Presidency." (2) Edmund Jennings Randolph (1753-1813), of Virginia, served

1794-1795. Author of the Randolph (or Virginia) plan, favoring the large

states, at the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Transferred from attorney

general, he remained aloof of the struggle between Jefferson and Alexander

Hamilton. Denounced by supporters of both, he was largely ineffective and

was forced to resign amid unfounded charges that he had misused his office

for private gain. (3) Timothy Pickering (1745-1829), of Massachusetts,

served 1795-1800. Transferred from war secretary, he was a staunch

Hamiltonian and stayed on in the Adams administration.

Secretary of the Treasury. (1) Alexander Hamilton (c. 1755-1804), of

New York, served 1789-1795. President Washington's closest advisor, he was

a great admirer of British institutions and a master of power politics. He

saw his role in the government as that of prime minister. His influence

went beyond economics to include foreign affairs, legal matters, and long-

range social planning. He advocated and helped create a strong central

government at the expense of states' rights. He put the infant nation on

sound financial footing by levying taxes to retire the national debt and

promoted the creation of a national bank. He also advocated tariffs to

insulate fledgling American manufacturing from foreign competition.

Hamilton's vision of America's future encompassed the evolution from a

largely agrarian society to an industrial giant, a national transportation

program to facilitate commerce and blur regional differences, a strong

permanent national defense, and a sound, conservative monetary system. Even

after resigning his post, he kept his hands on the controls of power.

Washington continued to consult him. Hamilton's successor, Oliver Wolcott,

and others in the cabinet took his advice. He even helped draft

Washington's Farewell address. The foremost conservative leader of his day,

he was anathema to Thomas Jefferson and his supporters. (2) Oliver Wolcott

(1760-1833), of Connecticut, served 1795-1800. A lawyer and Hamilton

supporter, he stayed on in the Adams administration.

Secretary of War. (1) Henry Knox (1750-1806), of Massachusetts, served

1789-1794. Chief of artillery and close adviser to General Washington

during the Revolution and war secretary under the Articles of

Confederation, he was a natural choice for this post. He pressed for a

strong navy. Fort Knox was named after him. (2) Timothy Pickering (1745-

1829), of Massachusetts, served January-December, 1795. A lawyer and

veteran of the Revolution, he strengthened the navy. He resigned to serve

as secretary of state. (3) James McHenry (1753-1816), of Maryland, served

1796-1800. He had served as a surgeon during the Revolution and was a

prisoner of war. He stayed on in the Adams administration. Fort McHenry at

Baltimore was named after him.

Attorney General. (1) Edmund Jennings Randolph (1753-1813), of

Virginia, served 1789-1794. He helped draft President Washington's

proclamation of neutrality. Washington disregarded his opinion that a

national bank was unconstitutional. He resigned to become secretary of

state. (2) William Bradford (1755-1795), of Pennsylvania, served 1794-1795.

He was a state supreme court justice at the time of his appointment. (3)

Charles Lee (1758-1815), of Virginia, served 1795-1801. He was a brother of

Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee. He urged, unsuccessfully, that the United

States abandon its policy of neutrality and declare war on France. He

stayed on in the Adams administration.

ADMINISTRATION: April 30, 1789-March 3, 1797.

Precedents. "Many things which appear of little importance in

themselves and at the beginning," President Washington observed, "may have

great and durable consequences from their having been established at the

commencement of a new general government."10 With this in mind, then, he

proceeded cautiously, pragmatically, acting only when it seemed necessary

to flesh out the bare-bones framework of government described so sparingly

in the Constitution: (1) In relying on department heads for advice, much as

he had used his war council during the Revolution, he set the pattern for

future presidents to consult regularly with their cabinet. (2) Because

Congress did not challenge his appointments, largely out of respect for him

personally rather than out of principle, the custom evolved that the chief

executive generally has the right to choose his own cabinet. Congress, even

when controlled by the opposition party, usually routinely confirms such

presidential appointments. (3) How long should a president serve? The

Constitution did not then say. Washington nearly set the precedent of a

single term, for he had originally decided to retire in 1793, but remained

for a second term when it became clear that the nonpartisan government he

had so carefully fostered was about to fragment. Thus he set the two-term

standard that lasted until 1940. (4) When John Jay resigned as chief

justice, Washington went outside the bench for a successor rather than to

elevate one of the sitting justices to the top position, as many had

expected him to do. In disregarding seniority as a necessary qualification

to lead the Supreme Court, Washington established the precedent that has

enabled his successors to draw from a much more diverse and younger talent

pool than that of a handful of aging incumbent jurists.

