George Washington became the first president of the United States on April 30, 1789. He had been in charge of the army. As president, his job was to create a working government. With congress, he created the Treasury, Justice and War departments. Together, the leaders of these departments and the others that were founded in later years are called the cabinet. One chief justice and five (today eight) associate justices made up the Supreme Court. Three circuit courts and 13 district courts were created. Policies were developed for governing the western territories and bringing them into the Union as new states. George Washington served two four - year terms as president before leaving office. (Only one U.S. president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, has served more than two terms. Today, the constitution says that no one may be elected president more than twice). The next two presidents — John Adams and Thomas Jefferson — had different ideas about the role of government. This led to the creation of political parties.