and of the confidence which has been reposed in me by the people of united
America.
"Previous to the execution of any official act of the President the
Constitution requires an oath of office. This oath I am now about to take,
and in your presence: That if it shall be found during my administration of
the Government I have in any instance violated willingly or knowingly the
injunctions thereof, I may (besides incurring constitutional punishment) be
subject to the upbraidings of all who are now witnesses of the present
solemn ceremony."
VICE PRESIDENT: John Adams (1735-1826), of Massachusetts, served 1789-
1797. See "John Adams, 2d President."
CABINET:
Secretary of State. (1) Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), of Virginia,
served 1790-1793. See "Thomas Jefferson, 3d President," "Career before the
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,