Indian Affairs. In 1791 President Washington dispatched forces under

General Arthur St. Clair to subdue the Indians who had been resisting white

settlement of the Northwest Territory. St. Clair failed, having been routed

by Miami Chief Little Turtle on the Wabash River. Washington then turned to

Revolutionary War veteran "Mad" Anthony Wayne, who before launching the

expedition spent many months training regular troops in Indian warfare. He

marched boldly into the region, constructed a chain of forts, and on August

20, 1794, crushed the Indians under Little Turtle in the Battle of Fallen

Timbers near present-day Toledo, Ohio. Under the terms of the Treaty of

Greenville (1795), the defeated tribes ceded disputed portions of the

Northwest Territory to the United States and moved west. Through diplomacy,

President Washington tried with limited success to make peace with the

Creeks and other tribes in the South. In 1792 the president entertained the

tribal leaders of the Six Nations confederation, including Seneca Chief Red

Jacket, whom Washington presented with a silver medal, a token that the

Indian treasured the rest of his life. Red Jacket, who had led his warriors

against Washington's army during the Revolution, rallied to the American

cause during the War of 1812.

Proclamation of Neutrality, 1793. In the war between France, on one

side, and Britain, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and the Netherlands, on the

other, President Washington in 1793 declared the United States to be

"friendly and impartial toward the belligerent powers." Although he avoided

using the word neutrality, his intention was clear. Critics denounced the

proclamation as reneging on the U.S. commitment to its first ally, France.

However, it kept the nation out of a war it was ill-prepared to fight. The

French minister to the United States, Edmond Genet, pointedly ignoring

Washington's policy, fomented pro-French sentiment among Americans and

arranged for American privateers to harass British ships—activities that

prompted President Washington to demand his recall.

Whiskey Rebellion, 1794. To help pay off the national debt and put the

nation on a sound economic basis, President Washington approved an excise

tax on liquor. Pennsylvania farmers, who regularly converted their corn

crop to alcohol to avoid the prohibitive cost of transporting grain long

distances to market, refused to pay it. On Hamilton's advice, Washington

ordered 15,000 militia to the area and personally inspected troops in the

field. This show of strength crushed this first real challenge to federal

authority.

Jay'5 Treaty, 1795. Washington was roundly criticized by Jeffersonians

for this treaty with Great Britain. To forestall further conflict with the

former mother country and impel Britain to withdraw its forces from

outposts in the Northwest Territory, as it had promised under the terms of

the Treaty of Paris concluding the American Revolution, Washington

relinquished the U.S. right to neutrality on the seas. Any American ship

suspected of carrying contraband to the shores of Britain's enemies was

subject to search and seizure by the British navy. And Britain regarded as

contraband virtually any useful product, including foodstuffs. Moreover,

Jay's Treaty failed to resolve one of the key disputes standing in the way

of rapprochement with Britain—impressment. Britain's policy of "once an

Englishman, always an Englishman" meant that even after renouncing

allegiance to the crown and becoming a duly naturalized U.S. citizen, a

British immigrant was not safe from the king's reach. If while searching an

American ship for contraband, the British spotted one of their own among

the crew, they routinely dragged him off and pressed him into the Royal

Navy. But for all this, and despite the added strain on relations with

France in the wake of Jay's Treaty, the pact did postpone the inevitable

conflict with Britain until 1812, when America was better prepared

militarily. After the Senate ratified the treaty, the House asked the

president to release all pertinent papers relating to its negotiation.

Washington refused on the constitutional ground that only the upper chamber

had approval rights over treaties. He thereby set the precedent for future

presidents to resist such congressional petitions.

Pinckney's Treaty, 1795. Under its terms, Washington normalized

relations with Spain by establishing the boundary between the United States

and Spanish Florida at the thirty-first parallel. Even more importantly for

the future of American commerce, the pact granted U.S. vessels free access

to the entire length of the Mississippi River and to the port of New

Orleans for the purpose of export.

In other acts of lasting importance, President Washington signed into

law bills creating or providing for:

1789 Oaths of allegiance to be sworn by federal and state officials

First tariffs to protect domestic manufacturers

Department of State and War and the Treasury

Office of postmaster general

Supreme Court, circuit and federal district courts, and position of

attorney general (Judiciary Act). Washington, of course,

appointed

all the first judges to these courts.

