历届美国总统简介:乔治·华盛顿(在线收听) |
乔治·华盛顿(George Washington,1732年2月22日—1799年12月14日)[1-2] ,美国杰出的资产阶级政治家、军事家、革命家,美国开国元勋、首任总统。
1775年至1783年美国独立战争时任大陆军(Continental Army)的总司令,1787年主持了制宪会议。会议制定了现在实施的美国宪法。1789年,他经过全体选举团无异议的支持而成为美国第一任总统(其同时也成为全世界第一位以“总统”为称号的国家元首,首任总统),在接连两次选举中都获得了全体选举团无异议支持,一直担任总统直到1797年。他在两届的任期中设立了许多持续到今天的政策和传统。在两届任期结束后,他自愿放弃权力不再谋求续任。
华盛顿由于扮演了美国独立战争和建国中最重要的角色,故被尊称为“美国国父”,又称“合众国之父”。学者们则将他和亚伯拉罕·林肯、富兰克林·罗斯福、伍德罗·威尔逊并列为美国历史上最伟大的总统。乔治·华盛顿被美国的权威期刊《大西洋月刊》评为影响美国的100位人物第2名。
George Washington was the first President of the USA and is consistently voted as one its top five leaders. He was born in 1732 in Virginia. His family were well off and owned a plantation. Growing up, he learned the morals, manners, and knowledge necessary for an 18th-century Virginia gentleman. He was greatly interested in two things while he grew up: military arts and western expansion.
In 1754, at the age of 22, he became a lieutenant colonel in the Army. He fought in the first skirmishes of what grew into the French and Indian War. The following year he escaped injury in battle although four bullets ripped his coat and two horses were shot from under him. His military experience taught him valuable lessons in leadership he would use later in his political life.
From 1759 to the outbreak of the American Revolution, Washington managed his lands. He married Martha Dandridge Custis and devoted himself to farming life. However, he felt exploited by British merchants and British regulations. In 1775, he took command of his ill-trained troops and embarked upon a war that was to last six grueling years. He forced the surrender of the British at Yorktown in 1781.
Washington entered politics and became a prime mover in the steps leading to creating the Constitution in 1787. After the new Constitution was ratified, the Electoral College unanimously elected him as the USA’s first President. Washington avoided further wars and promoted the importance of federal power. He died in 1799 and was hailed as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen".
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