• Even as a young man, Washington seemed to possess a magical immunity to bullets. In one early encounter in the French and Indian War, he absorbed four bullets in his coat and hat and had two horses shot from under him yet emerged unscathed. This led one Indian chief to predict that some higher power was guiding him to great events in the future.
  • By age 30 Washington had survived smallpox, malaria, dysentery, and other diseases. Although he came from a family of short-lived men, he had an iron constitution and weathered many illnesses that would have killed a less robust man. He lived to the age of 67.
  • While the Washingtons were childless — it has always been thought that George Washington was sterile — they presided over a household teeming with children. Martha had two children from her previous marriage and she and George later brought up two grandchildren as well, not to mention countless nieces and nephews.
  • That Washington was childless proved a great boon to his career. Because he had no heirs, Americans didn’t worry that he might be tempted to establish a hereditary monarchy. And many religious Americans believed that God had deliberately deprived Washington of children so that he might serve as Father of His Country.
  • Though he tried hard to be fair and took excellent medical care of his slaves, Washington could be a severe master. His diaries reveal that during one of the worst cold snaps on record in Virginia — when Washington himself found it too cold to ride outside — he had his field slaves out draining swamps and performing other arduous tasks.
  • For all her anxiety about being constantly in a battle zone, Martha Washington spent a full half of the Revolutionary War with her husband — a major act of courage that has largely gone unnoticed.
  • Washington was obsessed with his personal appearance, which extended to his personal guard during the war. Despite wartime austerity and a constant shortage of soldiers, he demanded that all members of his personal guard be between 5′8″ and 5′10″; a year later, he narrowed the range to 5′9″ to 5′10″.
  • While Washington lost more battles than he won, he still ranks as a great general. His greatness lay less in his battlefield brilliance — he committed some major strategic blunders — than in his ability to hold his ragged army intact for more than eight years, keeping the flame of revolution alive.
  • Washington ran his own spy network during the war and was often the only one privy to the full scope of secret operations against the British. He anticipated many techniques of modern espionage, including the use of misinformation and double agents.
  • Washington tended his place in history with extreme care. Even amid wartime stringency, he got Congress to appropriate special funds for a full-time team of secretaries who spent two years copying his wartime papers into beautiful ledgers.
  • For thirty years, Washington maintained an extraordinary relationship with his slave and personal manservant William Lee, who accompanied him throughout the Revolutionary War and later worked in the presidential mansion. Lee was freed upon Washington’s death and given a special lifetime annuity.
  • The battle of Yorktown proved the climactic battle of the revolution and the capstone of Washington’s military career, but he initially opposed this Franco-American operation against the British — a fact he later found hard to admit.
  • Self-conscious about his dental problems, Washington maintained an air of extreme secrecy when corresponding with his dentist and never used such incriminating words as ‘teeth’ or ‘dentures.’ By the time he became president, Washington had only a single tooth left — a lonely lower left bicuspid that held his dentures in place.
  • Washington always displayed extremely ambivalence about his fame. Very often, when he was traveling, he would rise early to sneak out of a town or enter it before he could be escorted by local dignitaries. He felt beleaguered by the social demands of his own renown.
  • At Mount Vernon, Washington functioned as his own architect — and an extremely original one at that. All of the major features that we associate with the house — the wide piazza and colonnade overlooking the Potomac, the steeple and the weathervane with the dove of peace — were personally designed by Washington himself.
  • A master showman with a brilliant sense of political stagecraft, Washington would disembark from his coach when he was about to enter a town then mount a white parade horse for maximum effect. It is not coincidental that there are so many fine equestrian statues of him.
  • Land-rich and cash-poor, Washington had to borrow money to attend his own inauguration in New York City in 1789. He then had to borrow money again when he moved back to Virginia after two terms as president. His public life took a terrible toll on his finances.
  • Martha Washington was never happy as First Lady — a term not yet in use — and wrote with regret after just six months of the experience: “I think I am more like a state prisoner than anything elseā€¦ And as I cannot do as I like, I am obstinate and stay home a great deal.”
  • When the temporary capital moved to Philadelphia in 1790, Washington brought six or seven slaves to the new presidential mansion. Under a Pennsylvania abolitionist law, slaves who stayed continuously in the state for six months were automatically free. To prevent this, Washington, secretly coached by his Attorney General, rotated his slaves in and out of the state without telling them the real reason for his actions.
  • Washington nearly died twice during his first term in office, the first time from a tumor on his thigh that may have been from anthrax or an infection, the second time from pneumonia. Many associates blamed his sedentary life as president for the sudden decline in his formerly robust health and he began to exercise daily.
  • Tired of the demands of public life, Washington never expected to serve even one term as president, much less two. He originally planned to serve for only a year or two, establish the legitimacy of the new government, then resign as president. Because of one crisis after another, however, he felt a hostage to the office and ended up serving two full terms. For all his success as president, Washington frequently felt trapped in the office.
  • Exempt from attacks at the start of his presidency, Washington was viciously attacked in the press by his second term. His opponents accused him of everything from being an inept general to wanting to establish a monarchy. At one point, he said that not a single day had gone by that he hadn’t regretted staying on as president.
  • Washington has the distinction of being the only president ever to lead an army in battle as commander-in-chief. During the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794, he personally journeyed to western Pennsylvania to take command of a large army raised to put down the protest against the excise tax on distilled spirits.
  • Two of the favorite slaves of George and Martha Washington — Martha’s personal servant, Ona Judge and their chef Hercules — escaped to freedom at the end of Washington’s presidency. Washington employed the resources of the federal government to try to entrap Ona Judge in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and return her forcibly to Virginia. His efforts failed.
  • Washington stands out as the only founder who freed his slaves, at least the 124 who were under his personal control. (He couldn’t free the so-called ‘dower slaves’ who came with his marriage to Martha.) In his will, he stipulated that the action was to take effect only after Martha died so that she could still enjoy the income from those slaves.
  • After her husband died, Martha grew terrified at the prospect that the 124 slaves scheduled to be freed after her death might try to speed up the timetable by killing her. Unnerved by the situation, she decided to free those slaves ahead of schedule only a year after her husband died.
  • Like her husband, Martha Washington ended up with a deep dislike of Thomas Jefferson, whom she called “one of the most detestable of mankind.” When Jefferson visited her at Mount Vernon before he became president, Martha said that it was the second worst day of her life — the first being the day her husband died.