1790 First federal census

Patent and copyright protection

Removal of the capital to Philadelphia in December 1790 and to

Washington

10 years later

1791 Bank of the United States

1792 Presidential succession, which placed the president pro tempore of

the

Senate and the Speaker of the House next behind the vice

president in

line of succession to the presidency

U.S. Mint of Philadelphia

1795 Naturalization law, which lengthened residency requirement from

two to

five years

Farewell Address, 1796 President Washington announced his retirement in

his celebrated Farewell Address, a pronouncement that was printed in the

Philadelphia American Daily Advertiser on September 17, 1796, but never was

delivered orally. In it he warned against the evils of political parties

and entangling alliances abroad. Throughout his term he had tried to

prevent the rise of partisanship, but he had succeeded only in postponing

such division by serving a second term. The Federalists under Hamilton and

Adams and the Democratic-Republicans under Jefferson joined battle soon

after he announced his retirement. Washington's warning to remain aloof

from European struggles Was better heeded. "The great rule of conduct for

us in regard to foreign nations," he advised, "is, in extending our

commercial relations to have with them as little political connection as

possible. So far as we have already formed engagements let them be

fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop." Isolationism remained

the dominant feature in American foreign policy for the next 100 years.

States Admitted to the Union. Vermont (1791), Kentucky (1792),

Tennessee (1796).

Constitutional Amendments Ratified. Bill of Rights (first 10

amendments, 1791): (1) Freedom of religion, of speech, of the press, to

assemble and petition for redress of grievances. (2) Right to bear arms.

(3) Restrictions on quartering soldiers in private homes. (4) Freedom from

unreasonable search and seizure. (5)Ban on double jeopardy and self-

incrimination; guarantees due process of law. (6) Right to speedy and

public trial. (7) Right to trial by jury. (8) Ban on excessive bail or

fines or cruel and unusual punishment. (9) Natural rights unspecified in

the Constitution to remain unabridged. (10) Individual states or the people

retain all powers not specifically delegated to the federal government or

denied to states by the Constitution. Eleventh Amendment (1795): A citizen

from one state cannot sue another state.

SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTS: (1) John Jay (1745-1829), of New York,

served as chief justice 1789-1795. As the first chief justice, he

established court procedure. While on the bench he negotiated Jay's Treaty

(see "Administration"). He resigned to serve as governor of New York. (2)

John Rutledge (1739-1800), of South Carolina, served as associate justice

1789-1791. His appointment as chief justice in 1795 was rejected by the

Senate. (3) William Gushing (1732-1810), of Massachusetts, served as

associate justice 1789-1810. He was the only Supreme Court justice to

persist in wearing the formal wig popular among British jurists. (4) James

Wilson (1742-1798), of Pennsylvania, served as associate justice 1789-1798.

A Scottish immigrant, he was a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Speaking for the Court in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793), he ruled that a

citizen of one state was entitled to sue another state, a decision so

unpopular that it prompted passage of the Eleventh Amendment (1795),

specifically nullifying it. (5) John Blah- (1732-1800), of Virginia, served

as associate justice 1789-1796. A friend of Washington—they had served

together as Virginia delegates to the Constitutional Convention—he brought

to the bench many years of experience on Virginia state courts. (6) James

Iredell (1751-1799), of North Carolina, served as associate justice 1790-

1799. An English immigrant, he was at 38 the youngest member of the

original Supreme Court. His lone dissent in Chisholm v. Georgia (1793)

formed the basis of the Eleventh Amendment (1795). (7) Thomas Johnson (1732-

1819), of Maryland, served as associate justice 1791-1793. A friend of

Washington since the Revolution, he served as the first governor of

Maryland and chief judge of the state's General Court. He resigned from the

Supreme Court for health reasons. (8) William Paterson (1745-1806), of New

Jersey, served as associate justice 1793-1806. He helped draft the

Judiciary Act of 1789 creating the federal court system. In Van Home's

Lessee v. Dorrance (1795) he established the Court's authority to strike

down as unconstitutional a duly enacted state law, a precedent that

anticipated judicial review of federal laws. (9) Samuel Chase (1741-1811),

of Maryland, served as associate justice 1796-1811. Irascible and acid

tongued, his gratuitous attacks on President Jefferson in 1803 led the

House to impeach him, but the Senate fell four votes short of the two-

thirds necessary for conviction. He was the only Supreme Court justice to

be impeached. Speaking for a unanimous Court in Ware v. Hilton (1796), he

established the supremacy of national treaties over state laws. (10) Oliver

Ellsworth (1745-1807), of Connecticut, served as chief justice 1796-1800.

