© Kara Lee 2014

In 1789, a President was elected for the first time in the United States. In the Constitution, there was a system set up for elections. A representative was chosen for each state to be in a group called the Electoral College. It was the job of these representatives to vote for the President. © Kara Lee

George Washington was elected by everyone in the first Electoral College to be the first President of the United States. Everyone believed he was the only one that was good enough for the job, but Washington was not sure he would be successful. Being the first president meant Washington would have to be thoughtful and careful because his actions would be an example for the following Presidents. © Kara Lee

An inauguration is an official ceremony to make someone President. Washington’s inauguration was in New York City, where government met, in April of Washington, along with all the Presidents to follow, promised to, “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States”. © Kara Lee

The President is the head of the executive branch of government. Congress decided to create three different departments in order to help the President run the branch. These departments were known as Secretaries. These Secretaries included a Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, and Secretary of War. © Kara Lee

The Secretary of State is in charge of deciding how the United States would interact with other countries. Thomas Jefferson was Washington’s Secretary of State. © Kara Lee

The Secretary of State is in charge of all of the nation’s finances. Alexander Hamilton was Washington’s Secretary of the Treasury. © Kara Lee

The Secretary of State is in charge of protecting the nation. Henry Knox was Washington’s Secretary of War. Knox had served in the army with Washington. © Kara Lee

An Attorney General also helps the President by ensuring that all the federal laws are obeyed. Edmund Randolph was Attorney General which Washington was president. © Kara Lee

Together, the Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, and the Attorney General, make up the President’s Cabinet. A cabinet is a group of individuals who have been chosen by the President to help the President run the executive branch. They also give the President advice. All Presidents have a Cabinet. © Kara Lee

Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, both members of Washington’s Cabinet, often disagreed about decisions the government was making. There were people who agreed with Jefferson’s beliefs and people who agreed with Hamilton’s beliefs. In turn, their followers formed political parties. Political parties are groups of people who have similar ideas about how the government should act. © Kara Lee

Jefferson’s supporters formed the Democratic-Republican Party. They believed that government should be limited and not take away states’ rights. He also supported farming instead of trade. Was against having a national bank because he felt that the government did not have enough power to create a bank. © Kara Lee

Hamilton’s supporters formed the Federalist Party. They believed that a strong national government was beneficial. They supported trade and manufacturing. Supported a national bank because he believed it would make the United States wealthier and stronger. © Kara Lee

Washington decided to approve the law that in turn created a national bank. The national government does the following: – Controlled the United States’ money – Provides customers with savings accounts to keep their money – The bank can borrow money from these savings accounts to make loans – They charge interest on the loans which means people pay to borrow the money – The bank in turn pays interest for the money they use to the person who has the savings account, so these people end up making money. © Kara Lee

Both Hamilton and Jefferson agreed on a few of the government problems. They both agreed that a new national capital should be built on the Potomac River. The Potomac River is located between Virginia and Maryland. A capital is the city where government meets. George Washington was the one who chose the exact location of the capital. They began to build in 1792, and the city was named Washington in honor of George Washington. © Kara Lee

Washington retired from being president after 8 years. He gave a farewell speech and some of the things he encouraged include: – Not to form political parties so that people weren’t divided – Stay out of wars with other countries © Kara Lee

George Washington paved the way for the following presidents. He is remembered as a great hero of the United States. He set up lots of traditions for the United States that are continued today. The next few presidents after Washington that were beneficial during the first few stages of our nation include John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison © Kara Lee

Terms of Use Thank you for downloading my First President PowerPoint. I hope that you enjoy using it as a valuable resource in your classroom! Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. My is © Kara Lee 2014 This resource entitles you to single classroom use only. Please do not share with grade level teams or district wide or post/resell any part of this resource. If you would like to share this resource with others, please purchase multiple licenses. I’d love to hear your feedback!

Fonts and Clipart Credit Fonts: Clipart: Backgrounds: Houghton Mifflin Social Studies United States History Early Years: Georgia Textbook was used to referenced to assist with information