United States Department of the Treasury was officially established on September 2, 1789, by the First Session of Congress to manage the young nation’s escalating war debt and regulate its financial resources. However, its core functions date back to 1775, when the Continental Congress struggled to fund the American Revolutionary War through unbacked paper "bills of credit". President George Washington appointed his former wartime aide-de-camp, Alexander Hamilton, as the first Secretary of the Treasury. Hamilton masterfully consolidated individual state debts into a singular national debt, built the country's public credit system, and established the first national bank.