This Day in History: , First US President
George Washington Dies.
December 14, 1799.
The former president died at his
Mount Vernon estate in Virginia
from a severe respiratory infection.
He had developed the infection
the day before after refusing to
change out of wet clothes following
a horseback ride into freezing sleet.
His last words were,
"Tis well.”.
The fledgling
nation plunged
into a state of mourning.
He was eulogized
by friends and
political foes alike.
King George III of England
once grudgingly called Washington
the “greatest character of the age.”.
In his will, Washington
referred to himself simply as
“George Washington, of Mount
Vernon, a citizen of the United States.”
