George Washington

This subject is discussed in Neo-Nazi Theory (American founding fathers). The decipherment of Linear B in the 1950s by Michael Ventris and others, convinced scholars of a linguistic continuity between 13th century BC Mycenaean writings and the poems attributed to Homer. In recent years, a number of anti-Semitic groups have attributed false quotations to George Washington and other Founding Fathers, with the intention of inciting anti-Semitism. Research (pioneered by the aforementioned Parry and Lord) into oral epics in Serbo-Croatian and Turkic languages began to convince scholars that long poems could be preserved with consistency by oral cultures until someone bothered to write them down. Notable recent works include:. The excavations of Heinrich Schliemann in the late 19th century began to convince scholars there was a historical basis for the Trojan War. The Library of Congress has a comprehensive bibliography online. Modern classicists continue the tradition.

The literature on George Washington is immense. The commentaries on the Iliad and the Odyssey written in the Hellenistic period (3rd to 1st century BC) began exploring the textual inconsistencies of the poems. See also: List of places named for George Washington. Another significant question regards the tales' possible historical basis. Other examples include the George Washington Bridge, which extends between New York City and New Jersey, and the palm tree genus Washingtonia is also named after him. See main article Troy.. The United States Navy has named three ships after Washington. More radical Homerists, such as Gregory Nagy, contend that a canonical text of the Homeric poems as "scripture" did not exist until the Hellenistic period.

Washington selected West Point, New York, as the site for the United States Military Academy. The traditional solution is the "transcription hypothesis", wherein a non-literate "Homer" dictates his poem to a literate scribe in the 6th century BC or earlier. Pacific Northwest. Exactly when these poems would have taken on a fixed written form is subject to debate. The only state named for a president is the state of Washington in the U.S. He called these chunks of repetitive language "formulas.". The George Washington University, also in D.C., was named after him, and it was in part founded with shares Washington bequeathed to an endowment to create a national university in Washington. The crucial words are "oral" and "traditional." Parry started with "traditional." The repetitive chunks of language, he said, were inherited by the singer-poet from his predecessors, and they were useful to the poet in composition.

The Washington Monument, one of the most well-known landmarks in the city, was built in his honor. Could the Iliad and Odyssey have been oral-formulaic poems, composed on the spot by the poet using a collection of memorized traditional verses and phases? Milman Parry and Albert Lord pointed out that such elaborate oral tradition, foreign to today's literate cultures, is typical of epic poetry in an exclusively oral culture. The District of Columbia was created by an Act of Congress in 1790, and Washington was deeply involved in its creation, including the siting of the White House. An analysis of the structure and vocabulary of the Iliad and Odyssey shows that the poems consist of regular, repeating phrases; even entire verses repeat. The capital city of the United States, Washington, D.C., is named for him. Most Classicists would agree that, whether there was ever such a composer as "Homer" or not, the Homeric poems are the product of an oral tradition, a generations-old technique that was the collective inheritance of many singer-poets, aoidoi. The image used on the dollar bill is derived from a famous portrait of him painted by Gilbert Stuart, itself one of the most notable works of early American art. Thus they were entrusted with remembering the area's stock of epic poetry, to remember past events, in the times before literacy came to the area.

Perhaps the most pervasive commemoration of his legacy is the use of his image on the one dollar bill and the quarter-dollar coin. As these men were not sent to war because their loyalty on the battlefield was suspect, they would not get killed in battles. Men considered as the Father of His Country in other nations are also given the nickname "the George Washington of his nation". There is a theory that his name was back-extracted from the name of a society of poets called the Homeridae, which literally means "sons of hostages", i.e., descendants of prisoners of war. He was also lauded posthumously as the "Father of His Country" and is often considered to be the most important of the United States' "Founding Fathers." Therefore, he has been commemorated frequently. In Greek his name is Homēros, which is Greek for "hostage". Washington set many other precedents that established tranquility in the presidential office in the years to come and is generally regarded by historians as one of the greatest presidents. So little is known or even guessed of his actual life, that a common joke has it that the poems "were not written by Homer, but by another man of the same name," and the classical scholar Richmond Lattimore, author of well regarded poetic translations to English of both epics, once wrote a paper entitled "Homer: Who Was She?" Samuel Butler was more specific, theorizing a young Sicilian woman as author of the Odyssey (but not the Iliad), an idea further speculated on by Robert Graves in his novel Homer's Daughter.

