乔治华盛顿

GeorgeWashington

OnApril30,1789,GeorgeWashington,

standingonthebalconyofFederalHallon

WallStreetinNewYork,tookhisoathof

officeasthefirstPresidentofthe

UnitedStates."Asthefirstofevery

thing,inoursituationwillrveto

establishaPrecedent,"hewrotetoJames

Madison,"itisdevoutly（虔诚地）

wishedonmypart,thattheprecedents

maybefixedontrueprinciples."

Bornin1732intoaVirginiaplanter

family,helearnedthemorals,manners,and

bodyofknowledgerequisite（必备的）for

an18thcenturyVirginiagentleman.

Hepursuedtwointertwined（互相交织

的）interests:militaryartsandwestern

16hehelpedsurveyShenan

doah（谢南多尼河，弗吉尼亚州河流）

landsfor

Thomas,sioned（受任

命的）lieutenantcolonel（陆军中校）

in1754,hefoughtthefirstskirmishes

（小规模战斗）ofwhatgrewintothe

FrenchandIndianWar.（法国印第安人战

争（1754-1760），在北美大陆进行的法

英战争，以法国失败而告终，英国获得

法属北美殖民地）Thenextyear,asan

aide（助手，畐U官）

Braddock,he

escapedinjuryalthoughfourbullets

rippedhiscoatandtwohorswereshot

fromunderhim.

From1759totheoutbreakoftheAmerican

Revolution,Washingtonmanagedhislands

aroundMountVernon（芒特弗农，地名）

andrvedintheVirginiaHouof

Burgess.

（下议院，殖民地时期弗吉尼亚及马

里兰州的民选政府）Marriedtoawidow,

MarthaDandridgeCustis,hedevotedhimlf

ehis

fellowplanters,Washingtonfelthimlf

exploited（剥削）byBritishmerchants

andhampered（受阻碍

的）

quarrelwiththemothercountry

grewacute,hemoderatelybutfirmlyvoiced

hisresistancetotherestrictions.

WhentheSecondContinentalCongress（大

陆会议）asmbledinPhiladelphiain

May仃75,Washington,oneoftheVirginia

delegates,walectedCommanderinChief

3,1775,

atCambridge,Massachutts,hetook

commandofhisill-trainedtroopsand

embarkedupon（着手，开始）awarthat

wastolastsixgrueling（累垮人

的，折磨人的）years.

Herealizedearlythatthebeststrategy

wastoharass（反复袭击）theBritish.

HereportedtoCongress,

"weshouldonallOccasionsavoidageneral

Action,orputanythingtotheRisque（伤

风败俗的，指英国人）,unlesscomp

elledbyanecessity,intowhichweought

nevertobedrawn."Ensuing（接着发生

的）battlessawhimfallback（后退）

slowly,thenstrikeunexpectedly.

Finallyin1781withtheaidofFrench

allies--heforcedthesurrenderof

Cornwallis（将军名）at

Yorktown.（约克城，地名）

Washingtonlongedtoretiretohisfields

oonrealizedthat

theNationunderits

州邦

联宪法，美国第一部宪法）wasnot

functioningwell,sohebecamea

ArticlesofConfederation

primemover（发起者）inthesteps

leadingtotheConstitutionalConvention

（1787年美国制宪会议）atPhiladel

enewConstitution

wasratified（批准）,theElectoral

College（选举团）unanimously（全体一

致地）electedWashingtonPresident.

Hedidnotinfringeupon（侵犯，侵害）

thepolicymakingpowersthathefeltthe

determinationofforeignpolicybecame

preponderantly（占优势的，多数的）a

eFrench

Revolutionledtoamajorwarbetween

FranceandEngland,Washingtonrefudto

acceptentirelytherecommendationsof

eitherhis

SecretaryofState（国务卿）Thomas

Jefferson,whowaspro-French（亲法

的），orhisSecretaryofthe

Treasury（财政部长）AlexanderHamilton,

,heinsisted

uponaneutralcouruntiltheUnited

Statescouldgrowstronger.

Tohisdisappointment,twopartieswere

developingbytheendofhisfirstterm.

Weariedofpolitics,feelingold,he

FarewellAddress,heurgedhiscountrymen

toforswear（发誓抛弃）

partyspirit（贬义，指对

本党派的热

excessive

情）

foreignaffairs,hewarnedagainstlong-

termalliances.

Washingtonenjoyedlessthanthreeyearsof

retirementatMountVernon,forhediedof

athroatinfectionDecember14,

monthstheNationmournedhim.