GEORGE WASHINGTON (1732 - 1799), portrait painted by Gabriel Stuart (1797), engraved by James Heath , London. Washington led America's Continental Army to victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War (1775 1783), and in 1789 was elected the first President of the United States of America. He served two four-year terms from 1789 to 1797, winning reelection in 1792. Portrait by painter GILBERT STUART (1795 - 1796), Washington, National Gallery of Art