Born into a world where slavery was considered a normal part of life, George Washington initially appears to have felt no qualms about following along the same slaveholding path taken by his father, by his many relatives and by virtually every other man of wealth and status whom he knew and respected. At the age of 11, George Washington inherited 10 slaves from his father’s estate. Just as he was ever eager to expand his landholdings, to improve the productivity of his farms and to win election to public office, he steadily acquired more slaves during the next two decades. Along with marrying well, another arena in which Washington was enormously successful, these achievements were the main components of the tried-and-true formula for acquiring wealth and social prominence in colonial Virginia.

He got his first ten slaves when he was 11 years old and continued to gain more and more slavs over the course of twenty years. His views continue to change going where he supported slavery whole heartedly to where he did not want to own a single slave.

Washington came to this conclusion upon discovering the dirty game of the slave trade industry where slaves were often treated as catle. He refused to buy anymore slave or purchase them hoping that Legislature would start abolishing slavery a little at a time.

As bad as he wanted rid of slavery te slave trade was a big need for the tobacco industry. Tobacco was difficult and required more slaves and intense labor. So Washington sought out an easier option, wheat. This wheat product was making more money and did not require as many slaves, nor was the work as hard.

Washington was learning to master the newly found grain cooperation. He wanted Mount Vernon to be self efficient with out the use of slaves. So by changing his estate from tobacco to wheat. He did not need half the slaves he owned. While slaves did not have to work hardly at all, it was costing himself more money to support all the slaves, than it was bringing him in any profit from his estate, but Washington still could not sell, loan, or borrow his slaves for fear of harshers treatments

George Washington was probably the single most influential person in the development of the United States government. He not only set the standards for those presidents who would succeed him, but also for the country that would rise out of the ashes of the Revolutionary War. Washington fully understood the significance of his presidency. "I walk on untrodden ground," he said, “there is scarcely any part of my conduct that could not be drawn into precedent.” Washington invented the model for the presidency that has been preserved to this day: gathering a cabinet of advisors, limiting himself to two terms, establishing the authority of the executive branch, and respecting the separate powers of the legislative and judicial branches of government. Besides that, Washington established foreign policy precedents, fostered the concept of a strong central government, and faced the problem of how strictly the constitution was to be interpreted.

