George Washington

Founding Father

“First”• Virginia planter, commander of the

Continental Army, and first president of theU.S.

• Light-Horse Harry Lee eulogizedWashington as “first in war, first in peace,and first in the hearts of his countrymen. “But as Brookhiser and Wood have shown,Washington is no longer in longer in thehearts of Americans.

• Washington defined the Americanpresidency and set the standard forexecutive leadership. Moreover, withoutWashington the nation and the presidencyas we now know it may not exist at all.

• As the first president, Washington facedcircumstances and crises no other Americanleader would ever face. Quite possibly, noother leader was capable of meeting thechallenge of forging a nation andmaintaining its independence during acritical period. He was the only man thenation could unite around.

Greatness• More than any single man, Washington

was responsible for bringing success tothe American Revolution. As Edmund S.Morgan explains, Washingtonʼsgreatness lay in his understanding anduse of both military and political power.Washingtonʼs mastery of power in anemerging republic enabled America towin the Revolution and placed the newnation on the way to achieving theinternational and domestic power he hadsought for it.

• He founded the presidency andpreserved Americaʼs experiment in self-government without sacrificing thecountryʼs republican character. In a letterto Jefferson, Monroe stated: “Be assured.His influence carried this government.”Washington possessed the dignity,character, leadership, restraint, judgment,and civic virtue to help the nation surviveits infancy.

Youth• Born (1732) the son of Virginia planter of

modest wealth• When his father died, George lived with

his brother Lawrence.• Worked as a surveyor• In 1754 Washington led an expedition to

maintain Virginiaʼs claim to Ohio landsagainst the French. In a battle fought inthe wilderness he and most of his menwere forced to surrender. After hisrelease, Washington became the head ofVirginiaʼs militia on the frontier.

• In 1759 he married Martha Custis, awealthy widow.

• Marriage and the responsibility of runningplantation helped Washington developemotionally and intellectually.

• By 1770 he was an experienced leader.• Delegate to the First and Second

Continental Congresses• Natural leader of the Continental Army

Commander-In-Chief• Washington contributed more to

American independence thananyone else.

• He held the Continental Armytogether and maintained armedresistance.

• Although he suffered manydefeats, his leadership and senseof strategy made him a greatmilitary commander.

• Washington preserved civiliancontrol over the military. Althoughhe could have become a dictator,Washington remaineddisinterested and uncorrupted bypower. When the war ended,Washington resigned ascommander-in-chief and retired tohis plantation—Mount Vernon.

Washington Resigns As Commander-In-Chief

Constitution Convention• Washington feared that

the nation was “vergingfast toward anarchy andconfusion.” He wascalled out of retirement toserve as president of theConstitution Convention.His prestige and influencehelped with ratification.

• Washington understoodthat the government hadto be strong andcentralized butanswerable to the people.

Complex Character• Washington possessed a

complex and contradictorycharacter. He suffered fromlow self-esteem, struggled toovercome feelings ofworthlessness, and had astrong need for the admirationand affirmation of other people.

• Washington was verycourageous. He was alsohonest and reflective. He triedto improve himself. He was anexcellent organizer. He lovedhis family.

• His “aloofness” and “silence”made him a difficult man to getto know.

National Character• Washington won every electoral

vote to become the first president.• He understood that the U.S. had

to establish a national reputationand character. As early as 1783he wrote, “We are a young nationand have a character to establish.It behooves us therefore to set outright for first impressions will belasting, indeed are all in all.”

• Washington believed that the wayfor the nation to grow strong wasto exploit Americaʼs vast land andresources, curb internaldissension and sectionalism athome, and maintain neutralityabroad.

President• No one did more to make the presidency a powerful national office. His

virtuous concern for the welfare of the nation enabled him to overcome hisreticence and strong desire for retirement at Mount Vernon.

• Without any models to follow, he invented the presidency, while respectingthe republican character of the nation and resisting those who wanted himto turn the office into an elective monarchy. He created an executivegovernment and its institutions, offices and practices.

• Washington was a meticulous and energetic administrator. He tried toremain above party politics. Also he promoted a sense of Union.

• He installed the Cabinet system, delegating powers to talented andambitious young men. He selected Alexander Hamilton (Secretary of theTreasury), Thomas Jefferson (Secretary of State), Henry Knox (Secretary ofWar), and Edmund Randolph (Attorney General). Washington consultedwith James Madison on legislative and judicial matters as well. But hemade sure that his advisers answered to him, and once he made up hismind Washington acted decisively.

• Washington convinced enough Americans that their future depended uponmaintaining a union with strong central authority.

The CabinetWhen Hamilton and Jefferson disagreed over domestic and foreignpolicy, Washington backed Hamilton on most of the importantissues—the funding of the national debt, the assumption of state debts,and the establishment of a national bank.

Whiskey RebellionWashington combined coercion and conciliation when dealing withthis anti-tax civil disorder. He avoided using excessive bloodshedin crushing the uprising of farmers in western Pennsylvania.

Foreign Affairs• Washington maintained the nationʼs

neutrality and independence in a world atwar.

• He issued the Proclamation of Neutrality(1793) despite Jeffersonʼs objections.

• He signed the highly unpopular JayʼsTreaty (1795) to avoid war and becausehe thought that commercial relations withBritain would be worse with no treatythan with one.

• Pinckneyʼs Treaty (1795) secured theAmerican right to navigate the MississippiRiver.

• Washington expanded American strengthand power.

• The Treaty of Greenville (1795) allowedfor American expansion into the OhioTerritory after General Anthony Waynedefeated the Indians.

Washington And Slavery• To be sure, Washington

became a wealthyVirginia planter who heldas many as 317 slaves.He shared the racialprejudice of most whitesof his time. He later saidthat he regretted slaveryever existed and wished itcould be abolished butwas unable to doanything about it beyondproviding for themanumission of his ownslaves upon his death.

Farewell• The first party system began to

emerge during his administration.• Washingtonʼs Farewell Address

(1796) warned of the dangers ofpolitical parties, sectionalism, andpassionate attachments orantagonisms to any foreign nation.

• Although many thought thatWashington could serve aspresident for life, he retired toMount Vernon in 1797, setting aprecedent for two terms.

• Washington played a crucial rolein creating the American republic.Without him it may not have beenpossible. He should beconsidered our greatest president.

BibliographyAlden, John R. George Washington: A Biography. Baton Rouge: LSU Press, 1984.

Brookhiser, Richard. Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington. New York:The Free Press, 1996.

Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency: George Washington. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004.

Middlekauf, Robert. “George Washington”. In: Readerʼs Companion To AmericanHistory. Edited by Eric Foner and John Garraty. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1988.

Morgan, Edmund S. The Genius of George Washington. New York: W.W. Norton,1980.

Wood, Gordon S. “George Washington”. In: “To The Best Of My Ability”: The AmericanPresidents. Edited by James McPherson. New York: Dorley Kindersley, 2000.