He was the principal architect of the Judiciary Act of 1789, creating the

federal court system. In United States v. La Vengeance (1796), he spoke for

the majority in extending federal authority to all inland rivers and lakes.

RANKING IN 1962 HISTORIANS POLL: Washington ranked second of 31

presidents and second of 5 "great" presidents. He ranked above Franklin

Roosevelt and below Lincoln.

RETIREMENT: March 4, 1797-December 14, 1799. Washington, 65, returned

to Mount Vernon to oversee much-needed repairs. He played host, often

reluctantly, to an endless parade of visitors, many longtime friends,

others perfect strangers there just to ogle the former president and his

family. Briefed on affairs of state by War Secretary McHenry and others, he

maintained a keen interest in the course of the country. With tensions

between the United States and France threatening to erupt into war in the

wake of the XYZ Affair (see "John Adams, 2d President," "Administration"),

Washington was commissioned lieutenant general and commander in chief of

American forces on July 4, 1798, the only former president to hold such a

post. He accepted the commission on the condition that he would take to the

field only in case of invasion and that he had approval rights over the

composition of the general staff. He promised the cause "all the blood that

remains in my veins." Fortunately the undeclared "Quasi-War" that followed

was limited to naval encounters and Washington's services were not

required. In his last year Washington faced a liquidity crisis: Money owed

him from the sale or rental of real estate was past due at a time when his

taxes and entertainment bills were climbing. As a result, at age 67 he was

compelled for the first time in his life to borrow money from a bank.

DEATH: December 14, 1799, after 10 P.M., Mount Vernon, Virginia. On the

morning of December 12, Washington set out on horseback around the

plantation. With temperatures hovering around freezing, it began to snow;

this turned to sleet, then rain, and back to snow by the time Washington

returned indoors five hours later. Still in his cold, wet clothes, he

tended to some correspondence and ate dinner. Next morning he awoke with a

sore throat, and later in the day his voice grew hoarse. About 2 A.M. on

December 14 he awoke suddenly with severe chills and was having trouble

breathing and speaking. Three doctors attended him—his personal physician

and longtime friend Dr. James Craik and consultants Drs. Gustavus Richard

Brown and Elisha Cullen Dick. They diagnosed his condition as inflammatory

quinsy. The patient was bled on four separate occasions, a standard

practice of the period. Washington tried to swallow a concoction of

molasses, vinegar, and butter to soothe his raw throat but could not get it

down. He was able to take a little calomel and tartar emetic and to inhale

vinegar vapor, but his pulse remained weak throughout the day. The

physicians raised blisters on his throat and lower limbs as a counter-

irritant and applied a poultice, but neither was effective. Finally,

Washington told his doctors to give up and about 10 P.M. spoke weakly to

Tobias Lear, his fide, "I am just going. Have me decently buried and do not

let my body be put into a vault in less than two days after I am dead. Do

you understand me?" "Yes, sir," replied Lear. "'Tis well,"12 said

Washington. These were his last words. Soon thereafter he died while taking

his own pulse. After a lock of his hair was removed, his body was placed

in a mahogany coffin bearing the Latin inscriptions Surge Ad Judicium and

Gloria Deo. The funeral services, con ducted by the Reverend Thomas Davis

on December 18, were far from the simple ceremony Washington had requested.

A procession of mourners filed between two long rows of soldiers, a band

played appropriate music, guns boomed in tribute from a ship anchored in

the Potomac, and the Masonic order to which Washington belonged sent a

large contingent. His remains were deposited in the family tomb at Mount

Vernon. In his last will and testament, a 42-page document executed in his

own hand in July 1799, Washington provided his widow with the use and

benefit of the estate, valued at more than $500,000, during her lifetime.

He freed his personal servant William with a $30 annuity and ordered the

rest of the slaves freed upon Martha's death. He left his stock in the Bank

of Alexandria to a school for poor and orphaned children and ordered his

stock in the Potomac Company to be applied toward the construction of a

national university. He forgave the debts of his brother Samuel's family

and that of his brother-in-law Bartholomew Dandridge. He also ensured that

his aide Tobias Lear would live rent free for the rest of his life. To

nephew Bushrod Washington he left Mount Vernon, his personal papers, and

his library. His grandchildren Mrs. Nellie Lewis and George Washington

Parke Custis received large, choice tracts. In sundry other bequests, the

gold-headed cane Benjamin Franklin had given him went to his brother

Charles, his writing desk and chair to Doctor Craik, steel pistols taken

from the British during the Revolution to Lafayette, and a sword to each of

five nephews on the assurance that they will never "unsheath them for the

purpose of shedding blood except it be for self-defence, or in defence of

their country and its rights, and in the latter case to keep them

unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands, to the

relinquishment thereof."

