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