Our First President

I thought it might be nice to share some short biographies on our nations presidents.  This will be a series that will take place over time and may be interrupted by other posts. 

Our first commander in chief went on to become our first president.  George Washington was a large man for his time, as he stood at six feet, two inches and weighed around 175 pounds.  He was born on February 22, 1732 in Virginia to Augustine and Mary Ball Washington.  Mary Ball was Augustine's second wife.  George was born less than a year after their marriage.  Augustine passed away when George was young and was more or less raised by his older half-brother Lawrence.  When Lawrence passed away, George inherited his estate, Mount Vernon, which George loved. 

At the age of 17, George became a surveyor.  He then traveled around the wilderness of Virginia, surveying land and helping it to become civilized.  Through his surveying, he was able to purchase his own land.

He married widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, who had four children.  None of the children lived to be more than 27 years of age, but there were two grandchildren.  George and Martha never had any children of their own.  Today, there are no direct decendents of George Washington.

In 1752 through 1758, Washington was in the Virginia Militia, rising from Major to Colonel.  Then in 1775 he became the commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution.  But prior to that, he was involved in the French and Indian War (1754-1763).  During this conflict, he delivered an ultimatum to the French at Fort LeBoeuf and oversaw the building of Fort Necessity.  He left the army and then came back as an aide-de-camp to General Edward Braddock.

From 1759 to 1774, Washington was a member of the House of Burgesses.  He left the House of Burgesses to become a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1774.  And in 1787, he was made the president of the Constitutional Convention.  In 1789, he was unanimously elected President of the United States of America (the first and only president to be elected unanimously).  His opponent, and the one who came in second place, became his vice president:  John Adams.  Washington went on to two terms as president.

As the first president, he had the job of building his cabinet from the ground up.  As Secretary of State, he chose Thomas Jefferson, who was replaced by Edmund Jennings Randolph.  Randolph was then replaced by Timothy Pickering.  His Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton who was then replaced by Oliver Walcott.  He had three Secretary of Wars: Henry Knox, then Timothy Pickering, then James McHenry.  And finally, he had to name an Attorney General.  First it was Edmund Jennings Randolph, then William Bradford and finally Charles Lee (uncle of Robert E. Lee).

As president, Washington had to deal with Indian Affairs.  He also was involved with the Proclamation of Neutrality, the Whiskey Rebellion of 1791 in western Pennsylvania, Jay's Treaty (which prevented another war with Britain), and Pinckney's Treaty.

December 14, 1799 was a sad day for the United States when George Washington got a severe throat infection and and passed away.  Today, Mount Vernon is open to the public to see where our first president where and how he lived.