BIOGRAPHY
Coming soon...
On April 30, 1789, George Washington, standing on the balcony of
Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York, took his oath of office as the first
President of the United States. "As the first of every thing, in our situation
will serve to establish a Precedent," he wrote James Madison, "it is devoutly
wished on my part, that these precedents may be fixed on true principles."
Born in 1732 into a Virginia planter family, he learned the
morals, manners, and body of knowledge requisite for an 18th century Virginia
gentleman.
He pursued two intertwined interests: military arts and western
expansion. At 16 he helped survey Shenandoah lands for Thomas, Lord Fairfax.
Commissioned a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he fought the first skirmishes of
what grew into the French and Indian War. The next year, as an aide to Gen.
Edward Braddock, he escaped injury although four bullets ripped his coat and two
horses were shot from under him. |
