George Washington, 1732 - 1799
Portrait begun by Gilbert Stuart (1755 - 1828), finished by Rembrandt Peale (1778 - 1860)
Born: 22 February 1732, Westmoreland County, Colony of Virginia, British America
Died: 14 December 1799, Mount Vernon, Virginia
Washington was born to Augustine Washington and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington, at Pope's Creek Estate, there were two sons by Augustine's first wife. Six years later the family moved to Ferry Farm in Stafford County. Washington was educated by his father and older brother Lawrence. Lawrence married into the Fairfax family, gaining patronage for George who helped with the survey of Lord Fairfax's western lands in 1748. The next year he was named surveyor of Culpeper County. Lawrence died in 1752, leaving George with the rest of their father's estate. That year Robert Dinwiddie arrived as the new governor of the colony and named Washington to lead one of the four sections of militia, making him a major at age twenty. During the French and Indian War (Seven Years War) Washington started as Lieutenant Colonel and rose to Brigadier General. His battlefield record was mixed, although even in the failed Monongahela campaign, in which he served under General Edward Braddock, Washington's actions in organizing the retreat after the defeat earned him a hero's welcome and promotion. In 1759 he married a wealthy widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, adding significant land (and quite a few slaves) to his holdings. He adopted Martha's two children but they did not have any together. It is likely that the real love of Washington's life, including at this time, was Sally Fairfax, but the marriage appeared to have been happy. Between the two wars, Washington primarily attended to the business of growing tobacco, although he did take some political stands related to British treatment of colonial businesses. He was a Virginia delegate to the First Continental Congress, and after fighting broke out in April of 1775 he arrived at the Second Continental Congress in uniform; Congress created the Continental Army, gave Washington the rank of Major General and the title of Commander in Chief. (During the bicentennial celebration, Washington was granted the rank of General of the Armies of the United States, the highest military rank ever held in this country.) Drawing on his previous experience and assisted by Baron von Steuben and the Marquis de Lafayette, Washington prevailed against the British regulars, Hessians, and Indian allies over the course of six years, then returned to his plantation. At the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia he was unanimously elected president of the convention. When the document was ratified, the electoral college unanimously chose Washington as president of the new nation, and again in 1792, the only president to ever win all electoral-college votes. Although Washington never joined any party, the Federalists (led by Alexander Hamilton)were organized to advance his platform in opposition to the Democratic-Republican party (led by Thomas Jefferson). At the end of his second term he returned to Mount Vernon to supervise his plantation. On 12 December 1799 he spent several hours on horseback, in snow and freezing rain, inspecting his farm, ate in his wet clothes, and woke up the next morning with laryngitis and pneumonia. The bloodletting and calomel his doctors prescribed probably were the cause of death.
Biography from Wikipedia and the White House
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George Washington quotes:
Quotes found : 101 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 7) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
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- A people ... who are possessed of the spirit of commerce, who see and who will pursue their advantages may achieve almost anything. permalink
George Washington - A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man, that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of friends; and that the most liberal professions of goodwill are very far from being the surest marks of it. permalink
George Washington - A slender acquaintance with the world must convince every man, that actions, not words, are the true criterion of the attachment of his friends, and that the most liberal professions of good will are very far from being the surest marks of it. I should be happy that my own experience had afforded fewer examples of the little dependence to be placed upon them. permalink
George Washington - All see, and most admire, the glare which hovers round the external trappings of elevated office. To me there is nothing in it, beyond the lustre which may be reflected from its connection with a power of promoting human felicity. permalink
George Washington - Arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness. permalink
George Washington - Bad seed is a robbery of the worst kind: for your pocket-book not only suffers by it, but your preparations are lost and a season passes away unimproved. permalink
George Washington - Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence. True friendship is a plant of slow grow, and must undergo and withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the appellation. permalink
George Washington - By the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability and expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, altho' death was levelling my companions on every side. permalink
George Washington - Democratical States must always feel before they can see: it is this that makes their Governments slow, but the people will be right at last. permalink
George Washington - Discipline is the soul of an army. It makes small numbers formidable; procures success to the weak, and esteem to all. permalink
George Washington - Every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. permalink
George Washington - Every post is honorable in which a man can serve his country. permalink
George Washington - Example, whether it be good or bad, has a powerful influence. permalink
George Washington - Experience has taught us that men will not adopt and carry into execution measures the best calculated for their own good without the intervention of a coercive power. permalink
George Washington - Experience teaches us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession. permalink
George Washington
Quotes found : 101 — (15 per page, this is page 1 of 7) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next
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