44 Presidents in 44 Days Using 444 words: Day 1 - President George Washington

George Washington was inaugurated in New York City on April 30, 1789, while standing on the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street.  Upon taking the oath as America’s first President, it was his intent to establish precedence in all his future actions.   His precedence was based on the notion that principles would guide leaders as opposed to politics.

President Washington was born in Virginia to a farming family.  During his teen years, he became heavily interested in the art of military and western land expansion.  While a lieutenant colonel in 1754, he was involved in his first battle of what eventually turned into the Indian & French War.  At the age of 27, he married a widowed lady who was older than him and was a mother of two children from her previous marriage.  She also had two children who died as infants.  Although they never had children together as a couple, Washington was very fond of his step children. 

During the early parts of his marriage, he became quite agitated with the concept of British imperialism and regulations.  In 1775, as a member of the Virginia legislation, he attended the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia during which he was elected Commander in Chief of the Continental Army.    For six years afterwards, he was heavily involved in a challenging war with the British, which ended with the British surrender in 1781 and the end of the American Revolution.

Upon the ending of the American Revolution, Washington was ready to retire from public life and live peacefully and quietly as a private citizen in Mount Vernon.   He came to the realization that the Articles of Confederation, were not functioning as intended, and thus aligned himself with the Constitutional Convention of Philadelphia in 1787.  This convention spearheaded the development of the US Constitution.   Upon ratification of the new Constitution, George Washington was unanimously elected America’s first President by the Electoral College.

President Washington strongly admired what the Constitution represented and stood for.  As such, he respected the powers of Congress, while balancing the needs of America.  He choose to lead America by having a neutral policy on various issues such as foreign policy, knowing that neutrality would make the country stronger, not weaker.   Upon finishing his 2^nd term as President, he died about three years post Presidency, at the age of 67 due to a throat infection.

While bidding adieu as President, his Farewell Address encouraged his countrymen not to develop long term alliances in foreign policy, minimize preferences based on geographical distinctions, and avoid excessive political spirit.  His wife passed away three years after him and both were buried in their beloved Mount Vernon.