George Washington

**George Washington** (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was an American soldier, farmer, land investor, politician, and statesman who served from 1789 to 1797 as the first President of the United States, and became known as the "Father of His Country". He was commander-in-chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and presided over the 1787 Constitutional Convention. he has been considered “father of the country” both during his lifetime to this day.

## Early years (1732–1752)

George Washington was born February 22, 1732, the first child of Augustine Washingtonand his wife Mary Ball Washington, at Wakefield on their Popes Creek Estate in the Colony of Virginia. He was a subject of the British Empire at that time, under the reign of George II, descended primarily from the gentry of Sulgrave, England. His great-grandfather John Washington emigrated to Virginia in 1656. He was a tobacco planter who accumulated land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson Augustine.[4]

## Personal life

Washington was generally reserved and somewhat taciturn, yet he had a strong presence among company. He made speeches and announcements when required, but he was not known as an orator or a debater.[32] He was taller than most of his contemporaries;[33] accounts of his height vary from 6 ft (1.83 m) to 6 ft 3.5 in (1.92 m) tall, and he weighed between 210–220 pounds as an adult.[34] He had wide hips, a slim waist, a broad chest, narrow shoulders, muscular thighs, and exceptionally large hands, and he was widely known for his great strength—particularly in his long arms.[35] He had piercing grey-blue eyes, fair skin, and light reddish-brown hair, although he wore his hair powdered in the fashion of the day.[36] He had a rugged and dominating presence which garnered respect from his male peers. However, he suffered frequently from severe tooth decay, and ultimately lost all his teeth but one. He had several sets of false teeth made which he went through during his presidency—none of which were made of wood, contrary to common lore. These dental problems left him in constant pain for which he took laudanum.[37] As a public figure, he demanded that his dentist keep his dental care absolutely private.

## French and Indian War

In 1753, the French military advanced into the Ohio Country, territory that both France and Britain wanted to claim. Virginia's Ohio Company was created to encourage British settlement of the land; it had an economic interest in the region, and both Dinwiddie and Washington were stockholders. The land which joined the Monongahela and Allegheny rivers (modern Pittsburgh) was highly prized by both nations,[49] and the competing stakes led to the French and Indian War (1754–62) and contributed to the start of the global Seven Years' War (1756–63). It was Washington who ordered the first shot fired in that war in 1754.[50]

## Marriage and civilian life (1759–1774)

Colonel George Washington, Provincial Troops, Virginia Regiment, by Charles Willson Peale, 1772

Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis on January 6, 1759, the wealthy widow of Daniel Parke Custis. He was 27 and she was 28, and the ceremony took place at the Custis mansion. Martha was intelligent, gracious, and experienced in managing a planter's estate, and they made a harmonious marriage.[98] They raised John Parke Custis and Martha Parke (Patsy) Custis, her children from her previous marriage, and they later raised their grandchildren Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis. They had no children together; his 1751 bout with smallpox may have made him sterile, and he grieved privately over not having his own children.[99] They moved to Mount Vernon near Alexandria where he took up life as a successful planter of tobacco and wheat and emerged as a political figure.[100]

Washington’s marriage also made him one of Virginia's wealthiest men and increased his social standing. He acquired control over Martha’s one-third dower interest in the 18,000-acre (73 km2) Custis estate, worth approximately $100,000, and he managed the remaining two-thirds on behalf of Martha's children.[101] He also acquired over 80 slaves through the marriage, brought to Mount Vernon from the estate.[102]