George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was a central, critical figure in the founding of the United States of America, as well as the nation's first president (1789–1797).Before becoming one of the major founding fathers of the nation, as well as president, Washington led the Continental Army to victory over the Kingdom of Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783). Washington was seen as symbolizing the new nation and republicanism in practice.His devotion to civic virtue made him an exemplary figure among early American politicians.During Washington's funeral oration, Henry Lee said that of all Americans, he was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Scholars consistently rank him, together with Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt, as one of the top three U.S. Presidents. Due to his military experience, charisma, leadership of the patriot cause, and political base in Virginia, the Second Continental Congress chose him, in 1775, as the commander-in-chief of the American revolutionary forces. In 1776, he forced the British out of Boston, but, later that same year, was defeated, and nearly captured, when he lost New York City. However, he revived the patriot cause by crossing the Delaware River in New Jersey and defeating the surprised enemy units. As a result of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured the two main British combat armies, first at Saratoga in 1777 and then at Yorktown in 1781. Negotiating with Congress, the colonial states, and French allies, he held together a tenuous army and a fragile, nascent nation amid the threats of disintegration and failure. Following the end of the war in 1783, Washington retired to his plantation on Mount Vernon.Alarmed in the late 1780s at the many weaknesses of the new nation under the Articles of Confederation, he presided over the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution in 1787. In 1789, Washington became President of the United States and established many of the customs and usages of the new government's executive departmen |