[detsaoT]

Hate to say it, but George Washington really was the first president of our Federal Republican government which we (theoretically) still have today. The presidents before him were actually presidents of the Continental Congress which was designated by the Articles of Confederation. We weren't so much a nation then, as a confederation of states. (You can find all of this neat stuff at snopes.com anyway...

;) ttt

[Luis Gonzalez]

Yeah, I know, even the author acknowledges that fact, in spite of the fact that we operated as a confederated republic technically since 7/4/1776, and Washington ascended to the presidency in 1789.

Just interesting stuff some may have never thought about.

[AmishDude]

You are correct. The Articles were a much different document. The president had almost no independent power. In terms of French history, that might be referred to as the First Republic and we are currently in the Second.