George Washington 1st President of the United States (April 30, 1789 to March 3, 1797) Nickname: "Father of His Country" Born: February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia Died: December 14, 1799, at Mount Vernon, Virginia |
Mother: Mary Ball Washington
Married: Martha Dandridge Custis (1732-1802), on January 6, 1759
Children: John "Jack" Parke Custis (adopted); Martha "Patsy" Custis (adopted)
Married: Martha Dandridge Custis (1732-1802), on January 6, 1759
Children: John "Jack" Parke Custis (adopted); Martha "Patsy" Custis (adopted)
Religion: Episcopalian
Education: No formal education
Occupation: Planter, Soldier
Political Party: No formal political party affiliation, but see Points of Interest.
Education: No formal education
Occupation: Planter, Soldier
Political Party: No formal political party affiliation, but see Points of Interest.
Life Overview:
Washington was born into the provincial gentry of a wealthy, well connected Colonial Virginia family who owned tobacco plantations. After his father and older brother both died young, Washington became personally and professionally attached to the powerful Fairfax family, who promoted his career as a surveyor and soldier. Washington quickly became a senior officer of the colonial forces during the first stages of the French and Indian War. Chosen by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 to be commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution, he managed to force the British out of Boston in 1776, but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the dead of winter, hedefeated the enemy in two battles, retook New Jersey, and restored momentum to the Patriot cause. Because of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. Historians give Washington high marks for: his selection and supervision of his generals; his encouragement of morale and ability to hold together the army; his coordination with the state governors and state militia units; his relations with Congress; and, his attention to supplies, logistics, and training. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies. After victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to the emerging American political ideology of republicanism. He returned to his home, Mount Vernon, and his domestic life there, continuing to manage a variety of enterprises. Washington's final 1799 will specified all his slaves be set free.
Dissatisfied with the weaknesses of Articles of Confederation, Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution in 1787. Elected as the firstPresident of the United States in 1789, he attempted to bring rival factions together to unify the nation. He supported Alexander Hamilton's programs to pay off all state and national debt, to implement an effective tax system and to create a national bank (despite opposition from Thomas Jefferson). Washington proclaimed the U.S. neutral in the wars raging in Europe after 1793. He avoided war with Great Britain and guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795, despite intense opposition from the Jeffersonians. Although never officially joining the Federalist Party, he supported its programs. Washington's "Farewell Address" was an influential primer on republican virtue and a stern warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars.
Washington had a vision of a great and powerful nation that would be built on republican lines using federal power. He sought to use the national government to preserve liberty, improve infrastructure, open the western lands, promote commerce, found a permanent capital, reduce regional tensions and promote a spirit of American nationalism.[1] At his death, Washington was hailed as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen".[2] The Federalists made him the symbol of their party but for many years the Jeffersonians continued to distrust his influence and delayed building the Washington Monument. As the leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire in world history, Washington became an international icon for liberation and nationalism, especially in France and Latin America.[3] He is consistently ranked among the top three presidents of the United States according to polls of both scholars and the general public.
My favorite quote :
"I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man."
Notable Events:
- 1789
- The Judiciary Act specified the number of Federal courts and judges.
- 1790
- Supreme Court met for the first time with John Jay as the Chief Justice.
- 1791
- Federal capital established in swamplands on the Potomac.
- A national banking system established by the Bank Act.
- The Bill of Rights take effect.
- 1792
- Post Office established by Congress as a separate entity.
- New York Stock Exchange organized.
- Coins are minted by the government as enacted by the Coinage Act.
- 1793
- War breaks out between Britain and France. On April 22, U.S. declares neutrality.
- 1794
- Whiskey Rebellion over excise tax in western Pennsylvania. Federal troops called to suppress the armed rebellion.
- 1795
- The Jay Treaty ratified. British troops required to withdraw from the U.S.
- Pinckney's Treaty with Spain opened navigation on Mississippi River.
- Washington posed for Stuart's portrait, which is now on the one dollar bill.
- 1796
- Washington delivered his Farewell Address.
Points of Interest:
- It can be argued that Washington aligned himself with members of the "Federalist Party", but he never ran for the presidency for any political party. Moreover, his farewell address warned of the dangers of political parties.
- Believing that shaking hands was beneath a president, Washington bowed to his visitors.
- Washington has the distinction of being the only president to be elected unanimously by the electoral college.
- Washington had one remaining tooth at the time of his inauguration. During his lifetime he wore dentures made of human (some his own), cow, or hippopotamus teeth, ivory, or lead, but he never wore wooden teeth.
- Many places are named after Washington including the nation's capital, the state, 31 counties and 17 communities.