Only one president since Washington has exceeded this tenure (Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected four times), and the Constitution was subsequently amended by the Twenty-second Amendment to set an express two-term limit upon future presidents. Other scholars, however, maintain their belief in the reality of an actual Homer. Washington peacefully relinquished the presidency to John Adams after serving two terms in office. Many classicists hold that this reform must have involved the production of a canonical written text. May the Children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid." This letter was seen by the Jewish community as highly significant; for the first time in millennia, Jews would enjoy full human and political rights. An important role in this standardization appears to have been played by the Athenian tyrant Hipparchus, who reformed the recitation of Homeric poetry at the Panathenaic festival. In 1790 he wrote to Jewish leaders that he envisioned a country "which gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance... It is generally agreed among scholars that the Iliad and Odyssey underwent a process of standardization and refinement out of older material beginning in the 8th century BC.

In 1775 he ordered that his troops not burn the pope in effigy on Guy Fawkes Night. . Washington was an early supporter of religious pluralism. It has repeatedly been questioned whether the same poet was responsible for both the Iliad and the Odyssey; the Batrachomyomachia, Homeric hymns and cyclic poems are generally agreed to be later than these two epic poems. His funeral services were those of the Freemasons at the request of his wife, Martha. There is considerable scholarly debate about whether or not Homer was actually a real person, or the name given to one or more oral poets who sang traditional epic material. He did not ask for any clergy on his deathbed, though one was available. Tradition held that Homer was blind, and various Ionian cities are claimed to be his birthplace, but otherwise his biography is a blank slate.

Various prayers said to have been composed by him in his later life are highly edited. A few ancient authors credited him with the entire Epic Cycle, which included further poems on the Trojan War as well as the Theban poems about Oedipus and his sons. Long after Washington died, asked about Washington's beliefs, Abercrombie replied: "Sir, Washington was a Deist"; however, his adopted daughter, Eleanor Parke Custis Lewis, and several others have said that he was, indeed, a Christian. Homer (Greek Ὅμηρος Hómēros) was a legendary early Greek poet and rhapsode traditionally credited with authorship of the major Greek epics Iliad and Odyssey, the comic mini-epic Batrachomyomachia ("The Frog-Mouse War"), the corpus of Homeric Hymns, and various other lost or fragmentary works such as Margites. Peter's Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, mentioned in a weekly sermon that those in elevated stations set an unhappy example by leaving at communion, Washington ceased attending at all on communion Sundays. James Abercrombie, rector of St.

Dr. When Rev. He sometimes accompanied his wife to Christian church services; however there is no record of his ever becoming a communicant in any Christian church, and he would regularly leave services before communion—with the other non-communicants. He spoke often of the value of prayer, righteousness, and seeking and offering thanks for the "blessings of Heaven".

Before the Revolution, when the Episcopal Church was still the state religion in Virginia, he served as a vestryman (lay officer) for his local church. There is considerable evidence that he (like a number of Founding Fathers of the United States) was a Deist—believing in God but not believing in revelation or miracles. Washington's religious views are a matter of some controversy. As cited in Henry Weincek's Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America, one of his slaves, Ona Judge Staines, escaped the Executive Mansion in Philadelphia in 1796 and lived the rest of her life free in New Hampshire.

