Death of George Washington. Illustration of first US president George Washington (1732-1799) on his deathbed with doctors, maids, his valet, and his wife and friends. Washington was born into a Virginian planter family. He commanded the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War and served as the first President of the United States (1789-1797). He died on 14 December from complications (possibly epiglottitis) following a sore throat after inspecting his plantation in cold and wet weather. This lithograph by Regnier is after 'Life of George Washington, the Christian death', painted circa 1853 by US artist Junius Brutus Stearns (1810-1885).