George Washington was inaugurated into office on April 30, 1789. Within six months of taking the oath, President Washington had staffed the new government. During his two terms, Washington would do innumerable things to influence the future of the presidency. One of the first things that he did with his new staff was to establish a cabinet of advisors. Washington found the perfect mix of liberals and conservatives, combining the talents of Alexander Hamilton, Henry Knox, Thomas Jefferson, and Edmund Randolph. This appointment of a group of advisors by the president continued on, and is now pretty much a requirement for the president.

The Constitutional Convention had occurred only two years before Washington’s inauguration, and there were still many issues to be resolved. He knew that there was a widespread wish to add a Bill of Rights to the original Constitution, specifying in plain words the inalienable rights of individual citizens, and this he approved. But he also knew that an attempt might be made to bring forward amendments eliminating the clauses that gave Congress power to levy taxes, including customs duties on imports, and to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the states. These provisions had been hotly debated in the Constitutional Convention, and although adopted, were bitterly disliked by powerful political figures. To Washington, however, they provided the means of regaining financial stability and restoring the national credit, and were therefore indispensable.

Feeling as strongly as he did on these points, it is significant that Washington used such restraint in letting Congress know of his sentiments. He held himself in check because he was resolved above all else not to overstep the limits of his branch of government, established by the Constitution. He scrupulously respected the independence of the legislative and judicial branches of government. He was especially anxious to set no precedents that would start a dangerous trend toward monarchy or any form of dictatorship, but at the same time he was determined to be a strong president, not merely a figurehead. In this way, Washington was slowly molding the presidency into a working machine. He was creating a model for future presidents that would restrict them where necessary, yet allow them to work freely within their mandate.

One of the most important things that Washington did for the presidency was to establish its authority. As mentioned before, Washington was determined to have the people see the president as an energetic leader, not a ceremonial figurehead. To accomplish this in the practical area, Washington simply made sure that he received the respect and consideration that his post deserved. He required subordinates to seek his approval for their actions, and accepted personal responsibility for their conduct. While he consulted with the Senate on appointments, he insisted that the president alone had the authority to fire an appointee, guaranteeing his control of every member of the executive branch. Although Washington employed the president’s constitutional power of the veto only twice, he asserted the president’s right to reject legislation with which he disagreed.

The most significant action that Washington took to establish the authority of the presidency was the put-down of the Whiskey Rebellion in his second term. Grain farmers to the west of the Appalachian Mountains often distilled their grain crops into whiskey to sell in the east. This allowed for much easier transportation over the mountains, and many grain farmers decided that this was the best way to make a quick profit. When the US passed an excise tax on whiskey, however, the farmers got extremely angry and considered the new tax an attack on their liberty and economic well being. Organized resistance to the tax, even including the tarring and feathering of some revenue officials, rapidly assumed grave proportions. In a proclamation issued in August 1794, President George Washington ordered the insurgents to disperse, but in vain. Protests continued, and Washington began to get aggravated. Calling upon the states of New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia to provide him with militia, he gathered a force of 15,000 troops. When these troops marched into the affected area, resistance immediately collapsed. With the demise of this insurrection, Washington demonstrated the full power of the executive branch.


 

Throughout his career, George Washington was constantly molding the structure of the new United States government. He actually began impacting the future form of the new government even before the Revolutionary War was completed. As commander-in-chief of the continental army, Washington never lost sight of the fact that his authority came from Congress, and that the purpose of the army was to carry out the will of the civil government. Even when Congress voted Washington broad-reaching emergency powers late in 1776, he was careful not to exceed the bounds of his legal authority. Late in the war, Washington’s officers were angry because Congress had not paid them as promised. They plotted to march on Congress and either forcefully take what was owed to them or install themselves as the leaders of the new United States. Washington refused to support their plan. Instead he confronted the officers planning this action, known as the Newburgh Conspiracy. Washington won their allegiance when he made an example of his own self-sacrifice. Eyewitness accounts relate that Washington used his failing eyesight as the example, saying, “Gentlemen, you will permit me to don my spectacles, for I have grown not only gray but nearly blind in the service of my country”, when he was unable to read a document.

