the leading figure in the new Federalist Party. Jefferson did win the location of the new national capital, which would be located in the South, in what was soon named "Washington, District of Columbia".
In 1791, Congress imposed an excise tax on distilled spirits, leading to protests. By 1794, after Washington ordered the protesters to appear in U.S. district court, the protests turning into full-scale riots, and outright rebellion. On August 7, Washington invoked the Militia Law of 1792 to summon the militias of Pennsylvania, Virginia and several states. He raised an army of militiamen, and marched at its head into the rebellious districts, making him the only sitting US President to march at the head of a column of troops. There was no fighting, but Washington's forceful action proved the new government could protect itself. In leading the military force against the rebels Washington became the only president to personally lead troops in battle while commander-in-chief. It also marked the first time under the new constitution that the federal government had used strong military force to exert authority over the states and citizens.
The United States had acquired title to the Northwest Territory from Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, but the American Indians who lived there were not consulted. Violence often resulted, the largest conflict being the Northwest Indian War, in which the Indians won victories until being defeated at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794.
In 1793, the revolutionary government of France sent diplomat Edmond-Charles Genêt, who attempted to turn popular sentiment towards American involvement in the war against Great Britain. Genêt was authorized to issue letters of marque and reprisal to American ships and gave authority to any French consul to serve as a prize court. Genêt's activities forced Washington to ask the French government for his recall.
The Jay Treaty, named after Chief Justice of the United States John Jay who was sent by Washington to London to negotiate an agreement, was a treaty between the United States and Great Britain signed on November 19, 1794 that attempted to clear up some of the lingering problems of American separation from Great Britain following the American Revolutionary War. The Treaty was strongly attacked by supporters of France, led by the Jeffersonians, but Washington, supported by Alexander Hamilton, obtained its ratification by Congress. The British had to clear out of their forts around the Great Lakes. It remained in effect until the War of 1812.
Alexander Hamilton used Federal patronage to set up a national network of friends of the Administration. This developed into a full-fledged party, with Hamilton the key leader. The Federalist party elected John Adams president in 1796. Washington himself spoke often against the ills of political parties, and thus never declared his support one way or another. He did, however, support Hamiltonian politics over Jeffersonian, but never made a statement to that effect. Washington was more or less not a member of any party in existence at that time.
Washington had to be talked into a second term of office as President, and very reluctantly agreed to it. However, after two terms, Washington refused to run for a third term in office. By refusing a third term, Washington established a firm, but unwritten rule of a maximum of two terms for a U.S. president. It was broken by Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940, but after his death was formally integrated into the Federal Constitution by the 22nd Amendement.
Washington's Farewell Address (issued as a public letter) was the defining statement of Federalist party principles and one of the most influential statements of American political values. Most of the Address dealt with the dangers of bitter partisanship in domestic politics. He called for men to put aside party and unite for the common good. He called for an America wholly free of foreign attachments, as the United States must concentrate only on American interests. He counseled friendship and commerce with all nations, and warned sternly against involvement in European wars. Long-term alliances should be avoided, but he said the 1778 alliance with France had to be observed. The Address quickly entered the realm of "received wisdom." Many Americans, especially in subsequent generations, accepted Washington's advice as gospel and, in any debate between neutrality and involvement in foreign issues, would invoke the message as dispositive of all questions. Not until 1949 would the United States again sign a treaty of alliance with a foreign nation.
At John Adams' inauguration, Washington is said to have approached Adams afterwards and stated "Well, I am fairly out and you are fairly in. Now we shall see who enjoys it the most!" Washington also declined to leave the room before Adams and the new Vice President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, establishing the principle that even a former president is, after all, only a private citizen.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington