I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of the President of the United States,
and will, to the best of my ability,
preserve, protect,
and defend the Constitution of the United States.
The President, The President,
Salute the leader of our nation.
The President, The President,
All pay allegiance to his nation.
With freedom's choice,
the people's voice has chosen
who shall represent our
ideals and our liberty,
the man who shall hold the
office of the president.
In 1775,
the son of a wealthy Virginia landowner,
a gentleman farmer
who had served seven years
as a colonel in the British Army,
was appointed by the Continental Congress
to be the Commander in Chief of the
Colonial Army.
George Washington was to lead
300 ,000 un trained,
ill -equipped citizen soldiers
against the of Great Britain.
I know not what course
others may take,
but as for me,
give me liberty or give me death.
And they finished up that York
town with a mighty will,
but they started up a bunker
hill.
The Revolutionary War
had been fought.
The victory won
and General Washington returned to his wife, Martha,
at Mount Vernon to resume farming.
But the new nation he had
helped to create
couldn't spare him.
The country seethed with un
rest.
Congress was without
leadership or power.
Its pa per money worth next to nothing,
while tariffs brought trade between the
states to a standstill.
As Washington sadly wrote to a friend,
there are combustibles in every state
which a spark might set fire to.
He attended the Constitutional Convention
as a delegate from Virginia,
but his reputation and prestige
made him its natural presiding officer.
After months of heated debate
and prolonged argument,
a new form of government
began to emerge,
and men of conflicting opinions
looked to George Washington for
leadership.
First in war, first in peace,
First in the hearts of his countrymen.
Washington,
who favored a strong central government
controlled by wealthy,
educated men,
nevertheless scorned
Alexander Hamilton's proposal
that a monarchy be established
with a title nobility.
He stood staunchly behind the new Constitution,
and the states, which feared
the strong central power embodied
in the Constitution,
placed their faith in the integrity of a man.
In 1789, George Washington,
by unanimous vote of the electors,
was chosen to be the first president
of the United States.
Everything in his administration
was a first in American history.
He appointed the first cabinet,
Thomas Jefferson,
Alexander Hamilton,
Henry Knox,
and Edmund Randolph.
The first new states,
Vermont, Kentucky,
and Tennessee,
were admitted to the union.
The Supreme Court met for the
first time.
The National Mint was established.
The first census taken
and the first 10 amendments to
the Constitution,
the Bill of Rights,
were adopted.
Washington served for
two consecutive terms.
An infamation groped for identity,
and as a par ent,
Washington faced all the hardships
and outrages of political fortune.
He was called tyrant
and accused of injustices and imprudence.
The beginning of a two -party
political system
made him the target of
every ambitious politician.
It was with a sense of relief
that George Washington
saw his eight years in the presidency
come to an end.
Now, at last,
he could retire to Mount Vernon.
He had given his life to
his country
and guided her first faltering footsteps
to the path of greatness.
In December of 1799,
he caught a cold
that developed into a high fever.
As was the custom of the day,
the doctors bled him.
And knowing the end was near,
Washington spoke his last words.
I thank you for your attention.
You had better not take any more
trouble about me,
but let me go quietly.
The news went out,
and everywhere people wept.
Throughout the young country,
the nation mourned the
loss of its father.
First in war,
First in peace,
first in the hearts of his countrymen,
The father of our country,
the father of our country,
George Washington!
Charge! Charge Washington!
Walter Brennan 