His widow Martha freed those she owned shortly before she died. Unlike all the other slaveholding Founding Fathers, Washington included provisions in his will which freed his slaves upon his death. He did not advocate the abolition of slavery while in office, but did sign legislation enforcing the prohibition of slavery in the Northwest Territory, writing to his good friend the Marquis de la Fayette that he considered it a wise measure. As President, Washington was mindful of the risk of splitting apart the young republic over the question of slavery (as in fact happened in 1861).

to possess another slave by purchase; it being among my first wishes to see some plan adopted, by which slavery in this country may be abolished by slow, sure, and imperceptible degrees." Ten years later, he wrote to Robert Morris, "There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see some plan adopted for the gradual abolition [of slavery].". Long before the Revolution, Washington had taken the unusual position of refusing to sell any of his slaves or to allow slave families to be separated." After the Revolution, Washington told an English friend, "I clearly foresee that nothing but the rooting out of slavery can perpetuate the existence of our [Federal] union by consolidating it on a common bond of principle." He wrote to his friend John Francis Mercer in 1786, "I never mean.. He was noteworthy, however, for the humane treatment of his slaves and for his growing unease with the "peculiar institution." Historian Roger Bruns has written, "As he grew older, he became increasingly aware that it was immoral and unjust. Washington owned slaves throughout his adult life, as did most of his peers in the Virginia plantation aristocracy.

Now we shall see who enjoys it the most!" Washington also declined to leave the room before Adams and the new Vice President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, establishing the principle that even a former president is only, after all, a private citizen. At John Adams's inauguration, Washington is said to have approached Adams afterwards and stated "Well, I am fairly out and you are fairly in. Roosevelt. However, he refused to serve a third term, setting a precedent that held until the Presidency of Franklin D.

Washington had to be talked into a second term of office as President, and very reluctantly agreed to it. Thomas Jefferson wrote, "The moderation and virtue of a single character probably prevented this Revolution from being closed, as most others have been, by a subversion of that liberty it was intended to establish.". He had no interest in nepotism or cronyism, rejecting, for example, a military promotion during the war for his deserving cousin William Washington lest it be regarded as favoritism. He was conscientious of maintaining a good reputation by avoiding political intrigue.

It is often said that one of Washington's greatest achievements was refraining from taking more power than was due. In reality, no one else could have ensured the southern colonies would assist the northern ones unless Washington was part of the equation and aside from a few other, less endearing leaders, Washington was, overall, the only choice that would achieve this. Congress actually made him the commander of the continental army before they authorized an army for him to command. He ensured that during the Continental Congress he arrived and was always present wearing his old colonial uniform so as to make it clear to all that he was deeply interested in commanding the continental troops.

However, it should be reminded that Washington was always an ambitious man. In later accepting the post, Washington told the Congress that he was unworthy of the honor. When John Adams recommended him to the Continental Congress for the position of general and commander in chief of the Continental Army, Washington left the room to allow any dissenters to freely voice their objections. He never accepted pay during his military service, and was genuinely reluctant to assume any of the offices thrust upon him.

Washington was notable for his modesty and carefully controlled ambition. .began to seperate (sic) the Male from the Female Hemp at Do—rather too late.". Washington's own diary recounts, on several occasions, his efforts to better cultivate and enhance his crops of marijuana, which he used both for hemp (fiber) production and for medicine: May 12–13, 1765: "Sowed Hemp at Muddy hole by Swamp." August 7, 1765: ". Washington routinely smoked marijuana to alleviate the pain from his ailing teeth.

In his later years he consulted a number of dentists and used a number of sets of false teeth (but none of wood). Washington was plagued throughout his adult life with bad teeth, losing about one tooth a year from the age of 24. The museum at Fraunces Tavern Museum in New York City includes specimens of Washington's false teeth. Because of Washington's involvement in Freemasonry, some publicly visible collections of Washington memorabilia are maintained by Masonic lodges, most notably the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia.

