George Washington

He implemented a strong, well-financed national government while remaining impartial in a fierce rivalry between cabinet members Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.

He became the United States Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the nation's first secretary of state under President George Washington from 1790 to 1793.

He commanded American forces, allied with France, in the defeat and surrender of the British during the Siege of Yorktown, and resigned his commission in 1783 after the signing of the Treaty of Paris.

The siege of Yorktown, also known as the Battle of Yorktown, the surrender at Yorktown, German Battle or the siege of Little York, ending on October 19, 1781, at Yorktown, Virginia, was a decisive victory by a combined force of American Continental Army troops led by General George Washington and French Army troops led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British army commanded by British peer and Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis.

He implemented a strong, well-financed national government while remaining impartial in a fierce rivalry between cabinet members Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.

As the first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton was the main author of the economic policies of George Washington's administration.

He set enduring precedents for the office of president, including the title "President of the United States", and his Farewell Address is widely regarded as a pre-eminent statement on republicanism.

George Washington's farewell address is a letter written by President George Washington as a valedictory to "friends and fellow-citizens" after 20 years of public service to the United States.

During the French Revolution, he proclaimed a policy of neutrality while sanctioning the Jay Treaty.

The Treaty was designed by Alexander Hamilton and supported by President George Washington.

He presided at the Constitutional Convention of 1787 which established the U.S. Constitution

Although, in a way, the Congressional powers in Article 9 made the "league of states as cohesive and strong as any similar sort of republican confederation in history", the chief problem was, in the words of George Washington, "no money".

He endeavored to assimilate Native Americans into Western culture, but responded to their hostility in times of war.

After the thirteen colonies revolted against Great Britain and established the United States, President George Washington and Secretary of War Henry Knox conceived of the idea of "civilizing" Native Americans in preparation for assimilation as U.S. citizens.

He has been memorialized by monuments, art, geographical locations, stamps, and currency, and many scholars and polls rank him among the greatest American presidents.

Abraham Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George Washington are most often listed as the three highest-rated presidents among historians.

When Augustine died in 1743, Washington inherited Ferry Farm and ten slaves; his older half-brother Lawrence inherited Little Hunting Creek and renamed it Mount Vernon.

Mount Vernon was the plantation of George Washington, the first President of the United States, and his wife, Martha Washington.

George Washington was born February 22, 1732 at Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia, and was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington.

Augustine Washington Sr. (November 12, 1694 – April 12, 1743) was the father of the first U.S. President George Washington.

The family moved to Little Hunting Creek, in 1735, then to Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1738.

Ferry Farm (also known as the George Washington Boyhood Home Site or the Ferry Farm Site) is the name of the farm and home at which George Washington spent much of his childhood.

George Washington was born February 22, 1732 at Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia, and was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington.

Mary Ball Washington, born Mary Ball (born sometime between 1707 to 1709 – August 25, 1789), was the second wife of Augustine Washington, a planter in Virginia, and the mother of George Washington, the first President of the United States, and five other children.

Washington's great-grandfather John Washington immigrated in 1656 from Sulgrave, England to the British Colony of Virginia where he accumulated 5000 acres of land, including Little Hunting Creek on the Potomac River.

George Washington was born February 22, 1732 at Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia, and was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington.

A member of the assembly, he was a great-grandfather of George Washington, general and the first United States president.

George Washington was born February 22, 1732 at Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia, and was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington.

Westmoreland County was the birthplace of George Washington, the first President of the United States (at the former settlement of Bridges Creek, Virginia); of James Monroe, the fifth President; and of General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate armies.

When Augustine died in 1743, Washington inherited Ferry Farm and ten slaves; his older half-brother Lawrence inherited Little Hunting Creek and renamed it Mount Vernon.

Washington was the beloved older half-brother of George Washington, the future President of the United States.

The family moved to Little Hunting Creek, in 1735, then to Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia in 1738. Washington's great-grandfather John Washington immigrated in 1656 from Sulgrave, England to the British Colony of Virginia where he accumulated 5000 acres of land, including Little Hunting Creek on the Potomac River.

The Washington family built its Mount Vernon plantation on the Potomac River along both banks of Little Hunting Creek during colonial times.

Lawrence's service as adjutant general of the Virginia militia inspired Washington to seek a commission, and Virginia's Lieutenant Governor Robert Dinwiddie appointed him as a major in December 1752 and as commander of one of the four militia districts.

Dinwiddie is credited for starting the military career of George Washington.

He received a surveyor's license the following year from the College of William & Mary; Fairfax appointed him surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia, and he thus familiarized himself with the frontier region.

A young George Washington (1732–1799) also received his surveyor's license at The College.

This incident ignited the French and Indian War, which later became part of the larger Seven Years' War.

Hostilities were heightened when a British unit led by a 22-year-old Lt. Colonel George Washington ambushed a small French force at the Battle of Jumonville Glen on 28 May 1754.

On July 3, a French force attacked with 900 men, and the ensuing battle ended in Washington's surrender.

The engagement, along with the May 28 skirmish known as the Battle of Jumonville Glen, was George Washington's first military experience and the only surrender of his military career.

On January 6, 1759, Washington, at age 26, married Martha Dandridge Custis, the 28 year-old widow of wealthy plantation owner Daniel Parke Custis.

Martha Washington (née Dandridge; June 2 1731 – May 22, 1802) was the wife of George Washington, the first President of the United States.

This incident ignited the French and Indian War, which later became part of the larger Seven Years' War. Washington received his initial military training and command with the Virginia Regiment during the French and Indian War.

The dispute erupted into violence in the Battle of Jumonville Glen in May 1754, during which Virginia militiamen under the command of 22-year-old George Washington ambushed a French patrol.

French commander Joseph Coulon de Jumonville, who carried a diplomatic message for the British to evacuate, was killed.

His defeat and killing at the Battle of Jumonville Glen by forces led by George Washington, was one of the sparks that ignited the Seven Years' War, known as the French and Indian War on the North American front.

Washington's great-grandfather John Washington immigrated in 1656 from Sulgrave, England to the British Colony of Virginia where he accumulated 5000 acres of land, including Little Hunting Creek on the Potomac River.

He was the colonist paternal English ancestor and great-grandfather of George Washington, general of the Continental Army and first president of the United States of America.