The most important public example that Washington gave of the military being subordinate to civilian government occurred at the end of the Revolution, when he returned his commission, the symbol of his authority, to Congress. At the time he took this step, his popularity and power over the army might have permitted him to seize control of the government, as victorious generals had done before and have often done since. Julius Caesar in ancient Rome, and Napoleon Bonaparte in France were all successful military leaders who found the temptation of political power irresistible. By these actions, Washington so strongly established the precept that the military serves the people of the nation and their civilian government that there has never been a threat to the American government from its own military.

The first session of the 1789 Congress saw two important foreign policy precedents established by President Washington. He had thought of his constitutional power to negotiate treaties “with the advice and consent of the Senate” as requiring him to appear personally before the Senate to seek such advice before starting to negotiate a treaty. He tried this procedure once, in connection with a proposed treaty with the Creek nation. But the senators argued over every little detail, and Washington went away muttering that he would never try this again. He concluded instead that it was better for the chief executive to carry through the delicate process of treaty negotiation first, and then submit the finished product for the Senate’s advice and consent. This procedure has been followed ever since.

Also, Washington initiated the convenient practice of using nonpermanent executive agents, who did not require confirmation by the Senate, in the informal or preliminary negotiations with foreign powers. In the first use of this method, Washington requested Governor Morris, then traveling in Europe, to discover the view of the British ministry regarding a commercial treaty with the United States.

Possibly the greatest contribution to the formation of the United States government that Washington ever made was setting a precedent as to whether the Constitution should be rigidly or flexibly interpreted. In the December of 1790, Alexander Hamilton, who was requested by Congress to report any action necessary to establish public credit, submitted a proposal for the chartering of a national bank with a capital stock of $10 million. This proposition immediately inflamed a whirlwind of opposition from those who said that a strict reading of the Constitution yielded no power to Congress to charter a national bank. Hamilton vigorously expressed his opposing view, saying that the Constitution did give Congress wide powers in such matters as taxation, payment of the public debt, coining of money, and regulation of commerce. To Hamilton a national bank was essential for the “effective exercise of these powers.”

Eventually, the resolution of the debate fell into Washington’s hands, when he was given the bill to sign. Washington had frequently made clear his unshakable belief that a strong central government was essential to the survival of the United States. Since strong government required reasonable freedom of action due to unexpected situations, Washington decided that a more liberal interpretation of the Constitution was needed on some points. Hence, he signed the bill in February 1791, creating the first Bank of the United States.

Throughout his career, George Washington exerted heavy influence on the United States. It was during Washington’s farewell address that he set the final precedent for future presidents. He stepped down from the presidency after two terms. After guiding the new nation for 8 years, and providing models that would prove to be the true bulwarks of the Constitution, Washington stepped down from office, and “transferred the power, by constitutional means, to a new set of hands.” Although not all presidents limited themselves to two terms after Washington, it slowly became part of the nature of the presidency, and later became the maximum amount of time that one person can be in office.

Whether Washington was setting new precedents for the executive branch, or plotting the advancement of the nation as a whole, he was constantly impacting something. He set the standard for those around him, and those who would come after him. The country was like a new ball of clay, and with every touch, Washington gave it more shape and direction. George Washington truly influenced United States in a way that no one else ever has. President Adams said of Washington at his funeral: “His example is now complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age but in future generations as long as our history shall be read.” He was right.

Bibliography:

1. Brookhiser, Richard Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington New York: The Free Press, 1996

2. Flexner, James Thomas George Washington and the New Nation Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1970

3. Nordham, George W. The Age of Washington: George Washington’s Presidency Chicago: Adams Press, 1989

4. Thayer, William Roscoe George Washington Boston/New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1931

George Washington played a vital role in the development of the United States of America. He was one of the founding fathers of this great country. He served as commander-in-chief of the Continental army during the Revolutionary War, and later served as the first president of the United States. His thoughts and ideas helped build the United States into the country that it is today.

