Part 1 of My Presidential Review Series
All right! It's time to start my new series of presidential reviews! Inspired by my recent article, Andrew Johnson: Worst President or Victim of Circumstance? Link, I will be reviewing the presidencies of everyone from Washington to Hoover (to go any further would be too heavy a workload, and might spark a controversy, which is not my goal). And, of course, we start with the very first president of our little United States, George Washington.
The biggest thing about Washington's presidency is the precedents he set. I'm only going to tell you the major precedents here, and others where appropriate. By consulting with his Cabinet for advice on major issues, he set the precedent for Cabinet meetings. Since Congress did not challenge his appointments out of respect, appointments to the Cabinet are often confirmed, no matter who controls Congress. One of the biggest precedents was the two-term presidency. Washington had originally wanted to serve a single term, but when it became clear that his achievement of a non-partisan government was about to collapse, he served a second term to keep it together (though upon the election of John Adams it disappeared). Also, he chose the Chief Justice from outside the Supreme Court, and since presidents have picked Chief Justice from a larger, younger talent pool.
During his presidency, Washington had both peaceful and aggressive dealings with Indians. Indians in the Northwest Territory under Chief Little Turtle were causing problems for white settlers. Washington first sent General Arthur St. Clair, but after he was defeated by Little Turtle Washington sent "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Upon Wayne's successful defeat of Little Turtle, the Treaty of Greenville was signed, in which the Indians ceded the Northwest Territory and moved west. There was also peaceful negotiations with Southern Indians. Although it produced little effect, Chief Red Jacket of the Seneca, moved by a gift given by Washington, rallied to the American cause in the War of 1812.
Amid the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, Washington felt it necessary to declare neutrality. In 1793 he declared the U.S. to be "friendly and impartial to the belligerent powers." He was criticized for going back on his commitment to the United States' ally, France. French Minister to the U.S., Edmond Genet, deciding to ignore the president, rallied pro-french and anti-british sentiment. Washington promptly called for his dismissal.
In an attempt to get rid of the national debt, Washington signed into law an excise tax on liquor. Farmers who used to convert crops to liquor to avoid tax, refused to pay. Taking Hamilton's advice, Washington sent 15,000 militia to quiet the Whiskey Rebellion. He had originally wanted to ride with them. But his Cabinet warned it would be too dangerous to send the president into battle. By taking their advice, he set the precedent of not riding into battle.
To avoid further conflict with Great Britain, Washington signed Jay's Treaty. This treaty gave up American neutrality at sea. Under it, the Biritish could search any American ship that they suspected had contraband in it. And their definition of contraband was anything useful. It also failed to deal with a major issue - impressment. The treaty also further strained American and French relations. But despite the many, many flaws, the treaty did manage to postpone the war America was ill-prepared to fight until 1812. After ratification by the Senate, the House asked to see documents relating to the negotiation. Washington refused on the grounds that only the Senate had approval rights over treaties. This set the precedent for other presidents to resist such congressional petitions.
In order to normalize relations with Spain, Pinckney's Treaty was passed. It set the boundary between the United States and Florida at the 31st parallel and granted U.S. vessels free access to the Mississippi River and New Orleans.
Other measures of the administration included:
-Oaths of allegiance to be sworn by federal and state officials
-Department of State, War, Treasury, Attorney General, and Postmaster General
-Supreme Court and circuit and federal districts
-First Federal Census
-Patent and copyright protection
-removal of the capital to Philadelphia
-Bank of the United States
-Presidential Succession
-U.S. Mint of Philadelphia
-Naturalization Law, which extended residency requirement from 2 to 5 years
If Washington had become president at a time when all the precedents were set, it is very hard to tell what president he would have been like. Just about everthing he did was a precedent. If one looked solely at what he did and not that he created it all, one might think of him as mediocre, at best. But by creating everything, he showed his remarkable talent, and I also have deep respect for his insistence on a non-partisan government.
Overall Ranking: 3