George Washington's Presidency

George Washington was so popular and respected that he probably could have become king. Even if Washington did not become king, he could have ruled as president for the rest of his life. But his greatness was, like Jesus, to decline power that was available to him in order to advance a greater good. Washington was inaugurated as president in 1789 and voluntarily gave up power in 1797 at the age of 65 - seven years younger than the 2008 presidential candidate John McCain. Washington set an unwritten tradition of a maximum of two terms for presidents, which was followed by every president until the Democrat Franklin Roosevelt. After Roosevelt broke the rule by being elected four times to president, the two-term tradition was enshrined in the Constitution as an amendment in 1951.

An of George Washington's leadership was his handling of the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. Farmers in western Pennsylvania protested a 7-cent per gallon tax on corn whiskey. These farmers refused to pay the tax, retaliated against farmers who did pay it, and even attacked U.S. marshals and revenue agents. Washington told the Pennsylvania governor to end the rebellion, but he refused. Washington himself then raised an army from neighboring states and personally risked his own life to ride out as the soldiers' leader to quell the rebellion. The farmers gave up without bloodshed. Several were caught, tried and convicted for their rebellion. What did Washington do next? He pardoned them. The successful suppression of this rebellion established the power of the federal government in the eyes of the people, and let people know that they should not challenge the President of the United States.

The first major legislative accomplishment of the "Washington Administration" (the name given to the government under a particular president) was the Judiciary Act of 1789, which established federal court system.

In 1790, George Washington's top aide and the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, gave a report on public credit to Congress. Hamilton urged Congress to create a national bank run by a private board of directors. Thomas Jefferson, who was a rival of Hamilton, opposed establishing a national bank, arguing that it was not authorized by the Constitution. But Hamilton persuaded Washington based on the "necessary and proper" clause (implied powers) of the Constitution. Accordingly, in 1791 Hamilton was successful in persuading Congress to establish the First Bank of the United States, pursuant to the Bank Act.

Hamilton had other achievements with Washington's support. In the "compromise of 1790," Hamilton arranged for the South to agree to the federal assumption of state debts in exchange for the North agreeing to a southern location for the new capital (the District of Columbia). In 1793, President Washington issued "Washington's Neutrality Proclamation," which established the neutrality of the United States in the French Revolution, despite our alliance with France. This was consistent with Washington's view that the United States should not entangle itself in foreign matters.

In 1794 and 1795, President Washington averted a second war with Britain over conflicts concerning shipping and the Northwest Territory. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay (one of the three authors of the Federalist papers) persuaded the British to leave the Northwest posts, but Jay accepted continuing humiliation of United States shipping due to British naval supremacy. This weak treaty ("Jay's Treaty") angered many Americans.

There were also conflicts between Congress and the President. Due to the American outrage at this unpopular treaty, Congress demanded that President Washington provide papers relating to Jay's Treaty so everyone could see how this happened. But Washington refused, and established the principle of "Executive Privilege" of President: the President does not take orders from Congress and does not have to produce executive-type documents to it. Being George Washington and having suppressed the Whiskey Rebellion, he was not going to be challenged by anyone now!

Several other important things happened during the presidency (the Administration) of George Washington. The Bill of Rights passed in 1791 to limit the federal government. The rivalry grew between Alexander Hamilton, who favored a strong national government, and Thomas Jefferson, who favored states' rights.

Debate: compare the views of Alexander Hamilton (who felt the federal government should have whatever powers are not denied to it, by virtue of the "elastic" or "necessary and proper" clause of the Constitution) to the views of Thomas Jefferson (who felt the federal government should have only the powers expressly given it). Which one was right?

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 723