Lived

February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799

Home State

Virginia

Party

None (Unaffiliated)

Vice President

John Adams

George Washington commanded the Continental Army through the Revolutionary War and was unanimously chosen as the first President under the Constitution. During two terms he shaped the new executive branch, created the Cabinet, established the federal judiciary, and kept the nation neutral between warring European powers. His decision to retire after eight years set the two-term precedent later written into the 22nd Amendment. He owned enslaved people at Mount Vernon, a contradiction that shadows his legacy, yet his voluntary relinquishment of power remains a cornerstone of American republican government. Virginia militia officer in the French and Indian War, Virginia planter at Mount Vernon, delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army (1775–1783), and president of the 1787 Constitutional Convention.

No formal higher education; trained as a surveyor.

Established the Cabinet, the federal judiciary, and the executive precedent of a two-term limit. Suppressed the Whiskey Rebellion using federal authority. Issued the Proclamation of Neutrality (1793) and, in his Farewell Address, warned against permanent foreign alliances and party faction. Signed the Judiciary Act of 1789, the first Naturalization Act, the Bank Act creating the First Bank of the United States, and the Slave Trade Act of 1794.

Owned more than 300 enslaved people at Mount Vernon during and after his presidency; freed them in his will, but only upon Martha Washington's death. His administration's Indian policy, though nominally treaty-based, laid groundwork for later dispossession.