all classes at work for the cause. He held a central position between two
extremes. He strove to retain the support of the common people, who made up
the army and--as farmers and workers--produced the supplies. Composing the
left wing, they cherished democratic ideas that they hoped to realize by
popular rule in the state governments. Washington appealed to them by his
faith in popular sovereignty, his sponsorship of a republic and the rights
of man, and his unceasing efforts to assure that his soldiers were well
paid and adequately supplied with food, clothing, arms, medical care, and
shelter. His personal bravery, industry, and attention to duty also
endeared him to the rank and file, as did his sharing of dangers and
hardships, as symbolized by his endurance at Valley Forge during the bleak
winter of 1777-1778. The right wing consisted of conservatives whose
leaders were men of wealth. Washington retained their confidence by
refusing to use the army to their detriment and by insisting on order,
discipline, and respect for leadership. It was his aim that the two wings
should move in harmony. In this he succeeded so fully that the American
Revolution is rare among political upheavals for its absence of purges,
reigns of terror, seizures of power, and liquidation of opponents.
Before 1778, Washington was closely affiliated with the left wing.
Afterward, he depended increasingly on the conservatives. In the winter of
1777-1778 there was some talk of replacing him with Gen. Horatio Gates, the
popular hero of Saratoga. This estranged Washington from some of the
democratic leaders who sponsored Gates. The French alliance, coming after
the American people had made heavy sacrifices, tended to relax their
efforts now that France would carry much of the burden. These developments
lessened the importance of the popular leaders in Washington's counsels and
increased the standing of the conservatives. Washington sought maximum aid
from France, but also strove to keep the American war effort at a high
pitch lest France should become the dominant partner--a result he wished to
avoid. His character and tact won the confidence and respect of the French,
as typified by the friendship of the Marquis de Lafayette.
In 1782 some of the army officers, irked by the failure of Congress to
fulfill a promise concerning their pay, threatened to march to Philadelphia
and to use force to obtain satisfaction. In an address on March 15, 1783,
Washington persuaded the officers to respect Congress and pledged to seek a
peaceful settlement. Congress responded to his appeals by granting the
officers five years' full pay, and the crisis ended. It evoked from
Washington a striking statement condemning government by mere force. "If
men," he wrote, "are to be precluded from offering their sentiments on a
matter which may involve the most serious ... consequences, ... reason is
of no use to us, the freedom of speech may be taken away, and dumb and
silent we may be led, like sheep, to the slaughter."
Throughout the war, Washington retained a commanding position in the army.
Generals Philip Schuyler, Henry Knox, Nathanael Green, and Henry Lee were
especially attached to him. His relations with Horatio Gates became
strained but not ruptured. A rebuke to Charles Lee so angered that
eccentric general as to cause him eventually to retire and to denounce
Washington as a demigod. General Benedict Arnold suffered a somewhat
milder, though merited, rebuke shortly before he agreed to sell information
to Britain about the defenses at West Point.
(In 1976 an act of Congress promoted Washington to six-star General of the
Armies so that he would rank above all other American generals.)
The Confederation Years
After the war, several states were beset with troubles that alarmed
Washington and conservative leaders who were close to him. British
merchants flooded the United States with British goods. Inadequate markets
abroad for American products obliged American merchants to export coin or
to buy imports on credit. Britain excluded American ships from the trade of
the British West Indies, to the distress of New England. A shortage of
money depressed the prices of American products and enhanced the difficulty
of paying debts--not only those owed to British merchants but also those
that had been contracted by Congress or the states to finance the war. As
the debt burdens grew, debtors demanded that the states issue large
quantities of paper money. About half the states did so. Such paper
depreciated, to the loss of creditors. The strife between debtor and
creditor in Massachusetts exploded in an uprising, Shays' Rebellion, that
threatened to overthrow the state government.
Apprehensive men turned to Washington for leadership. It seemed to them,
and to him, that the troubles of the times flowed from the weaknesses of
the central government under the Articles of Confederation. The Union could
not provide a single, stable, adequate currency because the main powers
over money were vested in the states. Because Congress could not tax, it
could not maintain an army and navy. Nor could it pay either the principal
or the interest on the national debt. Washington believed that the central
government should be strengthened so that it could safeguard property,
protect creditors against hostile state laws, afford the Union a uniform,
nondepreciating currency, and collect taxes in order both to pay the
national debt and to obtain revenues sufficient for current needs. He also
thought that Congress should be empowered to foster domestic manufacturing
industries as a means of lessening the importation of foreign goods.
Washington's anxieties over events in the 1780's were deepened by his
memories of bitter experiences during the Revolution, when the weakness of
Congress and the power of the states had handicapped the army in countless
ways.
The Constitutional Convention met at Philadelphia in May 1787. Washington,
a delegate of Virginia, served as its president. His closest associate then
was James MADISON. The Constitution, as adopted, embodied Washington's
essential ideas. It provided for a "mixed" or "balanced" government of
three branches, so devised that all three could not easily fall under the
sway of any faction, thus assuring that every important group would have
some means of exerting influence and of protecting its interests in a
lawful manner. The federal government, as remodeled, was vested with powers
adequate for managing the common affairs of the Union, while leaving to the
states control over state-confined property and business, schools, family
relations, and nonfederal crimes and lesser offenses. Washington helped to
persuade the Virginia legislature to ratify the Constitution, making use of
The Federalist papers written in its defense by James Madison, Alexander
Hamilton, and John Jay.
The Presidency
Unanimously elected the first president, Washington was inaugurated in New
York City on April 30, 1789. Acting with a cooperative Congress, he and his
aides constructed the foundations on which the political institutions of
the country have rested since that time.
His qualifications for his task could hardly have been better. For 15 years
he had contended with most of the problems that faced the infant
government. By direct contact he had come to know the leaders who were to
play important parts during his presidency. Having traveled widely over the
country, he had become well acquainted with its economic conditions and
practices. Experience had schooled him in the arts of diplomacy. He had
listened closely to the debates on the Constitution and had gained a full
knowledge both of its provisions and of the ideas and interests of
representative leaders. He had worked out a successful method for dealing
with other men and with Congress and the states. Thanks to his innumerable
contacts with the soldiers of the Revolutionary army, he understood the
character of the American people and knew their ways. For eight years after
1775 he had been a de facto president. The success of his work in founding
a new government was a by-product of the qualifications he had acquired in
the hard school of public service.
The Executive Departments
The Constitution designated the president as the only official charged with
the duty of enforcing all the federal laws. In consequence, Washington's
first concern was to establish and develop the executive departments. In a
sense such agencies were arms of the president--the instruments by which he
could perform his primary duty of executing the laws. At the outset,
Washington and his co-workers established two rules that became enduring
precedents: the president has the power to select and nominate executive
officers and the power to remove them if they are unworthy.
Congress did its first important work in 1789, when it made provision for
five executive departments. The men heading these departments formed the
president's cabinet. One act established the war department, which
Washington entrusted to Gen. Henry Knox. Then came the creation of the
treasury department, its beginnings celebrated by the brilliant
achievements of its first secretary, Alexander Hamilton. The department of
state was provided for, and Thomas Jefferson took office as its first
secretary in March 1790. The office of postmaster general came into being
next, and the appointment went to Samuel Osgood. Washington's first
attorney general, Edmund Randolph, was selected after his office had been
created.
In forming his CABINET Washington chose two liberals--Jefferson and
Randolph--and two conservatives--Hamilton and Knox. The liberals looked to
the South and West, the conservatives to the Northeast. On subjects in
dispute, Washington could secure advice from each side and so make informed
decisions.
In constructing the new government, Washington and his advisers acted with