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the oldest son of Mary Ball Washington and Augustine Washington. His early education included the study of such subjects as mathematics, surveying, the classics, and “rules of civility.” Washington then developed a powerful and convincing style of speech and writing. He enjoyed social occasions and playing sports.

His father died in 1743, and soon after that George went to live with his half brother, Lawrence, at his plantation on the Potomac at Mount Vernon. Lawrence became something of a father figure for his brother. His brother had married into the Fairfax family, a prominent and influential Virginian family who helped launch George’s career. In 1748, George began to survey lands in the Shenandoah Valley and was later appointed surveyor for Culpeper Country. When Lawrence died in 1752, George inherited the Mount Vernon estate.

In 1753, the growing rivalry between the French and British over control of the Ohio Valley erupted into the French and Indian War. This war created new opportunities for the young Washington. He first gained public notice when Gov. Robert Dinwiddie dispatched him on a fruitless mission to warn the French commander at Fort Le Boeuf against further encroachment on territory claimed by Britain. Washington’s diary account of the dangers and difficulties of his journey, published at Williamsburg on his return, may have helped him win his ensuing promotion to lieutenant colonel at only 22 years of age.

In April 1754, Washington was on his way to establish a post at the Forks of the Ohio, but then he learned that the French had already built a fort there. Warned that the French were advancing, he quickly threw up fortifications at Great Meadows naming the entrenchment Fort Necessity, and marched to intercept advancing French troops. After a brief fight, Washington pulled his small force back into Fort Necessity, where the French overwhelmed him. Surrounded by enemy troops, with his food supply almost exhausted and his dampened ammunition useless, Washington capitulated. Under the terms of the surrender signed that day, he was permitted to march his troops back to Williamsburg.

Discouraged by his defeat and angered by discrimination between British and colonial officers in rank and pay, he resigned his commission near the end of 1754. The next year he volunteered to join British general Edward Braddock’s expedition against the French. When the French and their Indian allies ambushed Braddock on the Monongahela River, Washington tried to rally the Virginia troops. At the age of 23, Washington was promoted to colonel and appointed commander in chief of the Virginia militia, with responsibility for defending the frontier

Washington left the army in 1758 and returned to Mount Vernon and directed his attention toward his neglected estate. He entered politics serving in Virginia’s House of Burgesses. In January 1759 he married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy and attractive young widow with two small children. Washington became a leader in Virginia’s opposition to Great Britain’s colonial policies. In June 1775 he was Congress’s unanimous choice as commander in chief of the Continental forces.

Washington took command of the troops surrounding British occupied Boston on July 3, devoting the next few months to training the undisciplined 14,000 man army and trying to secure urgently needed powder and other supplies. Early in March 1776, Washington occupied Dorchester Heights, effectively commanding the city and forcing the British to evacuate on March 17. He then moved to defend New York City against the combined land and sea forces of Sir William Howe. In New York he committed a military blunder by occupying an untenable position in Brooklyn, although he saved his army by skillfully retreating from Manhattan into Westchester County and through New Jersey into Pennsylvania. In the last months of 1776, Washington was desperately short of men and supplies. Washington and his men crossed the Delaware River on Christmas night and surprised the predominantly Hessian garrison. During the difficult winter at Valley Forge, Washington learned that French had recognized American independence. He concentrated on turning his army into a viable fighting force, and by the spring he was ready to take the field again. In June 1778 he attacked the British near Monmouth Courthouse on their withdrawl from Philadelphia to New York. Although American general Charles Lee’s lack of enterprise ruined Washington’s plan to strike a major blow at Sir Henry Clinton’s army at Monmouth, the commander in chief’s quick action on the field prevented an American defeat.

In 1780, the main theater of the war shifted to the south. Although the campaigns in Virginia and the Carolinas were conducted by other generals, Washington was still responsible for the overall direction of the war. After the arrival of the French army in 1780, he concentrated on coordinating with the comte de Rochambeau and the comte d’Estaing, the well planned and executed Yorktown Campaign against Charles Cornwllis, securing the American victory.

