Washington, George (1732–1799)

Commander of the American forces during the American Revolution and 1st president of the USA 1789–97; known as ‘the father of his country’. An experienced soldier, he had fought in campaigns against the French during the French and Indian War. He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1759 and was a leader of the Virginia militia, gaining valuable exposure to wilderness fighting. As a strong opponent of the British government's policy, he sat in the Continental Congresses of 1774 and 1775, and on the outbreak of the American Revolution was chosen commander‐in‐chief of the Continental Army. After many setbacks, he accepted the surrender of British general Cornwallis at Yorktown in 1781.

After the war Washington retired to his Virginia estate, Mount Vernon, but in 1787 he re‐entered politics as president of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, and was elected US president in 1789. He attempted to draw his ministers from all factions, but his aristocratic outlook and acceptance of the fiscal policy championed by Alexander Hamilton alienated his secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, who resigned in 1793, thus creating the two‐party system.

Washington was re‐elected president in 1792 but refused to serve a third term, setting a precedent that stood until 1940. He died and was buried at his home in Mount Vernon, Virginia.

George Washington was born at Pope's Creek, Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was of British descent, his great‐grandfather, John Washington, having migrated from Sulgrave Manor, Northamptonshire, in 1657. Largely self‐taught, he began his career as a land surveyor, but on inheriting the Mount Vernon estate from his brother Lawrence, Washington settled down as a country gentleman. Governor Dinwiddie soon made him lieutenant‐colonel of the Virginia military. In April 1754 Washington was ordered to drive the French out of Fort Duquesne. He succeeded, but was in turn besieged in Fort Necessity, and was forced to accept surrender terms.

In 1758 Washington resigned command of the Virginia troops and married a rich widow, Martha Custis. The merging of their plantations made Washington one of the wealthiest men in his state. He entertained lavishly, and thus came into contact with notable men from all over the British colonies in America. He was elected in 1759 to the Virginia House of Burgesses, and re‐elected. He soon displayed a growing interest in disputes between the colonies and the British crown, and Virginia elected him one of its delegates to the first Continental Congress. In Philadelphia he bought arms and ammunition, which he sent to Virginia, and when the congress adjourned he returned to Virginia to take up active training of the raw soldiers. When the second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia the general feeling among New Englanders was that they must have a southern man to lead them, since only thus could they be sure of uniting all the colonies in one common cause. War had already started, and John Adams proposed Washington as commander‐in‐chief of the colonial armies and on 15 June 1775 Washington took over the command.

The American Revolution
The American troops often lacked arms, munitions, food, and clothes; and Washington had to combat faction and treachery among his generals, including the episode of Benedict Arnold's treachery. When Washington took charge of the American forces at Boston he won a notable success. His occupation of Dorchester Heights compelled the British general, William Howe, to evacuate Boston in March 1776. He then had a succession of reverses, notably at the battle of Brooklyn Heights, but in New Jersey he turned and beat his enemy at Trenton and Princeton. Following defeats by General Howe in the battles of the Brandywine and Germantown in the autumn of 1777, Washington led his 11,000 men into winter camp at Valley Forge, 32 km/ 20 mi from Philadelphia. The spring brought better news for the Americans – the French were coming into the war. Henry Clinton, who succeeded Howe, had been ordered to give up Philadelphia and return to New York. Washington harassed his troops, notably at the battle of Monmouth. When Clinton reached New York, Washington took up a position at White Plains and for three years, while fighting was going on elsewhere, the two armies watched each other.

Washington's chance finally came when Cornwallis met with difficulties in North Carolina, withdrew his army to Virginia, and finally shut himself up in Yorktown. Here Washington, who had hurried south, forced him to surrender in 1781. When the British finally moved out of New York for home the American army under Washington entered the town. A few days later, on 4 December 1783, Washington went via Philadelphia to Annapolis, Maryland, where Congress was sitting. Here, on 23 December, he resigned his commission as commander of the armies.

For four years he strove to recoup his shattered fortunes. At length it was decided to call a convention to frame a constitution, and Washington was chosen as one of the Virginia delegation. The convention opened in May 1787 in Philadelphia, and Washington was unanimously chosen to preside. Others wrote the constitution, but it was Washington who did much to remove difficulties. He was unanimously chosen to be first president of the republic. He was inaugurated on 30 April 1789.

Washington's presidency
As president, Washington alienated his secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, who resigned in 1793, by accepting the fiscal policy championed by Alexander Hamilton and overseeing the payment of the foreign and domestic debt incurred by the new nation. He also shaped the powers of the presidency, assuming some implied powers not specified in the Constitution – among them, the power to create a national bank, and the introduction of an excise tax.

Washington wished to retire at the end of his first term, but at the request of the rival leaders, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, he was elected to a second term by a unanimous vote. His neutral policy towards the French Revolution angered the pro‐French Jefferson party. He was also widely criticized for signing Jay's Treaty (1794) that resolved outstanding differences with Britain, enabling trading links to be re‐established. Under the terms of Pinckney's Treaty (1795) the USA made territorial gains from Spain.

He declined a third term, and on giving up office, he made a famous farewell address, warning the country against entangling alliances and advising it to remain aloof from European quarrels.

Exactly 200 years after his death, on 14 December 1999, Washington's last hours were re‐enacted in a ceremony in his bedroom at his home in Mount Vernon, by descendants of Washington, his wife, and her slave. Four days later, the public was invited to join dignitaries at Mount Vernon to dine on pound cake, as mourners did in 1899.