George Washington was the only President of the United States to be elected to office by unanimous vote (69) by the Electoral College. George Washington took the oath of office on April 30, 1789. During his inauguration, he said the same oath repeated by other newly elected Presidents until the present day.

Although some wanted to call him King, George Washington resisted that title. He was the only President not to live in Washington, D.C. The capital city named in his honor was not built yet but would later be founded in 1790. He resided in temporary capitals of New York and Philadelphia while serving as President.

While in office, Washington declared the first official Thanksgiving holiday in 1789 and America had sixteen official states by the end of his second term in 1796. He kept the young United States in a neutral position during his leadership when France and England were at war and encouraged avoiding long-term alliances with foreign countries.

Washington retired to live in his home, Mount Vernon, in Virginia with his wife, Martha Dandridge Custis Washington. Although Washington did not have children of his own, he helped raise his wife’s two children, Patsy and Jack, from a former marriage as well as helping to raise two grandchildren.

After riding his horse in snow and rain, George Washington suffered from acute laryngitis. Doctors attempted to treat the infection by bleeding, a common practice of the time in which “bad blood” was let out of the body but he died on December 14, 1799. Washington freed all of his slaves (over 100) in his will; he was the only American president to do so. Although an empty vault is under the U.S. Capitol building that was intended to house the body of the first President, Washington was buried at Mount Vernon per his wishes.

George Washington’s birthday (officially February 22, 1732) is a nationally recognized holiday on the third Monday in February.