WASHINGTON PRAISED: "A gentleman whose skill and experience as an

officer, whose independent fortune, great talents and excellent universal

character would command the approbation of all America and unite the

cordial exertions of all the Colonies better than any other person in the

union."—John Adams, in proposing Washington as commander in chief of the

Continental army, 1775.

"You would, at this side of the sea [in Europe], enjoy the great

reputation you have acquired, pure and free from those little shades that

the jealousy and envy of a man's countrymen and contemporaries are ever

endeavouring to cast over living merit. Here you would know, and enjoy,

what posterity will say of Washington. For a thousand leagues have nearly

the same effect with a thousand years. The feeble voice of those grovelling

passions cannot extend so far either in time or distance. At present I

enjoy that pleasure for you, as I frequently hear the old generals of this

martial country [France] (who study the maps of America and mark upon them

all your operations) speak with sincere approbation and great applause of

your conduct; and join in giving you the character of one of the greatest

captains of the age." – Benjamin Franklin, 1780.

"More than any other individual, and as much as to one individual was

possible, has he contributed to found this, our wide spreading empire, and

to give to the Western World independence and freedom."—John Marshall.

"To the memory of the Man, first in war, first in peace, and first in

the hearts of his countrymen."—Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, 1799.

WASHINGTON CRITICIZED: "If ever a nation was debauched by a man, the

American nation has been debauched by Washington. If ever a nation was

deceived by a man, the American nation has been deceived by Washington.

Let his conduct, then, be an example to future ages; let it serve to be a

warning that no man may be an idol."17—Philadelphia Atirora, 1796.

"An Anglican monarchical, and aristocratical party has sprung up, whose

avowed object is to draw over us the substance, as they have already done

the forms, of the British government. ... It would give you a fever were I

to name to you the apostates who have gone over to these heresies, men who

were Samsons in the field and Solomons in the council, but who have had

their heads shorn by the harlot England."—Thomas Jefferson, in the wake of

Washington's support of Jay's Treaty, 1796.

"You commenced your Presidential career by encouraging and swallowing

the grossest adulation, and you travelled America from one end to the

other, to put yourself in the way of receiving it. You have as many

addresses in your chest as James the II. ... The character which Mr.

Washington has attempted to act in this world, is a sort of non-

describable, camelion-colored thing, called prudence. It is, in many cases,

a substitute for principle, and is so nearly allied to hypocrisy, that it

easily slides into it. ... And as to you, sir, treacherous to private

friendship (for so you have been to me, and that in the day of danger) and

a hypocrite in public life, the world will be puzzled to decide whether you

are an apostate or an imposter, whether you have abandoned good principles,

or whether you ever had any?"—Thomas Paine, in an open letter to

Washington, 1796.

WASHINGTON QUOTES: "It is easy to make acquaintances but very difficult

to shake them off, however irksome and unprofitable they are found after we

have once committed ourselves to them. ... Be courteous to all but intimate

with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your

confidence; true friendship is a plant of slow growth."

"As the sword was the last resort for the preservation of our

liberties, so it ought to be the first to be laid aside when those

liberties are firmly established."—1776

"Precedents are dangerous things; let the reins of government then be

braced and held with a steady hand, and every violation of the Constitution

be reprehended: if defective let it be amended, but not suffered to be

trampled upon whilst it has an existence."—1786

"[Political parties] serve to organize faction, to give it an

artificial and extraordinary force to put, in the place of the delegated

will of the Nation, the will of a party; often a small but artful and

enterprizing minority of the community; and according to the alternate

triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror

of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the

organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and

modified by mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the

above description may now and then answer Popular ends, they are likely in

the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning,

ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the Power of the

People and to usurp for themselves the reins of Government; destroying

afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust

dominion."—1796 (Farewell Address).'

BOOKS ABOUT WASHINGTON.

1. Childrens Britanica “Presidents of the USA”

2. “The complete book of U.S. Presidents”

3. American’s First President. “Focus on the U.S.A.”

4. George Washington: Man and Monument”. (Cunliffe, Marcus)

5. James T. Flexner. “George Washington: A Biography”.

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