George Washington 1789 - 1797

Born: 1732, Pope's Creek, VA
Died: 1799

George Washington was raised in the tradition of the gentlemen farmer. As a young man, he was a surveyor in the Shenandoah Valley. He fought in the French and Indian War (1753-1757) and resigned his commission to manage his Mt. Vernon plantation. These experiences, farming the land and fighting for it, awakened in him a vision of a vast agricultural America reaching into the uncharted West.

In 1775 he served as a Virginia delegate to the Second Continental Congress. His opposition to British rule and his military background made him the obvious choice to command the largely untrained Continental Army. Over the next six years, Washington's tenacity and shrewd tactics wore down the British, who surrendered at Yorktown in 1781. Following an interval at Mt. Vernon, Washington chaired the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The Constitution was ratified by the states and Washington's immense popularity led to his unopposed election as President. He nurtured the fledgling republic through the adoption of the Bill of Rights (1791), the establishment of the United States Bank and, following his re-election, the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion. He declined to run for a third term and retired to Mt. Vernon. The nation's capital was named in his honor.

First President
Federalist