Short Bio of George Washington

 

Short Bio for George Washington

https://share.america.gov/how-george-washington-became-father-of-his-country/

Article written on February 11, 2026

 

                                        https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/George-Washington-Portrait-Stuart.webp

Like the monument standing in the U.S. capital that bears his name, George Washington’s place in American history is towering. As a general, his commanding presence inspired the Army that won independence from Britain. As a statesman, he presided over the Constitutional Convention that shaped the United States. And as the country’s first president he established lasting traditions, forging a reputation as “the father of his country.”

Washington’s journey to greatness was no coincidence. When he showed up for the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia in his militia uniform in 1775, Washington helped the other delegates to see him as a natural choice for Army commander.

Though he resigned his commission after the Revolution, he stayed involved in political affairs, arguing for a stronger national government. This made him a natural choice to lead the Constitutional Convention. “He was the moving force for the Constitution,” says Edward J. Larson, a law professor at Pepperdine University and author of George Washington, Nationalist. Other delegates had trust in Washington, according to Larson, and that trust moved the effort along. Washington’s central role in developing the Constitution, in turn, would make him a favorite choice for president among the leaders in attendance.

Early Life

Washington was born on February 22, 1732, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. He was the first child of Augustine and Mary Washington, who would have five more children. At the time George was born, they lived in Pope’s Creek. Raised in Virginia by his mother and brother, Washington succeeded as a surveyor on the state’s frontier.

In 1735, the family moved to Little Hunting Creek Plantation, on the Potomac River. The Plantation would eventually be renamed Mount Vernon. They lived there for a short time, and moved to Ferry Farm on the Rappahannock River, across from Fredericksburg, Virginia, in 1738. Washington spent most of his youth at Ferry Farm, although very little is known about his childhood.

 

His father died when he was 11, and he became the ward of Lawrence Washington, his half-brother. Augustine had three children with his first wife, Jane, who died in 1729. Lawrence inherited Little Hunting Creek Plantation. Lawrence was married to Anne Fairfax, the daughter of Colonel William Fairfax. Fairfax had political connections and had been an appointee of the British Crown in the Bahamas and the Colonies.

At the of 16, in 1748, Washington helped survey Virginia’s western frontier. He spent the next few years surveying land and received an appointment as the official surveyor of Culpepper County, Virginia.

He inherited Mount Vernon in 1752. Lawrence died in July from tuberculosis. Soon after, his only heir, his daughter Sarah, also died. This left the estate to Washington. He was 20 years old at the time. Adding to his responsibilities, Virginia’s Lieutenant Governor, Robert Dinwiddie, appointed him as major in the Virginia militia.

 As a young militia leader in the French and Indian War (1754–1763), he overcame early setbacks and led British forces to safety during the Battle of the Monongahela after their general was mortally wounded.

Washington’s heroics — surviving the Monongahela, despite four bullets passing through his coat made him an obvious choice to lead the Continental Army in the American Revolution. Believing in his own suitability for the job and arriving at the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia wearing his militia uniform, Washington inspired confidence. The Congress founded the U.S. Army on June 14, 1775, and named him commander in chief the next day.

The next year, on Christmas night 1776, Washington led his soldiers, weary from defeats, across the freezing Delaware River for a surprise attack that brought victory and a morale boost for his men. A few years later, in 1781, Washington deceived the British into anticipating an attack in New York and instead moved south to Virginia, capturing thousands of British troops at Yorktown.

On March 15, 1783, in Newburgh, New York, officers under Washington’s command met to discuss whether to mutiny because the Continental Congress had not paid them. Instead of having them arrested, Washington came to address them. He began reading his prepared speech, which would chide the conspirators. At some point he paused to put on his glasses, saying, “Gentlemen, you must pardon me, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in service to my country.”

By that action, the conspiracy died. Later that year, Washington resigned his commission as commander of the Continental Army. When British King George III was informed that Washington would resign, rather than take over leadership of the new country, he was reported to have said, “If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.”

Yet in 1789, Washington was unanimously elected the first U.S. president. His decision to serve only two four-year terms set a precedent that lasted more than a century and influenced a 1951 constitutional amendment that set a two-term limit for future presidents.

At his funeral in 1799, Washington’s friend Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee described him  as, “First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.”