英語人物介紹

GeorgeWashington

OnApril30,1789,George

Washington,standingonthe

balconyofFederalHallonWall

StreetinNewYork,tookhisoathof

officeasthefirstPresidentofthe

UnitedStates."Asthefirstofevery

thing,inoursituationwillrveto

establishaPrecedent,"hewroteto

JamesMadison,"itisdevoutly（虔誠

地）wishedonmypart,thatthe

precedentsmaybefixedontrue

principles."

Bornin1732intoaVirginiaplanter

family,helearnedthemorals,

manners,andbodyofknowledge

requisite（必備的）foran18th

centuryVirginiagentleman.

Hepursuedtwointertwined（互相交

織的）interests:militaryartsand

16hehelped

surveyShenandoah（謝南多尼河，

美國弗吉尼亞州河流）landsfor

Thomas,LordFairfax.

Commissioned（受任命的）a

lieutenantcolonel（陸軍中校）in

1754,hefoughtthefirstskirmishes

（小規模戰斗）ofwhatgrewintothe

FrenchandIndianWar.（法國印第安

人戰爭（1754-1760），在北美大陸

進行的法英戰爭，以法國失敗而告

終，英國獲得法屬北美殖民地）The

nextyear,asanaide（助手，副官）

Braddock,he

escapedinjuryalthoughfourbullets

rippedhiscoatandtwohorswere

shotfromunderhim.

From1759totheoutbreakofthe

AmericanRevolution,Washington

managedhislandsaroundMount

Vernon（芒特弗農，地名）andrved

intheVirginiaHouofBurgess.

（下議院，殖民地時期弗吉尼亞及馬

里蘭州的民選政府）Marriedtoa

widow,MarthaDandridgeCustis,he

devotedhimlftoabusyand

ehisfellow

planters,Washingtonfelthimlf

exploited（剝削）byBritish

merchantsandhampered（受阻礙

的）

quarrelwiththemothercountry

grewacute,hemoderatelybut

firmlyvoicedhisresistancetothe

restrictions.

WhentheSecondContinental

Congress（大陸會議）asmbledin

PhiladelphiainMay1775,

Washington,oneoftheVirginia

delegates,walectedCommander

July3,1775,atCambridge,

Massachutts,hetookcommand

ofhisill-trainedtroopsand

embarkedupon（著手，開始）awar

thatwastolastsixgrueling（累垮人

的，折磨人的）years.

Herealizedearlythatthebest

strategywastoharass（反復襲擊）

rtedtoCongress,

"weshouldonallOccasionsavoida

generalAction,orputanythingto

theRisque（傷風敗俗的，指英國人），

unlesscompelledbyanecessity,

intowhichweoughtnevertobe

drawn."Ensuing（接著發生的）

battlessawhimfallback（后退）

slowly,thenstrikeunexpectedly.

Finallyin1781withtheaidof

Frenchallies--heforcedthe

surrenderofCornwallis（將軍名）at

Yorktown.（約克城，地名）

Washingtonlongedtoretiretohis

oon

realizedthattheNationunderits

ArticlesofConfederation（十三州邦

聯憲法，美國第一部憲法）wasnot

functioningwell,sohebecamea

primemover（發起者）inthesteps

leadingtotheConstitutional

Convention（1787年美國制憲會議）

e

newConstitutionwasratified(批準),

theElectoralCollege(選舉團)

unanimously（全體一致地）elected

WashingtonPresident.

Hedidnotinfringeupon（侵犯，侵

害）thepolicymakingpowersthathe

felttheConstitutiongaveCongress.

Butthedeterminationofforeign

policybecamepreponderantly（占優

勢的，多數的）aPresidentialconcern.

WhentheFrenchRevolutionledto

amajorwarbetweenFranceand

England,Washingtonrefudto

acceptentirelythe

recommendationsofeitherhis

SecretaryofState（國務卿）Thomas

Jefferson,whowaspro-French（親

法的）,orhisSecretaryofthe

Treasury（財政部長）Alexander

Hamilton,whowaspro-British.

Rather,heinsisteduponaneutral

couruntiltheUnitedStatescould

growstronger.

Tohisdisappointment,twoparties

weredevelopingbytheendofhis

dofpolitics,

feelingold,heretiredattheendof

arewellAddress,

heurgedhiscountrymento

forswear（發誓拋棄）excessive

partyspirit（貶義，指對本黨派的熱

情）

foreignaffairs,hewarnedagainst

long-termalliances.

Washingtonenjoyedlessthanthree

yearsofretirementatMountVernon,

forhediedofathroatinfection

December14,thsthe

Nationmournedhim.