|name=George Washington
|image=Gilbert-Stuart 1795 Washington-portrait.jpg
|party=''None''<ref>While Washington leaned towards the Federalist Party and supported most of its policies, he never officially joined it, preferring to stay independent.</ref>
|spouse=[[Martha Dandridge Custis Washington]]
|religion=[[Anglican]]/[[Episcopalian]]
==Constitution==
[[File:The_Foundation_of_American_Government_Hy_Hintermeister.jpg|thumbnail|right|300px|Reproduction of painting of George Washington, [[Benjamin Franklin]] and others signing the U.S. Constitution in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Henry Hintermeister.]]
Long before most of his contemporaries, Washington realized that independence could not be guaranteed without a standing army and that a nation strong enough to defend itself and to control the West could not exist without a central taxing power and a competent executive authority. All of those things, he admitted. ran directly counter to anti-tax, anti-centralizing sentiments that animated the Revolution. But they were necessary nonetheless, Washington insisted throughout the 1780s. Ellis (2004) concludes that Washington, succeeded in reconciling those contradictions and playing the difficult role of a semi-monarchical republican leader because he understood so well the proper use of power and could project "onto the national screen ... the same kind of controlling authority he had orchestrated within his own personality."<ref>Ellis 2004 p. 274</ref>
In 1785 Washington hosted the [[Mount Vernon Conference]] at his home, which led to both the [[Annapolis Convention]] and the creation of the Constitution.
Because of the reputation he gained in the American Revolution, Washington was a logical choice for Virginia to send as a delegate to the [[Constitutional Convention]]. There, he was quickly chosen to chair the convention. While he barely ever spoke, the delegates have been said to have designed the [[President of the United States|Presidency]] assuming he would be the first President. Other members of the Virginia delegation to the Convention convention were [[John Blair]], [[James Madison]], [[George Mason]], [[James McClurg]], [[Edmund Randolph]], and [[George Wythe]].
==First president==
===Farewell Address===
Washington reluctantly served a second term, beginning in 1793, but by 1796 he was exhausted and insisted on not running again. (Since then, no President except [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and [[Franklin Roosevelt]] has ever tried for a third term; the [[Twenty-Second Amendment]] makes this two-term limit into law.) His [[Farewell Address]], partly drafted by [[Alexander Hamilton and Jefferson]], remains a classic statement of republicanism, calling on Americans to practice civic virtue and avoid alliances with the warring parties in Europe.
[[File:Life of George Washington - The Christian death.jpg|thumb|Washington on his death bed]]
===Retirement and death: 1797-99===
Washington returned to his beloved Mount Vernon, but his health continued to decline. In 1798 he accepted appointment as nominal head of a new national army designed to fight the French in a threatened war. (President John Adams chose him as the one man who would command respect from all factions.) His role was nominal, as Hamilton was in effective command.
