George Washington appointed to be the first US president after leading the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, serving for 2 terms from 1789 to 1797, is regarded as the Founding Fathers of the United States. He made significant contribution to drafting the US Constitution, which replaced the Articles of Confederation and remains the supreme law of the land.

Early Life

George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, at Popes Creek in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the first of six children of Augustine and Mary Ball Washington. His father was a justice of the peace and a prominent public figure who had four additional children from his first marriage to Jane Butler. The family moved to Little Hunting Creek in 1734 before eventually settling in Ferry Farm near Fredericksburg, Virginia. 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 did not have the formal education his elder brothers received at Appleby Grammar School in England, but he did attend the Lower Church School in Hartfield. He learned mathematics, including trigonometry, and land surveying, and became a talented draftsman and mapmaker. By early adulthood, he was writing with "considerable force" and "precision". As a teenager, to practice his penmanship, Washington compiled over a hundred rules for social interaction styled Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation, copied from an English translation of a French book of manners.

Washington often visited Mount Vernon and Belvoir, the plantation of William Fairfax, Lawrence's father-in-law. Fairfax became Washington's patron and surrogate father, and Washington spent a month in 1748 with a team surveying Fairfax's Shenandoah Valley property. The following year, he received a surveyor's license from the College of William & Mary. Even though Washington had not served the customary apprenticeship, Fairfax appointed him surveyor of Culpeper County, Virginia, where he took his oath of office July 20, 1749. He subsequently familiarized himself with the frontier region, and though he resigned from the job in 1750, he continued to do surveys west of the Blue Ridge Mountains. By 1752, he had bought almost 1,500 acres (600 ha) in the Valley and owned 2,315 acres (937 ha).

In 1751, Washington made his only trip abroad when he accompanied Lawrence to Barbados, hoping the climate would cure his brother's tuberculosis. Washington contracted smallpox during that trip, which left his face slightly scarred. Lawrence died in 1752, and Washington leased Mount Vernon from his widow Anne; he inherited it outright after her death in 1761.

Personal Life

Washington was somewhat reserved in personality, but was known for having a strong presence. He made speeches and announcements when required, but he was not a noted orator nor debater. He was taller than most of his contemporaries; accounts of his height vary from 6 ft (1.83 m) to 6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m) tall, he weighed between 210–220 pounds (95–100 kg) as an adult, and was known for his great strength.

He had grey-blue eyes and long reddish-brown hair. He did not wear a powdered wig; instead he wore his hair curled, powdered, and tied in a queue in the fashion of the day.

Washington frequently suffered from severe tooth decay and ultimately lost all his teeth but one. He had several sets of false teeth during his presidency. Contrary to common lore, these were not made of wood, but of metal, ivory, bone, animal teeth, and human teeth possibly obtained from slaves. These dental problems left him in constant pain, which he treated with laudanum.

Washington was a talented equestrian, with Thomas Jefferson describing him as "the best horseman of his age". He collected thoroughbreds at Mount Vernon, his two favorite horses being Blueskin and Nelson. He enjoyed hunting foxes, deer, ducks, and other game. He was an excellent dancer and frequently attended the theater. He drank alcohol in moderation but was morally opposed to excessive drinking, smoking tobacco, gambling, and profanity.

Historical events in the life of George Washington

• 1753-8-4 George Washington becomes a master mason
  
• 1754-5-28 Battle of Jumonville Glen: forces led by George Washington kill French Canadian officer Joseph Coulon de Jumonville
• 1754-7-3 George Washington surrenders to French, Fort Necessity (7 Years' War)
• 1754-7-4 George Washington gives Ft Necessity to France
• 1758-7-24 George Washington admitted to Virginia House of Burgess
• 1775-5-10 2nd Continental Congress in Philadelphia names George Washington, supreme commander
• 1775-6-15 George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of American Army
• 1775-7-22 George Washington takes command of the Continental Army
• 1776-1-1 Gen George Washington hoists Continental Union Flag
• 1776-3-25 Continental Congress authorized a medal for George Washington
• 1776-4-3 George Washington receives honorary Ll.D. degree from Harvard College
• 1776-12-8 George Washington's retreating army crosses Delaware River from NJ
• 1776-12-26 George Washington defeats Hessians at Battle of Trenton in American Revolutionary War
• 1777-1-3 General George Washington's revolutionary army defeats British forces at Battle of Princeton, NJ
• 1777-10-4 Battle of Germantown: Gen George Washington's troops attack and are defeated by the British at Germantown, Pennsylvania
• 1781-8-20 George Washington begins to move his troops south to fight Cornwallis
• 1782-8-2 George Washington creates Honorary Badge of Distinction
• 1782-8-7 George Washington first creates Purple Heart medal (original name Badge of Military Merit) as commander of the Continental Army
• 1783-3-15 In an emotional speech in Newburgh, New York, George Washington asks his officers not to support the Newburgh Conspiracy. The plea is successful and the threatened coup d'etat never takes place.
• 1783-11-2 General George Washington, later 1st US President, bids farewell to his army after the American Revolutionary War
• 1783-12-23 General George Washington resigns his military commission as Commander-in-Chief of the Army to Congress
• 1787-5-25 Constitutional convention opens at Philadelphia, George Washington presiding
• 1789-4-16 George Washington heads for 1st presidential inauguration
• 1789-4-23 President-elect George Washington moves into Franklin House, NY
• 1789-4-30 George Washington inaugurated as first president of the United States of America
• 1789-5-7 First US Presidential inaugural ball (for George Washington in NYC)
• 1789-10-2 George Washington transmits the proposed Constitutional amendments (The United States Bill of Rights) to the States for ratification.
• 1789-10-15 1st presidental tour-George Washington in New England
• 1790-1-8 1st US President George Washington delivers 1st state of the union address
• 1792-4-5 George Washington casts 1st presidential veto
• 1792-12-5 George Washington re-elected as US President
• 1793-9-18 US President George Washington lays cornerstone of Capitol building
• 1796-9-19 George Washington's farewell address as president
• 1799-12-18 George Washington's body interred at Mount Vernon

Death

In 1751, Washington made his only trip abroad when he accompanied Lawrence to Barbados, hoping the climate would cure his brother's tuberculosis. Washington contracted smallpox during that trip, which left his face slightly scarred. Lawrence died in 1752, and Washington leased Mount Vernon from his widow Anne; he inherited it outright after her death in 1761.