1st President, General in the Revolutionary War, Believed that it was his duty to serve his country

George Washington was elected to be the first president of the United States in 1789.  Washington was unanimously elected president, and is the only president in American history to win one hundred percent of the electoral votes.  Washington cared greatly about his public image, because of this he is the only president in American history to decline a payment in the form a salary.  Washington's beliefs and ideals established a platform for the way the American government system would be run.