Who was George Washington?

He was the commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War (1732 to 1799) and the first president of the United States.

What is Washington famous for?

For leading the American army to victory in the Revolutionary War, especially the crossing of the Delaware and the win at Trenton and the decisive siege of Yorktown, and then becoming the first US president.

Why is the crossing of the Delaware so famous?

On the night of 25 December 1776 Washington led his army across the ice-choked Delaware River and surprised the enemy garrison at Trenton, a victory that revived the American cause when it was near collapse.

Did Washington win every battle?

No. He lost several major battles, including the defense of New York, but he kept his army intact and won the campaigns that mattered most, above all Yorktown.

Why did Washington give up power?

After the war he resigned his commission rather than seize power, and later stepped down after two terms as president, setting a lasting example of a leader surrendering power voluntarily.

How is Washington remembered?

As the father of his country, the general who won American independence and the first president, whose refusal to cling to power shaped the republic.

George Washington: the general who won America

George Washington was the commander who would not lose the war by losing a battle. Leading a ragged Continental Army against the greatest empire of the age, he survived defeat after defeat, struck back at Trenton when all seemed lost, and held on until the Franco-American victory at Yorktown secured American independence. Then, at the height of his power, he gave it up, and became the first president of the United States.

Compare: Washington vs Cornwallis

A soldier of the frontier

Born in Virginia in 1732, Washington learned war on the frontier¹ during the French and Indian War. When the American colonies rose against British rule in 1775, the Continental Congress chose him to command the new army¹, gambling everything on a planter with more determination than victories to his name. Like many Virginia planters of his time, he also enslaved hundreds of people at Mount Vernon.²

Oil portrait of a young Washington in a blue and red colonial officer's uniform — The earliest authenticated portrait of Washington, painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1772, shows him in his colonel's uniform of the Virginia Regiment from the French and Indian War. Public domain

The war for independence

Washington lost New York and was driven across New Jersey in 1776, his army melting away. On the night of 25 December he recrossed the icy Delaware³ and fell on the enemy garrison at Trenton, a stunning strike that revived the cause. Through the hard winter at Valley Forge⁴ and years of maneuver, he kept the army alive, which was itself a form of victory.

Portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart — George Washington, portrait by Gilbert Stuart, 1796. Public domain.

He could not always win a battle, but he would not lose the war.

Yorktown and after

In 1781 Washington, with a French army under Rochambeau and a French fleet¹ that seized control of the sea, trapped a British army at Yorktown and forced its surrender, effectively ending the war. He could have held on to power; instead he resigned his commission and returned home¹, an act that astonished the world.

Painting of the British surrender at Yorktown between lines of French and American officers — John Trumbull's Surrender of Lord Cornwallis, placed in the US Capitol in 1826, shows the British surrender at Yorktown in October 1781, with French officers on the left and Americans on the right. Public domain

The first president

In 1789 Washington was elected the first president of the United States⁵, and set the precedents a republic would live by, including the decision to step down after two terms.⁴ He died in 1799², remembered as the indispensable man of the American founding.

Painting of Washington being sworn in on a balcony above a crowd — Washington takes the oath of office as the first president at Federal Hall in New York in 1789, as imagined by Ramon de Elorriaga in a painting of about 1899. Public domain

See his decisive victory at the Battle of Yorktown, or explore the greatest battles in American history.

Sources and notes

Numbered notes in the text point to the works below.

Miller Center, University of Virginia, “George Washington: Life Before the Presidency (Lindsay M. Chervinsky)” ↩ a b c d
Miller Center, University of Virginia, “George Washington: Life After the Presidency” ↩ a b
David Hackett Fischer, Washington's Crossing (Oxford University Press, 2004). ↩
Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life (Penguin Press, 2010). ↩ a b
Encyclopaedia Britannica, “George Washington” ↩
World History Encyclopedia, “George Washington, Encyclopedia of World History”
Wikipedia, “George Washington, Wikipedia”