- The six white horses in Washington's stables had their teeth brushed every morning on Washington's orders.
- The nation's capital was located in Philadelphia during Washington's administration making him the only president who didn't live in Washington, D.C. during his presidency.
Notable Quotes:
"As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality. "
"The time is now and near at hand which must probably determine whether Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of wretchedness from which no human efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us no choice but a brave resistance, or the most abject submission. . . . We have, therefore, to resolve to conquer or to die."
"I conceive that a knowledge of books is the basis on which all other knowledge rests. "
"Precedents are dangerous things; let the reins of government then be braced and held with a steady hand, and every violation of the Constitution be reprehended: If defective let it be amended, but not suffered to be trampled upon whilst it has an existence. "
"I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an honest man."
"Let us therefore animate and encourage each other, and show the world that a free man, contending for his liberty on his own ground, is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth."
"There is nothing which can better deserve our patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. "
"Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses."
"It is our duty to make the best of our misfortunes, and not to suffer passion to interfere with our interest and public good."
"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder. "
"Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation, for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company."
"We ought not to look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dear-bought experience."
"There is no restraining men's tongues or pens when charged with a little vanity."
"Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence."
"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace."
"Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience."
"My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from earth."
"It will be found an unjust and unwise jealousy to deprive a man of his natural liberty upon the supposition he may abuse it."
"To err is nature, to rectify error is glory."
"I walk on untrodden ground. There is scarcely any part of my conduct which may not hereafter be drawn into precedent."
"As the sword was the last resort for the preservation of our liberties, so it ought to be the first to be laid aside when those liberties are firmly established. "
"Let us raise a standard to which the wise and honest can repair, the rest is in the hands of God."
"Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable, procures success to the weak, and esteem to all."
"A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends."
"Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person's own mind, than on the externals in the world."
"I do not enter into agreements, but with an intention of fulfilling them, and I expect the same punctuality on the part of those with whom they are made."
"I have seen so many instances of the rascality of mankind, that I am convinced that the only way to make them honest, is to prevent their being otherwise."
"Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am, nevertheless, too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors."
"The welfare of our country is the great object to which our cares and efforts ought to be directed--And I shall derive great satisfaction from cooperation with you, in the pleasing though arduous task of ensuring to our fellow citizens the blessings which they have a right to expect from a free and equal government."
"A free people ought not only to be armed but disciplined; to which end a uniform and well-digested plan is requisite. "
"I cannot forbear intimating to you the expediency of giving effectual encouragement as well to the introduction of new and useful inventions from abroad, as to the exertions of skill and genius in producing them at home; and of facilitating the intercourse between the distant parts of the country by a due attention to the Post Office and Post Roads."
"Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all."
"Reason, too late perhaps, may convince you of the folly in misspending time. "
"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her."
"True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity, before it is entitled to the appellation."
"Lenience will operate with greater force, in some instances than rigor. It is therefore my first wish to have all of my conduct distinguished by it."
"The propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself has ordained."
"Happily the Government of the United States, which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance, requires only that they who live under its protection should demean themselves as good citizens in giving on all occasions their effectual support."
"The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government."
"In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened."
"Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth."
"Let your heart feel for the affliction and distress of everyone."
"The consideration that human happiness and moral duty are inseparably connected will always continue to prompt me to promote the former by inculcating the practice of the latter."
"Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness. "
"The marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by their governments."
"My observation is that whenever one person is found adequate to the discharge of a duty . . . it is worse executed by two persons, and scarcely done at all if three or more are employed therein."
"Let your discourse with men of business be short and comprehensive."
"A government is like fire, a handy servant, but a dangerous master."
"The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together, the Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes."
Resources:
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=george+washington&num=10&hl=en&gbv=2&biw=1600&bih=799&tbm=isch&tbnid=onRX7zDqUD2UTM:&imgrefurl=http://www.visitingdc.com/president/george-washington-pic
2011 Wikipedia. George Wasington. Retrieved 10/18/2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington
http://www.google.com/imgres?q=george+washington&num=10&hl=en&gbv=2&biw=1600&bih=799&tbm=isch&tbnid=onRX7zDqUD2UTM:&imgrefurl=http://www.visitingdc.com/president/george-washington-pic
2011 Wikipedia. George Wasington. Retrieved 10/18/2011 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington
1996-2008 Summers, Robert.( 1996-2008). George Washington. In ipl2: Information You Can Trust: POTUS. Retrieved 10/19/2011, from http://www.ipl.org/div/potus/gwashington.html.
2011 Great Presidential Quotes. George Wasington. Retrieved 10/19/2011, from http://www.greatpresidentialquotes.com/index.php?set=details&id=1
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