what year did george washington become the president?
George Washington 1789 presidential inauguration
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 His strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781 . Historians laud Washington for the selection and supervision of his generals , preservation and command of the army , coordination with the Congress , state governors and their militia , and attention to supplies , logistics , and training . In battle , however , Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies . After victory had been finalized in 1783 , Washington resigned as commander @-@ in @-@ chief rather than seize power , proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism . Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787 , which devised a new form of federal government for the United States . Following his election as president in 1789 , he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation . He supported Alexander Hamilton 's programs to satisfy all debts , federal and state , established a permanent seat of government , implemented an effective tax system , and created a national bank . In avoiding war with Great Britain , he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795 , despite intense opposition from the Jeffersonians . Although he remained nonpartisan , never joining the Federalist Party , he largely supported its policies . Washington 's Farewell Address was an influential primer on civic virtue , warning against partisanship , sectionalism , and involvement in foreign wars . He retired from the presidency in 1797 , returning to his home and plantation at Mount Vernon . 

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 On January 6 , 1759 , Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis , a wealthy Virginia widow . He had already won election to the Virginia House of Burgesses during the summer of 1758 . For the next 16 years he lived the life of a Virginia plantation owner and politician . As tensions rose between the British parliament and the colonies , he gradually adopted positions in opposition to the parliament 's policies . When the American Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775 , Washington arrived at the Second Continental Congress in a military uniform , and was chosen as Commander @-@ in @-@ chief of the Continental Army . After leading American forces to victory , he chaired the Constitutional Convention that drafted the United States Constitution , and was then elected the first President of the United States , serving two terms . He briefly saw additional military service during a threatened war with France in 1798 , and died in December 1799 . He is widely recognized as the " Father of his country " . 

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 Washington gained valuable military skills during the war , acquiring tactical , strategic , and logistical military experience . He also acquired important political skills in his dealings with the British military establishment and the provincial government . His military exploits , although they included some notable failures , made his military reputation in the colonies such that he became a natural selection as the commander in chief of the Continental Army following the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775 . His successes in military and political spheres during that conflict led to his election as the first President of the United States of America . 

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 Widely admired for his strong leadership qualities , Washington was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections . He oversaw the creation of a strong , well @-@ financed national government that maintained neutrality in the French Revolutionary Wars , suppressed the Whiskey Rebellion , and won acceptance among Americans of all types . Washington 's incumbency established many precedents , still in use today , such as the cabinet system , the inaugural address , and the title Mr. President . His retirement from office after two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940 , when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term . The 22nd Amendment ( 1951 ) now limits the president to two elected terms . Born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia , his family were wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves which he inherited . In his youth he became a senior British officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French and Indian War . In 1775 the Second Continental Congress commissioned Washington as commander @-@ in @-@ chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution . In that command , Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776 , but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City . After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter , he defeated the British in two battles ( Trenton and Princeton ) , retook New Jersey and restored momentum to the Patriot cause . 

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 By 1798 relations with France had deteriorated to the point that war seemed imminent , and on July 4 , 1798 , President Adams offered Washington a commission as lieutenant general and Commander @-@ in @-@ chief of the armies raised or to be raised for service in a prospective war . He accepted , and served as the senior officer of the United States Army from July 13 , 1798 until his death seventeen months later . He participated in the planning for a Provisional Army to meet any emergency that might arise , but avoided involvement in details as much as possible ; he delegated most of the work , including leadership of the army , to Hamilton , then serving as a major general in the U.S. Army . 