He was courageous and farsighted, holding the Continental Army together through eight hard years of war and numerous privations, sometimes by sheer force of will. Nevertheless, Washington was a man of great personal integrity, with a deeply held sense of duty, honor and patriotism. (See also George Washington's axe for an elaboration of this story.) Parson Weems also fabricated a famous story about Washington praying for help in a lonely spot in the woods near Valley Forge. It was I who chopped down the cherry tree." The story first appeared after Washington's death in a naïve "inspirational" children's book by Parson Mason Weems, who had been rector of the Mount Vernon parish.

In the story, he wanted to try out a new axe, so he chopped down his father's cherry tree; when questioned by his father, he gave the famous non-quotation: "I cannot tell a lie. Admirers of Washington circulated an apocryphal story about his honesty as a child. [1]. This issue was resolved in 1976 when Washington was, by Act of Congress, posthumously promoted to the rank of General of the Armies, outranking any past, present, and future general, and declared to permanently be the top-ranked military officer of the United States.

Pershing had attained an even higher rank of General of the Armies (above five star—though the most stars Pershing actually ever wore were four). General John J. Grant), and also all five-star generals of the Army, were considered to outrank Washington. history (starting with General Ulysses S.

Even though he had been the highest-ranking officer of the Revolutionary War, having in 1798 been appointed a Lieutenant General (now three stars), it seemed, somewhat incongruously, that all later full (that is, four star) generals in U.S. With the exception of Dwight Eisenhower, who held a lifetime commission as General of the Army (five star), George Washington is the only President with military service to reenter the military after leaving the office of President. Congressman Henry Light Horse Harry Lee, a Revolutionary War comrade, famously eulogized Washington as "a citizen, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen.". Washington's remains were buried in a family graveyard at Mount Vernon.

James Craik, one of Washington's closest friends, who had been with Washington at Fort Necessity, the Braddock expedition, and throughout the Revolutionary War. One of the physicians who administered bloodletting to him was Dr. Modern doctors believe that Washington died from either a streptococcal infection of the throat or, since he was bled as part of the treatment, a combination of shock from the loss of blood, asphyxia, and dehydration. Within a year of this 1798 appointment, Washington fell ill from a bad cold with a fever and a sore throat that turned into acute laryngitis and pneumonia and died on December 14, 1799, at his home.

Army rolls listed him as a retired Lieutenant General, which was then considered the equivalent to his rank as General and Commander in Chief during the Revolutionary War. Washington never saw active service, however, and upon his death one year later the U.S. Washington's appointment was to serve as a warning to France, with which war seemed imminent. In 1798, Washington was appointed Lieutenant General in the United States Army (then the highest possible rank) by President John Adams.

After retiring from the presidency in March 1797, Washington returned to Mount Vernon with a profound sense of relief. Washington appointed the following Justices to the Supreme Court of the United States:. As the first President, Washington appointed the entire Supreme Court, a feat almost repeated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt during his four terms in office (1933–45).
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Main article: Washington Administration. Washington, whose wealth by some estimates exceeded $500 million in current dollars, refused to accept his salary. Congress voted to pay Washington a salary of $25,000 a year—a significant sum in 1789. The First U.S.

In 1788–9, George Washington was elected the first President of the United States. In fact, he had to borrow £600 to relocate to New York, then the center of the American government, to take office as president. Like many Virginia planters at the time, he was frequently in debt and never had much cash on hand. Washington farmed roughly 8,000 acres (32 km²).

After the Convention, his support convinced many, including the Virginia legislature, to support the Constitution. Many believe that the Framers created the Presidency with Washington in mind. He adamantly enforced the secrecy adopted by the Convention during the summer. For the most part he did not participate in the debates involved, but his prestige was great enough to maintain collegiality and to keep the delegates at their labors.

Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787. At the time of Washington's departure from military service, he was listed on the rolls of the Continental Army as "General and Commander in Chief." (See Retirement, death, and honors section below for more on this topic.). Indeed, there was even some support among his most devoted followers for making Washington a permanent ruler or king, but Washington, like most of the Founding Fathers of the United States, abhorred the very idea. Washington's stature was such that had he wanted to seize and retain power—like Julius Caesar before him or Napoleon after him—he probably would have been able to do so.

