President’s Day
On the third Monday of February the United States celebrates “Presidents Day.” The day was chosen because it usually is the Monday closes to George Washington’s actual birthday, February 22. It is a federal holiday now celebrating, not just Washington, but the presidency in general.
George Washington was the obvious choice for president once the new Constitution created the office. He had led the colonial army and secured Independence against formidable odds. Washington was determined that the he and those who would follow honor the separation of powers among the here branches of government and was careful to craft the presidential role to that end.
George Washington’s first term was most notable for weathering domestic upheaval, and involved getting the new government set up and operating. To do this Washington created a “cabinet” of executive department leaders and presidential advisors. This new body was a study in contrasting personalities and purposes, and consisted of only four members: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph.
The first item on the administrative list was to stabilize the nation’s finances. Secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton, was able to put most of his financial plan into operation, and most of the opposition was willing to compromise on the various provisions. But, the creation of a national back sparked a constitutional fight. Thomas Jefferson (Sec of State) opposed the bank on the principle that the constitution made no provision for the creation of one. Washington called on John Jay, chief Justice of the Supreme Court, to settle the question. Jay decided in favor of the bank, citing the “necessary and proper” clause of the constitution. Washington signed the bank bill and by the time he left office in 1795 the bank was capitalized and the national debt was under control. But, the issue highlighted a constitutional controversy which continues to the present: how to interpret the constitution. Should it be strict: exact words must be in there or loose using the “meaning” and “intention” of the words.
The debate over the bank plan was not confined to government leaders, it also received mixed reviews among the people. Some only voiced opposition: others reacted violently. The controversy erupted in violence in the rural western regions of Pennsylvania over the internal excise tax on whiskey. Farmers in western Pennsylvania found it very economical to transport their surplus grain to market in the form of whiskey. Hamilton’s excise tax place a tax of up to 25% on the whiskey. When the farmers protested, the government refused to relent. A farmer’s convention in Pittsburg sent a list of resolutions to President Washington denouncing the tax and declaring that they would prevent its collection. But it wasn’t just taxing they were concerned about; it was the system in general. The tax placed on whiskey treated it like a consumer product, but the farmers treated the whiskey as an article of barter. The tax had to be paid in cash, but often the farmers did not get any cash their transactions.
Violations of the excise tax were supposed to be tried close to the offense, but farmers often had to travel 300 miles or more for their tax trials at considerable person expense. The excise men often entered homes at will looking for untaxed stills; it was hardly surprising that the Western opposition erupted into armed conflict, known as the Whiskey Rebellion.
Faced with open insurrection Washington quickly called out the state’s militia of Massachusetts and the three surrounding states to put down the rebellion and places Alexander Hamilton in the lead. The combined force was 13,000 men (larger than most American armies that faced the British). They did not have to do much fighting because the rebels fled into the wilderness and only a few were captured. Two were tried and convicted of treason, but pardoned by Washington. The rebellion ended quickly, but the fight would live on in the newly forming political parties; the rise of political parties centered around the concept of governmental control and power.
The new parties were the Federalists who favored strong central government. It was generally supported in the East and Northeast by northern farmers and tidewater planters. Party membership included George Washington (by default), John Adams and Alexander Hamilton. The second new party was the Democratic Republicans who feared strengthening federal government at the expense of state government and individual liberty. Generally supporters were artisans, wage workers in towns, and small farm owners in South, North and especially the West. Membership here included Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe. Even as he supported the strong building efforts for the new government; Washington warned of the dangers that partisan politics would bring to the new republic.
Washington’s second term in office was marked by several serious international crisises. In 1789 the French Revolution began as an attempt to reform an “arbitrary monarchy weakened by debt and administrative decay.” It quickly degenerated into a political and social blood-bath far overreaching its moderate beginnings. Inspired by the American Revolution, the French Revolution will change not only France, but all of Europe and the fledgling Unites States as well.
In 1793, the revolutionary government beheaded Louis XVI and one faction rose to power only to be deposed by another. When the excesses of the revolution began to threaten the conservative royal governments of Europe, they begin to consider stepping in to end the revolution. The United States first supported the revolution, but gradually tried to distance herself from the blood bath. Revolutionary French government decided to attack first and by the end of 1793 Europe was at war; this time is it France against everyone else. The US stayed neutral.
The war in Europe presented Washington with several problems. Both England and France wanted US raw materials. As a neutral government US could trade with both. The problem with this was that neither side respected the US neutrality. In addition, Old Alliance Treaty (1778) seemed to demand that US help France, but that agreement had been made with the dead King, and considered that the treaty died with the King. At first most Americans like Thomas Jefferson supported France, but as the excesses began to rise, US support fell. Most Federalists favor siding with England because it had a stable government.
In April 1793 France sent Edmond Genêt to US as ambassador. He was supposed to negotiate a trade treaty with Washington, but he has another agenda as well. He commissioned American privateers to plague British ships in the Caribbean and recruits forces to invade Spanish Florida. All of this against American policy. Washington remained neutral. In defiance of protocol, Genêt urges the US Congress to reject the president’s policy and openly support France. Washington is understandably furious and calls for Genêt’s recall, but his French government falls and he can’t go home. Genêt stayed in the US, married Governor of New York De Witt Clinton’s daughter and lived a long and prosperous life as an American.
October 1794 Congress formally passed the Neutrality Act of 1794, and requested that both England and France respect it; neither one did. Eventually the conflict between France and the rest of Europe will lead to a military conflict for the United States, the War of 1812, but George Washington won’t be alive to witness it.
In 1795, after eight years as President, Washington decides to retire. Because he supported Hamilton, politically, he is labeled a Federalist, even though he considered himself to be above party politics. Washington’s farewell address remains his vision of what the presidency ought to be and how the nation should be governed in the future. The address has been read in Congress to commemorate president’s day for the last 100 years.
“The Farewell Address definitely embodies the core beliefs that Washington hoped would continue to guide the nation. Several hands produced the document itself. The opening paragraphs remain largely unchanged from the version drafted by James Madison in 1792, while most of the rest was penned by Alexander Hamilton, whom Washington directed to remove the bitterness from an intermediate draft that the president himself had written. Although the drawn out language of the Address follows Hamilton’s style, there is little doubt that the core ideas were not only endorsed by Washington but were beliefs that he and Hamilton had developed together as the new nation’s leading nationalists.” https://www.ushistory.org/us/17d.asp
As he departed the presidency, he warned of two great dangers to the new nation. Dangers, that, to some extent, exist today: one the damaging effects of party politics and other international pressures.
