George Washington took the oath of office to become the first President of the United States of America on April 30, 1789. Yet his influence on the history and development of the United States and on its office of President started some 35 years earlier, when, as a young man, he led a small force of militia men into a battle later called a massacre. Had one only this beginning to go on, one would likely not expect to find that the rash military leader who broke the rules of war to kill a few French military scouts would become both the storied, inspiring general who led the Continental Army to win the American Revolutionary War, and the thoughtful, fair-minded political leader who would set careful precedents that have allowed the United States Presidency to become one of the most powerful political positions in the world today. As both the popular general whose successes won the Revolutionary War, and as the careful politician who made his first job the development of the Presidency, George Washington played essential roles in American history that earned him the position of national hero in his own day, and nation symbol in modern America.
In 1754, a young Lieutenant Colonel George Washington led his first notable military action when he ordered the militia men under his command to fire upon a French scouting party near Fort Duquesne. His actions would cause uproar because he failed to follow standard protocol of the time, which demanded that a warning be given before attacking an enemy. His militiamen easily killed a third of the French scouts, including the commander, de Jumonville, and they took the rest prisoner. The Native Americans who had assisted Washington's militia scalped the French dead and, by some reports, the dying as well. Washington's report tried to put the battle in a better light, but most accounts suggest the attack was a massacre. A few weeks later, Washington and his men were trapped at Fort Necessity by a force led by de Jumonville's brother (Pederson, The French and Indian War, 30-31). Exacting his revenge, the French commander allowed Washington and his men to withdraw, but as a condition of the release, George Washington signed a document in which he admitted to murdering the commander of the French scouting party (McDougall, Freedom Just Around the Corner, 180-181). Though Washington later claimed to have been tricked into signing the document without realizing it branded him a murder, the result of the two encounters in which George Washington figured so prominently was the initiation of the French and Indian War.
Washington's interest in the military continued despite his actions in starting the war. When Great Britain sent General Braddock to the colonies to lead the defense against the French and their Native American allies, George Washington became Braddock's assistant. He warned Braddock that the British soldiers could not expect to fight in the European style, standing in clean, gentlemanly lines. But Braddock didn't take his advice, and in July 1955, Braddock's company was ambushed by the French and their Native American allies. Braddock and more than a thousand soldiers died. Washington survived but his romantic view of war was irrevocably changed (Uschan, America's Founders, 34-35). He soon left his position with the British force and returned to manage the Mount Vernon plantation, though he continued to lead a thousand-man-strong Virginia army.
Over the next two decades, George Washington's support for Great Britain waned and be became a supporter of independence for the American colonies. His support for Independence led to his involvement in the First Continental Congress, to which he was a delegate in 1774. Washington was elected Commander of the Continental army after the Second Continental Congress in 1775. His election to the position was a perfect fit, and he was instrumental in leading the army to many victories despite it being poorly provisioned, lacking supplies including ammunition at times, underfunded, and composed of many men who were poorly clothed. He was viewed as a charismatic leader and said to have extraordinary stamina, both of which were inspirational to the men under his command. Washington's superior military tactics and strong leadership drove the army to defeat the British in many key battles despite its poor condition.
In December 1776 and January 1777, Washington led the Continental Army to brilliant victories in Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey that boosted the morale of the underpaid, under-clothed, and underfed army so well that it was able to recruit thousands of new soldiers in the spring (Uschan, America's Founders, 37-41). Although 1777 was a tough year and...
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