==Christianity==
[[Image:W-pray.jpg|right|thumb|''"I was riding with Mr. Potts near to the The Prayer at Valley Forge where the army lay during the war of ye Revolution, when Mr. Potts said, 'Do you see that woods & that plain? There laid the army of Washington. It was a most distressing time of ye war, and all were for giving up the Ship but that great and good man. In that woods (pointing to a close in view) I heard a plaintive sound as of a man at prayer.... To my astonishment I saw the great George Washington on his knees alone, with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other. He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye Crisis & the cause of the country, of humanity & of the world. Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man. "''.<ref>From ''Diary and Remembrances,'' by Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden (1770-1851), who received it from an eyewitness to the scene, Valley Forge resident Isaac Potts</ref>Henry Brueckner]]
Washington was a practicing Christian who frequently attended services of several denominations and took seriously his responsibilities as vestryman of his Anglican parish. Washington frequently invoked God and commanded that chaplains be included in every regiment:
<blockquote>"The General hopes and trusts, that every officer and man, will endeavor so to live, and act, as becomes a Christian Soldier, defending the dearest Rights and Liberties of his country."<ref>http://www.amerisearch.net/index.php?date=2004-02-22&view=View</ref></blockquote>
During one harsh winter while encamped at [[Valley Forge]], an eyewitness reported seeing General Washington pray for God's aid to win the upcoming battles against the British. He said:
<blockquote>''"I was riding with Mr. Potts near to the Valley Forge where the army lay during the war of ye Revolution, when Mr. Potts said, 'Do you see that woods & that plain? There laid the army of Washington. It was a most distressing time of ye war, and all were for giving up the Ship but that great and good man. In that woods (pointing to a close in view) I heard a plaintive sound as of a man at prayer.... To my astonishment I saw the great George Washington on his knees alone, with his sword on one side and his cocked hat on the other. He was at Prayer to the God of the Armies, beseeching to interpose with his Divine aid, as it was ye Crisis & the cause of the country, of humanity & of the world. Such a prayer I never heard from the lips of man. "''.<ref>From ''Diary and Remembrances,'' by Rev. Nathaniel Randolph Snowden (1770-1851), who received it from an eyewitness to the scene, Valley Forge resident Isaac Potts</ref></blockquote>
Washington declared in his Inaugural Address:
[[Image:Trumbull G. Washington.jpg|right|thumb|''George Washington'', by [[John Trumbull]]]]
== George Washington and the French book Rules of Civility ==
''See also:'' [[Social intelligence]]
*[https://www.gilderlehrman.org/history-resources/lesson-plan/george-washingtons-rules-civility George Washington and the French book Rules of Civility]
==Speeches from George Washington==
*"There is no such thing as coincidence. God wills the world according to his design." (1773)<ref>From The Diaries of George Washington, 1773)</ref>
*"The propitious smiles of Heaven, can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained : And since the preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the Republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people." (1789)<ref>[https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals/inaugtxt.html][https://founders.archives.gov/?q=The%20propitious%20smiles%20of%20Heaven%2C%20can%20never%20be%20expected%20on%20a%20nation%20that%20disregards%20the%20eternal%20rules%20of%20order%20and%20right%2C%20which%20Heaven%20itself%20has%20ordained&s=1111311111&sa=&r=1&sr= First Inaugural Address]</ref>
*"But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed." (1796)<ref>Farewell Address; September 19, 1796</ref>
''„Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men & citizens. The mere Politican, equally with the [[Piety|pious]] man ought to respect & to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private & public felicity. Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the Oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure--reason & experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. 'Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with more or less force to every species of Free Government. Who that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric.“'' [http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/documents/farewell/intro.html The Papers of George Washington, Documents, The Farewell Address, page 20]
*"Associate with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for it is better to be alone than in bad company." - George Washington
==In fiction==
Because he is famous for being the very first [[President of the United States]], George Washington has made several appearances in fictional media.
===Television===
In a live-action ''The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!'' segment titled "George Washington Slept Here," a George Washington portrayed by Ed Metzger makes an appearance in Mario Brothers Plumbing.
==Trivia==
*[http://www.nps.gov/wamo/historyculture/index.htm WASHINGTON MONUMENT] the 125th anniversary of the monument's completion and dedication.
*[https://librivox.org/author/354 Works by George Washington - text and free audio] - [[LibriVox]]
*[https://librivox.org/george-washington-by-calista-mccabe-courtenay/ George Washington], by Calista McCabe Courtenay - Audiobook at [[LibriVox]]
*[https://librivox.org/george-washington-by-ferdinand-schmidt/ George Washington], by Ferdinand Schmidt - Audiobook at [[LibriVox]]
{{USPresidents}}
{{Constitutional Convention}}{{Conservative Presidents}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, George}}
[[Category:George Washington|*]]
[[Category:American Revolutionary War Commanders]]
[[Category:Presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Founding Fathers]]
[[Category:George Washington|*]]
[[Category:British History]]
[[Category:American Revolution]]
[[Category:American Gun Rights Advocates]]
[[Category:Patriots]]
[[Category:Freemasons]]