Washington, George 1732-1799. First president
of the USA 1789-97. As a strong opponent of
the British government's policy, he sat in
the Continental Congresses of 1774 and 1775,
and on the outbreak of the War of American
Independence was chosen commander in chief.
After the war he retired to his Virginia
estate, Mount Vernon, but in 1787 he
re-entered politics as president of the
Constitutional Convention. Although he
attempted to draw his ministers from all
factions, his aristocratic outlook alienated
his secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, who
resigned in 1793, thus creating the two-party
system. Washington took part in campaigns
against the French and American Indians
1753-57, and was elected to the Virginia
House of Burgesses. He was elected president
of the USA in 1789 and re-elected in 1793,
but refused to serve a third term, setting a
precedent that was followed until 1940. He
scrupulously avoided overstepping the
constitutional boundaries of presidential
power. In his farewell address of 1796, he
maintained that the USA should avoid European
quarrels and entangling alliances. He is
buried at Mount Vernon.