Historical Background

Washington set all the standards for the American presidency. As a child, largely self-taught and radiantly self-reliant, he copied down in his exercise book some 110 "Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour" - such as "Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience". These words go straight to the heart of the man whose name became synonymous with steadfastness and strength of character: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

He grew up loving the land, and indeed the first public office he ever held was that of surveyor for Culpeper County, Virginia. He learned about frontier life the hard way - on the job - and as he went about literally taking the measure of the colony, he developed a vision for its impending independence.

By 1753 Washington was an officer in the army, and two years later he was named commander in chief of the Virginia militia. In 1758 he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, where he lost no time encouraging the notion of colonial self-governance. Soon after the outbreak of hostilities with the British in 1775, he was made commander in chief of the entire Continental Army in the Revolutionary War. From that moment, George Washington's heroic acts became our national history: how he expelled the British from Boston in March 1776; how he ferried his troops across the Delaware River on Christmas Eve 1776 and went on to rout the enemy at Trenton, and then again at Princeton… Dramatically tall (he stood 6-foot-3 on size 13 feet) , Washington was a galvanizing figure in the front lines, directing fire and rousing his soldiers' spirits. Forced to evacuate Philadelphia, he retreated to nearby Valley Forge, where his men suffered from cold and hunger. In October 1781, aided by the French, he cornered the British commander, Lord Cornwallis, in the peninsula at Yorktown, Virginia, bringing the Revolutionary War to a victorious end.

In 1787 Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, where the Constitution of the United States was adopted. On April 30th 1879 Washington took the Oath of Office on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, the nation's first capital, becoming the first president of the United States. Unanimously reelected in 1793, Washington issued his "Proclamation of Neutrality," in the reasoned belief that the U.S. should not involve itself beyond its borders. Washington's second term of office expired on March 3, 1797. On September 17,1796 he issued his "Farewell Address" which was not delivered orally but released to the press. Refusing a third term, Washington counseled the new nation to "steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world." Washington died peacefully at his Mount Vernon home on December 14, 1799.