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Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis in 1759.

Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis in 1759.

==Early years==

==Early years==

Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on February 11 (old style), 1732, George Washington was the eldest son of Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington, who were prosperous Virginia gentry of English descent. He was baptised an [[Anglican]].[http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hh/26/hh26f.htm] George spent his early years on the family estate on Pope's Creek along the Potomac River. His early education included the study of such subjects as mathematics, surveying, the classics, and "rules of civility." His father died in 1743, and soon thereafter George went to live with his half brother Lawrence at [[Mount Vernon]], Lawrence's plantation on the Potomac. Lawrence, who became something of a substitute father for his brother, had married into the Fairfax family, prominent and influential Virginians who helped launch George's career. An early ambition to go to sea had been effectively discouraged by George's mother; instead, he turned to surveying, securing (1748) an appointment to survey Lord Fairfax's lands in the Shenandoah Valley. He helped lay out the Virginia town of Belhaven (now Alexandria) in 1749 and was appointed surveyor for Culpeper County. George accompanied his brother to Barbados in an effort to cure Lawrence of tuberculosis, but Lawrence died in 1752, soon after the brothers returned. George ultimately inherited the Mount Vernon estate.  

Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, on February 11 (old style), 1732, George Washington was the eldest son of Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington, who were prosperous Virginia gentry of English descent. He was baptised an [[Anglican]].[http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/hh/26/hh26f.htm] George spent his early years on the family estate on Pope's Creek along the Potomac River. His early education included the study of such subjects as mathematics, surveying, the classics, and "rules of civility." His father died in 1743, and soon thereafter George went to live with his half brother Lawrence at [[Mount Vernon]], Lawrence's plantation on the Potomac. Lawrence, who became something of a substitute father for his brother, had married into the Fairfax family, prominent and influential Virginians who helped launch George's career. An early ambition to go to sea had been effectively discouraged by George's mother; instead, he turned to surveying, securing (1748) an appointment to survey Lord Fairfax's lands in the Shenandoah Valley. He helped lay out the Virginia town of Belhaven (now Alexandria) in 1749 and was appointed surveyor for Culpeper County. George accompanied his brother to Barbados in an effort to cure Lawrence of tuberculosis, but Lawrence died in 1752, soon after the brothers returned. George ultimately inherited the Mount Vernon estate.  

==Presidency (1789-1797)==

==Presidency (1789-1797)==

[[Image:Georgewashington.jpg|thumb|right|President George Washington]]

[[Image:Georgewashington.jpg|right|President George Washington]]

George Washington was at Mount Vernon when Charles Thompson, the long-term secretary of the Continental [[Congress]] brought him the news that he was elected [[President]]. The arrival of the document at Mount Vernon made it legal. Washington left on April the 16th traveling to [[New York City]], the temporary capital of the new Republic. On April 30, George Washington stood on the balcony of New York City Hall to take the oath of President of the United States. His Presidency almost never happened as he almost died of [[pneumonia]] in 1790 and was unable to function as Chief Executive for several weeks.

George Washington was at Mount Vernon when Charles Thompson, the long-term secretary of the Continental [[Congress]] brought him the news that he was elected [[President]]. The arrival of the document at Mount Vernon made it legal. Washington left on April the 16th traveling to [[New York City]], the temporary capital of the new Republic. On April 30, George Washington stood on the balcony of New York City Hall to take the oath of President of the United States. His Presidency almost never happened as he almost died of [[pneumonia]] in 1790 and was unable to function as Chief Executive for several weeks.

Washington acted carefully and deliberately, aware of the need to build an executive structure that could accommodate future presidents. Hoping to prevent sectionalism from dividing the new nation, he toured every state in the union during his first term, from New England (1789) to the South (1791). The [[White House]] was built mainly by George Washington's government, with him micromanaging the designs of the executive mansion as well as the future capital. (Construction began on October 13, 1792 and was ready for occupancy on about November 1, 1800).

