George Washington

George Washington (1732–1799) was the commander in chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolution and the first president of the United States of America. Born in Virginia, he worked as a land surveyor and planter until he joined the Virginia militia and fought in the French and Indian War. He was elected to the House of Burgesses, Virginia’s legislature, in 1758 and married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy widow, the following year. He had no children of his own, but helped raise his wife’s children. As colonial anger over British rule rose in the 1760s, Washington became a supporter of American independence and served as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses.

When the American Revolution began in 1775, he was appointed leader of colonial forces by the Second Continental Congress. Washington led his armies through harrowing defeats and major victories. At the end of the war, he resigned his commission and returned to Virginia but was soon called back into service as president of the Constitutional Convention in 1787. In 1789, Washington reluctantly accepted the presidency of the nation. As president, he guided the evolution of the new nation’s government. Washington refused to run for a third term and retired in 1797. He enjoyed two years as a private citizen before his death in 1799.