Washington's Birthday

Today, February 22nd, marks the 275th birthday of George Washington. In honor of his birthday, I thought I would ask a trivia question:

Who was the first President of our country?

If you answered George Washington, well, you would be right but also wrong. Washington was the first President under the Constitution of the United States. But the country actually existed prior to the ratification of the Constitution having been creating on July 4, 1776. America's first Constitution was actually the Articles of Confederation, which also provided for a President but one with very weak powers.

There is some debate over who served as the first President under the Articles of Confederation but according to "The U.S. Constitution and Fascinating Facts About It" published from www.ConstitutionFacts.com, the very, very first President of the United States was John Hanson in 1781. His official title was "President of the United States in Congress Assembled". He served for a one-year term. Eight men served as President under the Confederation (and thus prior to George Washington).

So when we refer to Washington as our first President we are actually talking about our first president under our current form of government defined by the United States Constitution.

First Inaugural Address
Second Inaugural Address
Mount Vernon Estate (including a virtual tour of Washington's home)
Biography
George Washington Papers