George Washington

George Washington was the first President of the United States. He was best known for this office and for being the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War.

George Washington was born in Virginia in 1732. He had two interests: military arts and westward expansion. At age 16, he helped to survey Shenandoah lands and in 1754 was commissioned as a Lieutenant Colonel in the British Army.

Washington fought in the French and Indian War, and survived very dangerous situations, but after it ended, he went back to his plantations and attended his own business. Unlike his fellow planters, George Washington felt he was being hit hard by the taxes and exploited by the British merchants, so he spoke out about it.

When the Second Continental Congress assembled in 1775, George Washington was elected general of the American forces and given the task to drive out the British.

He realized that the only way to fight the more numerous and better-trained British was to constantly harass the enemies. At the end of six years, George Washington and his French allies defeated General Cornwallis at Yorktown.

On April 30, 1789, George Washington was elected the first President of the United States. This was surprising for him because he had not campaigned for the presidential election. George Washington was unanimously elected as president by the electoral college. The runner-up, John Adams, was made Vice President.

In his inaugural address, we learn that George Washington was humble, he doubted that he had the skills and the experience to manage a country, and he relied on God for help in his task.

On December 14, 1799, George Washington died of a throat infection in his home at Mount Vernon.