This Week in History: A President Dies

On February 22, 1732, George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia (located along the Potomac River, across from Maryland). His parents were Augustine and Mary Ball Washington.

George was commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754 and fought in "skirmishes" that grew into the French and Indian War. In 1755, he was an aide to General Edward Braddock (a British officer and commander-in-chief for the Thirteen Colonies during the start of the French and Indian War). It is said that he "escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him".

From 1759, until the outbreak of the American Revolution, George managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia House of Burgesses.

In 1759, he married Martha Dandridge. Martha had been married before to Daniel Custis, a planter and politician from Virginia. He died in 1757.

Although he devoted himself to a "busy and happy life", he (like other planters) felt exploited by British merchants and regulations. As tensions grew between the colonies and Britain, he voiced his resistance.

In May 1775, the Second Continental Congress met in Philadelphia. During this session, George was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. He took command of his troops on July 3, 1775 in Cambridge, Mass and embarked on a war that would last six years.

Of course, we all know how the war ended.

On April 30, 1789, George took the oath of office at Federal hall in New York City and became the country's first president. 

"He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy became preponderantly a Presidential concern. When the French Revolution led to a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States could grow stronger.

To his disappointment, two parties were developing by the end of his first term. Wearied of politics, feeling old, he retired at the end of his second. In his Farewell Address, he urged his countrymen to forswear excessive party spirit and geographical distinctions. In foreign affairs, he warned against long-term alliances." - whitehouse.gov

President Washington served two terms before retiring. Three years later, he died of a throat infection (December 14, 1799).

The North American Philadelphia, Pennsylvania · Wednesday, December 18, 1799

Source: https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/george-washington/

King - Burson - McCormick - Crawford - Grymes - Towneley - Warner - Washington

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