WHAT WE KNOW HIM FOR

It was on February 22, 1732 that George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia, into a family of planters. Attracted by the earth, he quickly became interested in topography and cartography.

Having lost his father at the age of 10, he was brought up by his mother who instilled in him the principles of a distinguished citizen. In 1752, on the death of his half-brother, he inherited the property of Mount Vernon which he made prosper throughout his life. Engaged in the militias of Virginia in 1754, he took part in the Seven Years' War (the war against the French and the Indians); returning to Mount Vernon in 1759, he then devoted his time to his wife, Martha Dandridge Custis, at her plantation and a seat in the Virginia House of Representatives.

Over the years he joined with other planters in Virginia in expressing, in moderate but firm terms, their opposition to the rules imposed by the British; he enjoyed great respect among the Virginians.

At the meeting of the Second Continental Congress in 1775, a unanimous vote placed him in the key position of Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. He then found himself at the head of troops without experience and without discipline which seized the city of Boston, from 1776, and obtained, in 1781, with the help of the French, the surrender of the British General Cornwallis, during the decisive battle of Yorktown.

After the signing of the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783, by which the British recognized the independence of the United States, George Washington resigned and returned to Mount Vernon. Very quickly, he realizes that the Nation needs a Constitution and that it is urgent to get down to its drafting.

In May 1787, the delegates of the thirteen states decided to meet in Convention in Philadelphia; on May 25, seven of the thirteen States being represented, the Convention opens its deliberations; on September 17, the delegates of twelve states affix their signatures at the bottom of the document.

George Washington during the 1st inauguration speech in New York in 1789 (National Archives, Still Picture Branch, 148-CCD-92C)

The Constitution was born. On April 30, 1789, George Washington became the first president of the United States. Having chosen the location for the federal capital on the banks of the Potomac, George Washington entrusted the plans to the French, Pierre-Charles l'Enfant (see page 7), in 1791.

In 1792, he was elected for a second term (not a single vote of the Electoral College failed him). During his two presidential terms, George Washington did not infringe on the powers granted to Congress by the Constitution. Foreign policy holds a prominent place and he is very attentive to the role of the United States.

During the Franco-British conflict during the period of the French Revolution, he chose neutrality, despite the recommendations of his Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson (pro French) and his Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton (pro-British) . He is also doing everything to ensure the financial independence of his country.

In 1796, George Washington refused to run for a third time and retired permanently from political life in his “dear” Mount Vernon, where he remained until his death on December 14, 1799. The name of the federal capital, the name of a state, that of a famous university, the Washington Monument, from East to West, the “father of the nation” is very present in the United States of today.

Text of the speech by President Washington, National Archives. The text that you will be able to read is the official speech of its inauguration given in New York City, at the Federal Hall, where the first Congress was held.

Find out more: https://fr.usembassy.gov/fr/education-culture-fr/les-etats-unis-de-z/washington-george/

WHAT WE CAN REPROACH HIM FOR

The most traditional colonial society

However, his origins and his youth did not predestine him to lead the rebellion. This honorable planter's son, born in February 1732 in Virginia, indeed belonged to the most traditional colonial society. His parents, of English descent, had acquired estates on which several hundred slaves worked.

A difficult second term

George Washington accepted the idea of a second term at Jefferson's suggestion. This was marked by the country's position in the war that began in 1793 between revolutionary France and Great Britain.

Anxious to preserve the finances and economic growth of the country, Washington imposed, against Jefferson's advice, American neutrality, thus inaugurating the isolationist tradition. This position enabled him to sign with the former colonial power the Treaty of London in 1794, which settled the disputes which had remained unresolved since independence.

He was thus able to promote westward expansion, concluding in 1795 with 11 Indian nations the Treaty of Greenville, by which they gave up their rights to the territories of Ohio and Indiana. Colonization to the west also benefited from the opening of commercial shipping in the Mississippi Basin.

However, none of this calmed the partisan divisions, which Washington deplored, but which had steadily increased between the Republican Party of Jefferson and Madison, and the federalists gathered around Hamilton. Strong criticism was voiced by his enemies, who accused him of greed and ambition.

Leaving the presidency in March 1797, Washington called on Americans in a farewell message published in the Pennsylvania Packet to favor unity over partisan struggles and to choose neutrality. “The maintenance of the Union,” he wrote at the time, “must be the main object of the wishes of every American patriot. "

The scaffolding of the myth

The 65-year-old former president retired to his Mount Vernon estate, where he resumed his activities as a gentleman farmer. He was recalled once again during the international crisis of 1798 which almost led to war with Republican France. Adams, his successor, then entrusted him with the supreme command of the armies.

Fortunately, the crisis was short-lived. Washington died soon after, in December 1799, of suffocation from an infection of the larynx, and was buried in the family vault at Mount Vernon. We then forgot all the criticisms of which he had been the object. "First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his fellow citizens" were the words spoken during his eulogy.