George Washington (1732-1799)
Commander-in-Chief of
the Continental Army;
First President of the United States
WASHINGTON, George, (granduncle of George Corbin Washington), a Delegate from Virginia and first President of the United States; born at "Wakefield," near Popes Creek, Westmoreland County, Va., February 22, 1732; raised in Westmoreland County, Fairfax County and King George County; attended local schools and engaged in land surveying; appointed adjutant general of a military district in Virginia with the rank of major in 1752; in November 1753 was sent by Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie, of Virginia, to conduct business with the French Army in the Ohio Valley; in 1754 was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel and served in the French and Indian war, becoming aide-de-camp to General Braddock in 1755; appointed as commander in
chief of Virginia forces in 1755; resigned his commission in December 1758 and
returned to the management of his estate at Mount Vernon in 1759; served as a justice
of the peace, 1760-1774, and as a member of the Virginia house of burgesses, 1758-1774;
delegate to the Williamsburg convention of August 1774; Member of the First and Second
Continental Congresses in 1774 and 1775; unanimously chosen June 15, 1775, as commander
in chief of all the forces raised or to be raised; commanded the Continental armies
throughout the war for independence; resigned his commission December 23, 1783, and
returned to private life at Mount Vernon; was delegate to, and president of, the Federal
Convention in Philadelphia in 1787; unanimously elected as the first President of the
United States, being inaugurated April 30, 1789, in New York City; unanimously
reelected in 1792 and served until March 3, 1797, after declining a renomination;
again appointed as lieutenant general and commander of the United States Army July 3,
1798, and served until his death December 14, 1799, in Mount Vernon, Va.; interment
in the vault at Mount Vernon. Bio. Source: US Congressional Archives