American President
George Washington (1732–1799)
Facts at a Glance
- Term
- 1st President of the United States (1789–1797)
- Born
- February 22, 1732, Pope’s Creek, Virginia
- Nickname
- “Father of His Country”
- Education
- The equivalent of an elementary school education
- Religion
- Episcopalian
- Marriage
- January 6, 1759, to Martha Dandridge Custis (1731–1802)
- Children
- None
- Career
- Soldier, Planter
- Political Party
- Federalist
- Died
- December 14, 1799, Mount Vernon, Virginia
- Buried
- Family vault, Mount Vernon, Virginia
- A Life in Brief
- George Washington was born into a mildly prosperous Virginia farming family in 1732. After his father died when George was eleven, George’s mother, Mary, a tough and driven woman, struggled to hold their home together with the help of her two sons from a previous marriage. More »
- I can only say that I have contributed towards the organization and administration of the Government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable.
- September 17, 1796
Essays on George Washington and His Administration
- George Washington
- A Life in Brief
- Life Before the Presidency
- Campaigns and Elections
- Domestic Affairs
- Foreign Affairs
- Life After the Presidency
- Family Life
- The American Franchise
- Impact and Legacy
- Key Events
- First Lady
- Martha Washington
- Vice President
- John Adams (1789-1797)
- Secretary of State
- Thomas Jefferson (1789–1793)
- Edmund Randolph (1794–1795)
- Timothy Pickering (1796–1797)
- Secretary of War
- Henry Knox (1789–1794)
- Timothy Pickering (1795–1796)
- James McHenry (1796–1797)
- Postmaster General
- Samuel Osgood (1789–1791)
- Timothy Pickering (1791–1795)
- Joseph Habersham (1795–1797)
- Secretary of the Treasury
- Alexander Hamilton (1789–1795)
- Oliver Wolcott Jr. (1795–1797)
- Attorney General
- Edmund Randolph (1789–1794)
- William Bradford (1794–1795)
- Charles Lee (1795–1797)
Consulting Editor: Stephen Knott
Professor Knott is an Associate Professor in the National Security Decision Making Department at the United States Naval War College. Prior to joining the War College faculty, he served as project director for the Ronald Reagan and Edward M. Kennedy Oral History Projects at the Miller Center of Public Affairs. His writings include:
The Reagan Years (Facts on File, 2005)
Alexander Hamilton and the Persistence of Myth (University Press of Kansas, 2002)
Presidential Speeches
Below are selections from the Miller Center’s George Washington speech collection.
October 3, 1789—Thanksgiving Proclamation
Scholarship and Speakers
The Miller Center of Public Affairs is a national nonpartisan center to research, reflect, and report on American government, with special attention to the central role and history of the presidency. Below is a selection of Miller Center resources on George Washington.
Listen to Michael Riccards’s 1992 presentation at the Miller Center
on George Washington.
Listen to Murat Williams’s 1990 presentation at the Miller Center on
George Washington v. Woodrow
Wilson.
George Washington came to the presidency with an abundance of military experience. Learn more about the Miller Center’s National War Powers Commission.
Learn more about the Center’s National Commission on the Presidential Nominating Process and its relationship to Washington.
Scripps Library Reference Resources
Below are links to reference resources prepared by the Miller Center’s Scripps Library, designed to help students and scholars conduct their research quickly.
Information on George Washington’s Private and Public Papers
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