Answer
Virginia's Rise
According to Investor's Business Daily, Washington (1732-99) was born to wealthy tobacco planters near present-day Colonial Beach, Va., but his father died when he was 11.
Receiving the equivalent of an elementary school education, he was a big reader the rest of his life.
At 17, he was appointed to a well-paid position as county surveyor that let him buy 1,500 acres over the next two years.
In 1752, Washington rose to major in the Virginia militia. As relations between France and Britain heated up, the governor sent him on a dangerous mission to the Ohio Valley to tell French troops to leave, but they refused.
Two years later, Washington led Colonial troops at the start of the French and Indian War.
By 1755, Lt. Col. Washington was an aide to British Gen. Edward Braddock during a 1,300-man expedition to the Ohio.
They were ambushed and 465 were killed, including Braddock. Washington displayed bravery leading the retreat, as two horses were shot from under him and musket balls pierced his clothing. The governor made him a colonel and chief of the Virginia Regiment.
"Unique among the founders of the U.S., Washington's primary education came from living life in its rawest form, deep in the woods, often with death a nearby companion," wrote Alonzo McDonald in "Character Counts," edited by Os Guinness. "The endless physical hardships he endured tested him in every way, and he survived by indomitable willpower, hardened to ridicule, failure and paucity of resources."
Washington retired to Virginia's Mount Vernon in 1758 at the end of the war and married a widow, Martha Custis, in 1759. Their land made them wealthy, though they were cash poor, and Washington diversified their crops and investments to pay debts.
The expense of the war caused London's Parliament to tax the Colonies, starting with the Stamp Act in 1765. Protests led to the shots heard around the world at Lexington and Concord in April 1775.
The next month, Washington was a delegate to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia and accepted command of the Continental Army.
He forced the British out of Boston in March 1776. But in August, 20,000 redcoats landed on Long Island, N.Y., and crushed the 9,000 Colonials.
Washington's 2,400 men embarked as the darkness, sleet, snow and river ice made the crossing dire. Still, they surprised the enemy, killing or wounding 116 and capturing 950; the rest fled.
On Jan. 2, 1777, after convincing some of his men to re-enlist and recruiting from the countryside, he returned with 1,400 against 1,000 British regulars at Princeton, inflicting 100 casualties and taking 200 prisoners. "By a series of daring maneuvers, Washington's twin victories restored the confidence of the Army and saved the Revolution," said Aldrete.
Here Came The French
In October 1777 came a significant American victory, with Gen. Horatio Gates beating the redcoats at Saratoga, N.Y.
The victory convinced France to become America's ally.
Then came the winter at Valley Forge, Pa., where 2,500 of Washington's men died from cold, disease and malnutrition.
On New Year's Day, 1781, 1,500 Pennsylvania veterans near the end of their enlistments marched toward Congress in Philadelphia.
The End Was Nigh
In the spring of 1781, British Gen. Charles Cornwallis headed for Yorktown on the Virginia coast to get more men and supplies from the British navy.
In September that year, Washington marched south with 9,000 Americans and 7,800 French to corner the 8,000 redcoats.
With French ships driving off the royal navy, Washington oversaw an artillery bombardment of the British field fort. It led to Cornwallis surrendering and the British sailing home in mid-October.
Washington retired to Mount Vernon after war's end. But the Articles of Confederation, which set up a weak government, made paying the veterans impossible.
After the ratification of the U.S. Constitution brought a more powerful central government, Washington served as president from 1789 to 1797, sometimes threatening military action to quash anti-tax rebellions.
"Fearing anarchy, disunion and an end to American freedom if he failed to act decisively, he transformed the presidency from being a relatively impotent figurehead position to one with immense powers," said Unger.
Two years after stepping down, Washington died at 67.
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