George Washington (1732-1799) was the first president of the United States. He was also Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was born into a wealthy tobacco planter family in Virginia, and his family owned slaves. He fought in the colonial militia during the French and Indian Wars. In 1759, he married the wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis, and became one of the wealthiest men in Virginia. Because of his family, wealth, and military service, Washington owned huge tracts of land, and many slaves to work it. He lived an aristocratic lifestyle--hunting foxes, going to dances and parties, the theater, races, and cockfights. During the Armerican Revolution, he led the Continental Army to victory against the British, and he was unanimously elected president in 1789 by a group of other wealthy, white landowners. He was not affiliated with any political party.
