George Washington, the first President of the United States
喬治．華盛頓，美國第一任總統
George Washington, the first President of the United States (喬治．華盛頓，美國第一任總統)
喬治．華盛頓，美國第一任總統 (George
Washington, the first President of the United States)
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George Washington, the first President of the United States (喬治．華盛頓，美國第一任總統)
George Washington, the first President of the United States (喬治．華盛頓，美國第一任總統)
Source (資訊來源):
Info cited on 2016-11-14-WD1 (資訊引用於 中華民國105年11月14日) by 湯偉晉
(WeiJin Tang)
#
George Washington
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.
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.
From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution,
Washington managed his lands around Mount Vernon and served in the Virginia
House of Burgesses. Married to a widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, he devoted
himself to a busy and happy life. But like his fellow planters, Washington felt
himself exploited by British merchants and hampered by British regulations. As
the quarrel with the mother country grew acute, he moderately but firmly voiced
his resistance to the restrictions.
When the Second Continental Congress assembled in
Philadelphia in May 1775, Washington, one of the Virginia delegates, was
elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. On July 3, 1775, at
Cambridge, Massachusetts, he took command of his ill-trained troops and
embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years.
He realized early that the best strategy was to harass the
British. He reported to Congress, "we should on all Occasions avoid a
general Action, or put anything to the Risque, unless compelled by a necessity,
into which we ought never to be drawn." Ensuing battles saw him fall back
slowly, then strike unexpectedly. Finally in 1781 with the aid of French
allies--he forced the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.
Washington longed to retire to his fields at Mount Vernon.
But he soon realized that the Nation under its Articles of Confederation was
not functioning well, so he became a prime mover in the steps leading to the
Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia in 1787. When the new Constitution
was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected Washington President.
He did not infringe upon the policy making powers that he
felt the Constitution gave Congress. But the determination of foreign policy
became preponderantly a Presidential concern. When the French Revolution led to
a major war between France and England, Washington refused to accept entirely
the recommendations of either his Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, who was
pro-French, or his Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who was
pro-British. Rather, he insisted upon a neutral course until the United States
could grow stronger.
To his disappointment, two parties were developing by the
end of his first term. Wearied of politics, feeling old, he retired at the end
of his second. In his Farewell Address, he urged his countrymen to forswear
excessive party spirit and geographical distinctions. In foreign affairs, he
warned against long-term alliances.
Washington enjoyed less than three years of retirement at
Mount Vernon, for he died of a throat infection December 14, 1799. For months
the Nation mourned him.
The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from “The
Presidents of the United States of America,” by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey. Copyright 2006 by the White
House Historical Association.
Learn more about George Washington's spouse, Martha
Dandridge Custis Washington.
Source (資訊來源):
Info cited on 2016-11-14-WD1 (資訊引用於 中華民國105年11月14日) by 湯偉晉
(WeiJin Tang)
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