George Washington was the first president of the United States. He was born in 1732 in Virginia and raised as a plantation owner. Washington fought in the French and Indian War and later led the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War. He was then elected unanimously as the first president in 1789. Washington was crucial in the development of the US Constitution and believed strongly in limited government. He refused to take sides during the French Revolution and established precedents as the first US president. Washington died in 1799 and was mourned across the new nation.