Washington acted carefully and deliberately, aware of the need to build an executive structure that could accommodate future presidents. Hoping to prevent sectionalism from dividing the new nation, he toured every state in the union during his first term, from New England (1789) to the South (1791). The [[White House]] was built mainly by George Washington's government, with him micromanaging the designs of the executive mansion as well as the future capital. (Construction began on October 13, 1792 and was ready for occupancy on about November 1, 1800).

Washington's Presidency marked the first United States Cabinet in the Executive Branch, the first federal judiciary system and oversaw the ratification of the United States [[Bill of Rights]]. An able administrator, he nevertheless failed to heal the widening breach between factions led by [[Secretary of State]] [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Alexander Hamilton]]. Because he supported many of Hamilton's controversial fiscal policies--the assumption of state debts, the Bank of the United States, and the excise [[tax]]--Washington became the target of attacks by Jeffersonian [[Democratic-Republican]]s.

Washington's Presidency marked the first United States Cabinet in the Executive Branch, the first federal judiciary system and oversaw the ratification of the United States [[Bill of Rights]]. Congress provided two executive officers who lacked a department: an attorney general and postmaster general. An able administrator, he nevertheless failed to heal the widening breach between factions led by [[Secretary of State]] [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Alexander Hamilton]]. Because he supported many of Hamilton's controversial fiscal policies--the assumption of state debts, the Bank of the United States, and the excise [[tax]]--Washington became the target of attacks by Jeffersonian [[Democratic-Republican]]s. Not surprisingly, he chose Henry Knox as Secretary of War. By the end of 1791, President Washington had begun to convene meetings with heads of the executive departments, with the President starting the meeting with an agenda in mind, and discussing issues of his choosing.

When Washington was first sworn in to office he was faced with the on going Northwest Indian War, a battle between the United States and Indians for control of the Northwest Territory in the U.S. He ended the war in 1795 by ceding Indian lands in the [[Ohio]] [[River]] [[Valley]] to the United States. Washington was reelected president in the [[United States presidential election, 1792|1792 Presidential Election]] and the following year the most divisive crisis arising out of the personal and political conflicts within his cabinet occurred--over the issue of American neutrality during the war between [[England]] and [[France]]. Washington, whose policy of neutrality angered the pro-French Jeffersonians, was horrified by the excesses of the [[French Revolution]] and enraged by the tactics of Edmond Genet, the French minister in the United States, which amounted to foreign interference in American politics. Further, with an eye toward developing closer commercial ties with the British, the president agreed with the Hamiltonians on the need for peace with Great Britain. His acceptance of the 1794 Jay's Treaty, which settled outstanding differences between the United States and Britain but which Democratic-Republicans viewed as an abject surrender to British demands, revived vituperation against the president, as did his vigorous upholding of the excise law during the [[Whiskey Rebellion]] in western [[Pennsylvania]].

When Washington was first sworn in to office he was faced with the on going Northwest Indian War, a battle between the United States and Indians for control of the Northwest Territory in the U.S. He ended the war in 1795 by ceding Indian lands in the [[Ohio]] [[River]] [[Valley]] to the United States. Washington was reelected president in the [[United States presidential election, 1792|1792 Presidential Election]] and the following year the most divisive crisis arising out of the personal and political conflicts within his cabinet occurred--over the issue of American neutrality during the war between [[England]] and [[France]]. Washington, whose policy of neutrality angered the pro-French Jeffersonians, was horrified by the excesses of the [[French Revolution]] and enraged by the tactics of Edmond Genet, the French minister in the United States, which amounted to foreign interference in American politics. Further, with an eye toward developing closer commercial ties with the British, the president agreed with the Hamiltonians on the need for peace with Great Britain. His acceptance of the 1794 Jay's Treaty, which settled outstanding differences between the United States and Britain but which Democratic-Republicans viewed as an abject surrender to British demands, revived vituperation against the president, as did his vigorous upholding of the excise law during the [[Whiskey Rebellion]] in western [[Pennsylvania]].