George Washington: A Complex Legacy

George Washington stands at the very beginning of the United States. He was not just

the nation’s first president, but a soldier, a landowner, a reluctant leader,

and a symbol of unity at a time when the idea of America itself was uncertain.

His life stretched across the birth of the country, from colonial rule to independence,

and his decisions shaped the nation in ways that still matter today. George Washington

was born on February twenty-second, seventeen thirty-two, in Westmoreland County,

Virginia. His family were wealthy landowners, but not aristocrats by European standards.

His father, Augustine Washington, was a planter and businessman who owned several farms