This action was of great significance for the young nation, establishing the precedent that civilian elected officials, rather than military officers, possessed ultimate authority. On December 23, 1783, General George Washington resigned his commission as Commander in Chief of the Army to the Congress, which was then meeting at the Maryland State House in Annapolis. Then, at Fraunces Tavern in New York on December 4, he formally bid his officers farewell. As a result, on November 2 of that year at Rocky Hill, New Jersey, General Washington gave his farewell address to the army.

Later in 1783, by means of the Treaty of Paris, the Kingdom of Great Britain recognized American independence. He was able to defuse this plot. In March 1783, Washington learned about a conspiracy that was being planned by some of his officers who were upset about back pay in the Continental Army's winter camp at Newburgh, New York. The British surrender there was the effective end of British attempts to quell the Revolution.

Washington quick-marched south, joining the armies on September 14, and pressed the siege until the army surrendered. In 1781, American and French forces and a French fleet had trapped General Cornwallis at Yorktown in Virginia. At least forty Iroquois villages were destroyed in the massive expedition, and this (according to some sources) led the Iroquois to nickname Washington "Town Destroyer.". In 1779, Washington ordered a fifth of the army to carry out the Sullivan Expedition, an offensive against four of the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy which had allied with the British and attacked Patriot communities along the frontier.

His ability to delay British advances earned him the nickname "American Fabius.". After Monmouth, the British concentrated their offensives in the southern colonies, and rather than attack them there, Washington's forces moved to Rhode Island, where he commanded military operations until the war's end. Against tremendous odds, Washington sustained his army throughout the Revolution, keeping British forces tied down in the center of the country while Generals Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold won the Battle of Saratoga in 1777. Later, it attacked the British army moving from Philadelphia to New York at the Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778.

However, Washington's army recovered from the defeats and harsh winter conditions and drilled during the spring under the German Baron Friedrich von Steuben, steadily improving its fighting capabilities. While at Valley Forge, Washington insisted on vaccinations to protect the soldiers from smallpox and it is believed that this helped to stem the rate of disease over the harsh winter. An attempt to dislodge the British, the Battle of Germantown, failed as a result of fog and confusion, and Washington was forced to retire for the winter to Valley Forge. He severely defeated Washington's forces at the Battle of Brandywine on September 11 and succeeded in his task.

Later in the year, General Howe led an offensive aimed at taking the colonial capital of Philadelphia. The successful attacks built morale among the pro-independence colonists. Washington followed up the assault with a surprise attack on General Charles Cornwallis's forces at Princeton on the eve of January 2, 1777, eventually retaking the colony. On the night of December 25, 1776, Washington led the American forces across the Delaware River to attack Hessian forces in Trenton, New Jersey, who did not anticipate an attack near Christmas.

However, several other battles in the area sent Washington scrambling across New Jersey, leaving the future of the Revolution in doubt. Washington lost the Battle of Long Island on August 22 but managed to save most of his forces. The British army, led by General William Howe, retreated to Halifax, Canada, and Washington's army moved to New York City in anticipation of a British offensive there. Washington successfully drove the British forces out of Boston on March 17, 1776, by stationing artillery on Dorchester Heights.

great talents and universal character." He assumed command on July 3. The Massachusetts delegate John Adams suggested his appointment, citing his "skill as an officer.. The Continental Congress appointed Washington as commander in chief of the newly formed Continental Army on June 15, 1775. Although the American Revolution had not yet devolved into open warfare, tensions between the colonies and Great Britain continued to rise, and Washington attended the Second Continental Congress (1775) in military uniform—the only delegate to do so.

In that year, he was chosen as a delegate from Virginia to the First Continental Congress. By 1774, Washington had become one of the colonies' wealthiest men. He became a member of the House of Burgesses. The newlywed couple moved to Mount Vernon where he took up the life of a genteel farmer and slave owner.

