George Washington became America’s first president. George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He became the first president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. Much of his family’s wealth was lost during the Puritan revolution.
Facts About George Washington
- George Washington did not have a middle name.
- His great-grandfather came to America from England in 1657 aboard a ship named Sea Horse of London.
- The death of Washington’s father in 1743 ended George’s formal education and did not attend college.
- George Washington learned to be a surveyor
- Washington wanted to join the Royal Navy, but his mother would not let him
- George Washington’s father died when he was 11 and he became the ward of his half-brother, Lawrence
- Toothaches bothered him for years. When he was 57, he had all his teeth pulled. From then on, he wore ivory
false teeth set in a silver plate.
- At 26, he married Martha Dandridge Custis, a widow who already had two children, Jackie and Patsy.
Washington never had any children of his own.
- In 1748, when he was 16, George travelled with a surveying party plotting land in Virginia’s western territory.
- George Washington has been the only president in the history of the American presidency to be unanimously
elected to the office.
- At six feet, two inches tall, and 200 pounds, he was one of our biggest presidents.
- He bred hound dogs that he treated like members of the family. He gave some of them unusual names: Tarter,
True Love, and Sweet Lips.
- His Farewell Address on Sept. 17, 1796 (published but never delivered) rebuked party spirit and warned against “permanent alliances” with foreign powers.
- Less than three years after leaving office, he died at his Virginia plantation, Mount Vernon
- He died in Mount Vernon on Dec. 14, 1799.
- Some of his favorite dishes were the cream of peanut soup mashed sweet potatoes with coconut, and string beans with mushrooms.
- George Washington inherited ten slaves from his father when he was just 11 years old. By the end of Washington’s life, over 300 African-American slaves lived in bondage at Mount Vernon.
- In 1754 Washington led an attack that started a world war stretching to Europe, West Africa, India and the Philippines.
- Washington was known as an energetic and excellent dancer
- Washington was first elected to public office in 1758
- Washington was appointed as commander of the Continental Army in 1775
- Washington lost more battles than he won, but his leadership helped secure American independence
- Washington had many close calls but was never seriously wounded in battle
- Washington designed and oversaw the expansion of Mount Vernon
- Washington was an investor in a company that built a canal around the Great Falls of the Potomac
- Washington came to own tens of thousands of acres in North America. George Washington became one
of the largest landholders in the United States at the time.
- Washington was the first to sign the Constitution. As the President of the Constitutional Convention, George Washington was permitted to be the first to sign this important document.
- Washington was unanimously elected President of the United States, twice
- Washington’s presidency founded the United States Navy, established the nation’s official currency, created the State Department and established the Supreme Court
- Washington never occupied the White House
- Washington was a quietly religious man
- Washington helped promote the use of mules in the United States
- George Washington operated one of the largest distilleries in America at its time
- Martha Washington chose to burn all the letters that she received from George Washington
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