After the war was over, Washington returned to Mount Vernon. He avoided involvement in Virginia politics, preferring to concentrate on restoring Mount Vernon. In May 1787, he headed the Virginia delegation to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia and was unanimously elected presiding officer. His presence lent prestige to the proceedings, and although he made few direct contributions, he generally supported the advocates of a strong central government.

George Washington was elected president of the United States in 1789, and in New York City on April 30, 1789, he took the oath of office as President of the United States at the age of 57. He was extremely influential in the initial operation of the new government. After the ballot he wrote, “My movements to the chair of government will be accompanied by feeling not unlike those of a culprit, who is going to the place of his execution.” Washington’s task was to organize a government but also create a role for the highest officer of the new nation. Both tasks earned him enemies.

One of Washington’s first duties of office was establishing a cabinet. He appointed Alexander Hamilton secretary of treasury and Thomas Jefferson secretary of state. Washington allowed Jefferson to pursue a policy of seeking trade with European nations. Hamilton proposed important ideas such as a funded national debt and the creation of the Bank of the United States.

The first United States census was taken in 1790, which showed the population to be four million. He created departments within the government, each with different jobs. The government issued money that was good in all states. President Washington also helped plan a new capital for the nation that was named “Washington” in his honor. Also, Vermont and Kentucky were added as states in 1791 and 1792 respectively.

George Washington reluctantly agreed to serve a second term as president, even though he wanted to go home to Mount Vernon. An outbreak of war in Europe plagued Thomas Jefferson’s foreign policy design. Alexander Hamilton formed a pro-British foreign policy during Washington’s second administration. Jay’s Treaty of 1795 settled outstanding American differences with Great Britain. This treaty was extremely controversial, although the treaty was passed by a narrow margin in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

The Whiskey Rebellion in western Pennsylvania against a federal excise tax was his critical domestic challenge. He himself rode partway to the field at the head of the militia that was raised to put down the rebellion. Washington reorganized his cabinet in 1795, and Tennessee became a state in 1796. He was asked to return for another term as President, but he declined. Washington carefully planned a farewell speech to mark the end of his presidency, and issued his farewell speech on September 7, 1796. He was succeeded by his vice-president, John Adams the following March 4. He then retired to Mount Vernon.

Born into a world where slavery was considered a normal part of life, George Washington initially appears to have felt no qualms about following along the same slaveholding path taken by his father, by his many relatives and by virtually every other man of wealth and status whom he knew and respected. At the age of 11, George Washington inherited 10 slaves from his father’s estate. Just as he was ever eager to expand his landholdings, to improve the productivity of his farms and to win election to public office, he steadily acquired more slaves during the next two decades. Along with marrying well, another arena in which Washington was enormously successful, these achievements were the main components of the tried-and-true formula for acquiring wealth and social prominence in colonial Virginia.

Anticipating the British, Washington proceeded to New York and fortified Brooklyn Heights to defend the approaches to New York City. The British commander, General Sir William Howe, made a flanking move which drove Washington from Long Island and forced him to retreat to Harlem Heights. Using naval transport, Howe again outflanked the Americans, forcing Washington to withdraw to White Plains. With the capture of a significant portion of the American army at Fort Washington, the British acquired an undisputed hold on New York City. Washington’s army was compelled to retreat through New Jersey and to cross the Delaware River in December 1776. American spirits fell to a low ebb, as approximately 34,000 British regulars confronted Washington’s army of 3,000.

At this point, Washington made a daring, and possibly his most famous tactical move. On a cold and stormy night of December 25/26, he re-crossed the Delaware in a surprise attack against the Hessian garrison of Trenton, New Jersey, and captured nearly 900 prisoners. Washington avoided entrapment by a large British force deployed to Trenton under Earl Charles Cornwallis’ command. In withdrawing to Princeton, Washington was able to defeat another small British force under Lieutenant Colonel Charles Mawhood on 2 January 1777. These American successes compelled the British to withdraw to eastern New Jersey, and revived American hopes. Washington had not only avoided a serious defeat and held his army together in the face of overwhelming odds, he had won two battlefield victories and achieved a strategic success.