Washington adopted the two children, but never fathered any of his own. The promotion did not come, and so in 1759 Washington resigned his commission and married Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy widow with two children. Washington's goal at the outset of his military career had been to secure a commission as a British officer—which in the British colonies was a big step-up from being a mere colonial officer. In 1758, he accompanied the Forbes Expedition, which successfully drove the French away from Fort Duquesne.

In Virginia, Washington was acclaimed as a hero, and he commanded the First Virginia Regiment for several more years, although the focus of the war had shifted elsewhere. Washington distinguished himself in the debacle—he had two horses shot out from under him, and four bullets pierced his coat— yet he sustained no injuries and showed coolness under fire in organizing the retreat. The expedition ended in disaster at the Battle of the Monongahela. In 1755, Washington accompanied the Braddock Expedition, a major effort by the British Army to retake the Ohio Country.

Washington was released by the French with the promise not to return to the Ohio Country for one year. (The document was written in French, which Washington could not read.) The "Jumonville affair" became an international incident and helped to ignite the French and Indian War, known outside the United States as the Seven Years' War. The surrender terms that Washington signed included an admission that he had "assassinated" Jumonville. Washington then built Fort Necessity, which soon proved inadequate, as he was compelled to surrender to a larger French and American Indian force.

He ambushed a French Canadian scouting party, killing ten, including its leader, Ensign Jumonville. In 1754, Washington, now commissioned a lieutenant colonel in the First Virginia Regiment, led a mission into the Ohio Country. The French declined to leave, and Dinwiddie moved to counter the French advance. In 1753, Washington volunteered to deliver an ultimatum to the French from Robert Dinwiddie, the governor of Virginia.

In 1752, France began the military occupation of the Ohio Country, a region that was also claimed by Virginia. At twenty-two years of age, George Washington fired some of the first shots of what would become a world war. On Lawrence's death in July 1752, he rented and eventually inherited the estate, Mount Vernon in Fairfax County, Virginia (near Alexandria). He was initiated as a Freemason in Fredericksburg on February 4, 1752.

He visited Barbados with his sick half brother Lawrence in 1751, and survived an attack of smallpox, although his face was scarred by the disease. As a youth, he trained as a surveyor (obtaining his certificate from the College of William and Mary) and helped survey the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia. He spent much of his boyhood at Ferry Farm in Stafford County, near Fredericksburg and visited his Washington cousins at Chotank in King George County. His parents Augustine Washington (1693–April 12, 1743) and Mary Ball (1708–August 25, 1789) were of English descent.

Washington was part of the economic and cultural elite of the slave-owning planters of Virginia. His birthplace was Pope's Creek Plantation, south of Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia. At the time of his birth, the English year began March 25 (Annunciation Day, or Lady Day), hence the difference in his birth year. According to the Julian calendar, Washington was born on February 11, 1731; according to the Gregorian calendar, which was adopted during Washington's life and is used today, he was born on February 22, 1732 (Washington's Birthday is celebrated on the Gregorian date).

. Because of his central role in the founding of the United States and enduring legacy, Washington is sometimes called the "Father of his Country.". After his term was up, Washington retired to Mount Vernon for the remainder of his life, again voluntarily relinquishing power even as some wanted him to retain that power for life. The two-term Washington Administration was marked by the establishment of key American institutions that continue to operate.

Constitution was adopted. Washington, a hugely popular and generally nonpartisan figure, was elected as the first President of the United States (1789–97) after the U.S. After the war, he served as president of the 1787 Constitutional Convention. Washington was appointed Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War (1775–83), leading the Americans to victory over the British.

He was elected to the House of Burgesses and became a revolutionary leader at the outset of the American Revolution, attending both the first and second Continental Congresses. Afterwards, he resigned his post to marry Martha Dandridge Custis, a wealthy widow with two children. Washington first gained prominence as an officer during the French and Indian War, a war which he inadvertently helped to start. Born of English descent into a moderately wealthy family in the Province of Virginia, Washington worked as a surveyor before inheriting his parents' plantation, Mount Vernon.

