George Washington, born February 22, 1732, was indeed a statesman of the highest caliber. As we see in Chapter 12 “Understanding Politics”. Many things are required to achieve statesmanship, including: pursuit of the public good, practical wisdom, political skill, opportunity, and good fortune. All of these and more are present in the life of George Washington. First, Columbus discovered what he thought was India in 1492, which would later be colonized by the first American settlers still under the British flag. While in America, these British colonists fought the Indians (named for Columbus's first thought that he had landed in India) and in 1753, George Washington received a mission from the Army of Virginia to bring a letter to the French (who also wanted to colonize America) This letter would lead to war against the French and Indians. All these events provided an opportunity for Washington. In these battles, the early settlers needed the help of the British armies and fought alongside them. Because of the cost of protection provided by Britain against the French who had settled in the east and parts of Canada, the colonists had been unfairly taxed on all kinds of items. This unfair taxation led to the Boston Massacre of 1770, when British troops sent to help collect taxes killed 5 of the colonists. These and other events led to the creation of the Continental Congress of which Washington was named commander in chief of the government. Continental Army and, in this, demonstrating Washington's political and military skills. Washington knew that signing the Declaration of Independence would mean war with Great Britain, but also that it was a necessary evil because it was the only solution. of paper......of our freedoms. Thus, by 1787, the need for centralized government was all too obvious to Washington. What makes George Washington so fascinating is not only his importance in ratifying the United States Constitution, but also the fact that he served the first two countries. terms under the new US Constitution as president. As the first president under the new Constitution of 1789, Washington's first task was to create the executive branch of government and appoint the heads of each branch. A very surprising event that shows the righteous nature of our first president was his choice to nominate Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State. Despite the fact that Thomas Jefferson was overseas when the Constitution was written, he was a well-known Anti-Federalist, but he had some nice things to say about the Constitution..