George Washington (February 22, 1732–December 14, 1799) was an American planter, political figure, and military leader. This identifies Washington as "Landes Vater" or Father of the Land. ↨The earliest known image in which Washington is identified as such is on the cover of the circa 1778 Pennsylvania German almanac (Lancaster: Gedruckt bey Francis Bailey). Newburgh conspiracy.

Presidential religious affiliations. List of U.S. George Washington's farewell address. Famous military commanders.

presidential election, 1792. U.S. presidential election, 1789. U.S.

George Washington's presidency. ISBN 0374175268. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003. An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves, and the Creation of America.

Wiencek, Henry. ISBN 1400060818. General George Washington: A Military Life. New York: Random House, 2005. Lengel, Edward G.

ISBN 0-9768238-1-0. 2005. The Ways of Providence: Religion and George Washington. Buena Vista and Charlottesville, VA: Mariner Publishing. Grizzard, Frank E., Jr.

ISBN 0-9768238-0-2. 2005. George! A Guide to All Things Washington. Buena Vista and Charlottesville, VA: Mariner Publishing. Grizzard, Frank E., Jr.

Single-volume condensation of Flexner's four-volume biography. ISBN 0316286168 (1994 reissue). Washington: The Indispensable Man. Boston: Little, Brown, 1974. Flexner, James Thomas.

ISBN 1400040310. New York: Knopf, 2004. His Excellency: George Washington. Ellis, Joseph J.

A lighthearted chronicle of his dental struggles, aimed at children and adults. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2003; ISBN 0374325340. George Washington's Teeth. Illustrated by Brock Cole. Comora, Madeleine & Deborah Chandra.

Washington was a cricket enthusiast and was known to have played the sport, which was popular at that time in the British colonies. A number of younger men were essentially surrogate sons to the childless Washington, including Alexander Hamilton, Lafayette, and Nathanael Greene. He did not. A popular belief is that Washington wore a wig, as was the fashion among some at the time.

13 March 1978: Promoted by Army Order 31-3 to General of the Armies with effective date of rank July 4, 1776. military officer for all time by Presidential Order of Gerald Ford. 11 October 1976: Declared the senior most U.S. 19 January 1976: Approved by the United States Congress for promotion to General of the Armies.

Army rolls. 1799: Dies and is listed as a Retired Lieutenant General on the U.S. July 1798: Appointed Lieutenant General and Commander of the Provisional Army to be raised in the event of a war with France. December 1783: Resigns commission as Commander in Chief of the Army.

1775–81: Commands the Continental Army in over seven major battles with the British. June 1775: Commissioned General and Commander in Chief of the Continental Army. 1758–75: Retired from active military service. Commissioned a Brigadier General later that year.

1755: Promoted to Colonel and named Commander of all Virginia Forces. 1754: Led abortive expedition to Fort Duquesne, later served as aide to General Edward Braddock. 1753: Commissioned Lieutenant Colonel of the Virginia Militia. Tennessee (1796).

Kentucky (1792). Vermont (1791). Rhode Island (1790). North Carolina (1789).

Signed Naval Act of 1794. Signed Fugitive Slave Act of 1793. Signed Coinage Act of 1792. Signed Bank Act of 1791.

Signed Residence Act of 1790. Signed Indian Intercourse Acts, starting in 1790. Signed Judiciary Act of 1789. Oliver Ellsworth - Chief Justice - 1796.

Samuel Chase - 1796. John Rutledge - Chief Justice, 1795 (an associate justice since 1790). William Paterson - 1793. Thomas Johnson - 1792.

James Iredell - 1790. John Blair - 1790. William Cushing - 1790. John Rutledge - 1790.

James Wilson - 1789. John Jay - Chief Justice - 1789.