George Washington

Many presidents have had great careers outside of the White House, such as Herbert Hoover and his humanitarian works during WW1 or Dwight D. Eisenhower and his role in liberating France from Axis rule in the D-Day invasion. This is especially true of the Founding Fathers who went on to work in the executive branch. John Adams brokered the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War and secured British recognition of the United States as an independent nation. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence - a role given to him by the aforementioned Adams - and drafted the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, granting residents of his home state the ability to follow whatever religion they desired. James Madison convinced the Constitutional Convention to abandon the Articles of Confederation and to adopt a whole new charter of government, helped persuade the states to approve the new Constitution, and assembled the Bill of Rights. Of these presidents, however, George Washington easily had the best career outside the presidency. Washington led American troops to victory against their British oppressors in the Revolutionary War, paving the way for all other accomplishments made by all other presidents. But Washington's excellency isn't confined to his life before the presidency. I believe that he was the second-greatest president in US history!

Washington led the United States as it recovered from one of the worst crises: The crisis of instability incurred by the Articles of Confederation. Our first constitution as a nation, the Articles of Confederation set up an infinitesimally-tiny federal government composed of a single legislature. The legislature was known as the Congress of the Confederation and had one lone delegate from each state. The Congress of the Confederation had practically no power over domestic policy, as that was all left up to the states for themselves. The Congress of the Confederation could control foreign policy but wasn't allowed to enforce the contents of any bill that didn't receive a 2/3 supermajority. Amendments could only be passed with the support of every single state. The dangers of this system became apparent immediately. The federal government could not pay off its debts from the Revolutionary War, could not mediate disputes between the states, and couldn't prevent Massachusetts from persecuting farmers, a fact that caused a violent insurrection known as the Shays Rebellion.

In response to these factors, the Constitutional Convention was held from May 25, 1787, to September 17, 1787. Presided over by Washington himself, the 55 delegates to the convention wrote a new Constitution with a much more powerful federal government. It also had 3 branches, rather than 1. A bicameral legislature, presidency, and Supreme Court were established. 9 of the then-13 states had to approve the Constitution for it to take effect. Many states were afraid of the proposal, believing that a larger federal government would be tyrannical. A compromise was made in which the states would approve the Constitution in exchange for getting to suggest ways that it could better protect individual liberties and states' rights. The suggestions made here became the Bill of Rights. On June 21, 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to approve the Constitution and Washington was elected the first president soon after. On March 4, 1789, the Constitution took effect.

Being the very first real president, Washington faced a tremendous burden: He had to define elements of the executive branch not fleshed out in the text of the Constitution. It may have seemed like an impossible challenge for Washington. Unlike Madison and the other delegates to the convention, Washington was not a skilled lawyer carrying in his mind a library of knowledge regarding liberal philosophy and the history of progressive political groups. Instead, he was a general educated in math and land surveying. Despite these limitations, he created a wonderful model for future presidents to follow. Washington was not egotistical and knew he needed guidance. Many people assumed that the Senate would serve as the president's main advisory body. But when the Senate failed to help Washington broker a treaty with some Native American tribes, Washington set up the executive cabinet. The Departments of State, Treasury, and Defense all originate from the Washington Administration.

Additionally, Washington set up a tradition of presidents only vetoing legislation they considered unconstitutional. A veto would never, as far as Washington hoped, be on the basis of personal opinion, but instead on an unbiased reading of the Constitution. I actually dislike this idea. A bill does not have to be unconstitutional to be bad and since the Constitution does allow Congress to override the president's veto provided they can muster up a 2/3 majority, the president only vetoing unconstitutional proposals might give the impression that Congress can supersede the Constitution. Ultimately, I hold Andrew Jackson in high esteem for, among other things, abandoning this tendency. However, I still consider it a positive on Washington's part, as it communicated a clear message lambasting autocracy. Washington also stepped down after a mere 2 terms, setting another important precedent against autocracy and dictatorship.

Economics was another area where Washington performed well. The destruction and damage wrought by the Revolutionary War plunged the newborn United States into a severe recession, which continued throughout the whole life of the Articles of Confederation. Washington stabilized the economy by setting up a national bank. Known as the Bank of the United States, the agency existed from 1791 to 1811, when it automatically disbanded in lockstep with the bill chartering the institution. The bank allowed the government to control monetary policy in a way that reduced dangerous deflation and enabled federal authorities to enforce positive economic legislation. Washington also encouraged entrepreneurism and innovation. For instance, he signed the Copyright Act of 1790, setting up a procedure for the authors of non-fiction to secure exclusive rights to their work. These policies bred an economic recovery.

Honestly, I would argue that his work in reviving the postwar economy was one of Washington's greatest achievements. It sounds minor without context, but certain background hints and information clarify the importance of producing such a recovery. Keep in mind that we abandoned the Articles of Confederation for chiefly economic reasons. Again, the federal government was too weak at the time to collect the revenue it needed to pay off war debts. Commercial disputes between states were resolved not by intra-national diplomacy, but rather by the altruism of private mediators. (Interestingly, Washington himself sponsored one of these solutions, hosting at his own house the treaty resolving a boundary dispute between Virginia and Maryland.) Debtor's prisons, which were the main cause of the Shays Rebellion, could not be stopped in their tracks by federal intervention. Imagine if we adopted a new constitution all to endure the perpetual financial troubles seen under the Articles of Confederation. How much longer would the Union have?

Washington not only ended the recession that soured America's view of the Articles of Confederation but also liquidated the country's war debts. Alexander Hamilton, Washington's Secretary of the Treasury, proposed a plan to pay off the national debt by having federal authorities assume the burden of state debts and then sell financial assets to terminate all of those debts. Madison, a member of the House of Representatives, and Jefferson, Secretary of State, were deeply opposed to Hamilton's suggestion, fearing that it would jeopardize states' rights by making the states excessively reliant on federal assistance. Madison and Jefferson's disapproval halted legislative and monetary progress, making it apparent to everyone - Jefferson and Madison included - that a solution had to be found. In the summer of 1790, Jefferson and Hamilton ate dinner with Madison. At the meal, they came to a compromise: Jefferson, Madison, and their allies would agree to support Hamilton's debt proposals. In exchange, Hamilton agreed to back the construction of a capital city in the south, where Jefferson and Madison both were born. Washington implemented both of these ideas, giving the country both a clean slate financially and its permanent capital of Washington DC.

Some of the other ways Washington sought to address the country's war debts were less glamorous. Also at the behest of Hamilton (a known right-wing elitist!), Washington generated more revenue by passing a tax on whiskey that forced small whiskey producers to pay 9 cents for every gallon they make in a year. An abhorrent provision of the bill allowed large whiskey producers to pay a mere 6 cents for every gallon. Whiskey makers and grain farmers in Pennsylvania and Kentucky rebelled in September of 1791, beginning the Whiskey Rebellion. On July 16, 1794, a group of rebels confronted the home of a tax collector, goading him into a fight. The tax collector's slaves were then sent out to engage in combat with the instigators. Shocked by this news, Washington crushed the Whiskey Rebellion. This whole episode is one of the darkest and most sad chapters of the Washington years. The elitist tax on small businesses that benefitted large companies and aristocrats was a just cause for rebellion and is something Washington should be criticized for. His hesitancy in suppressing the revolt makes it less heinous, though.

The other flaw of the Washington Administration is the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, which allowed southern slave owners to enter the north so they can round up escaped slaves. Millard Fillmore extrapolated on the law with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which required residents of free states to report escaped slaves. To be fair, the Constitution already protected the ability of slaveowners to travel to the north and fetch escaped slaves and Washington was just codifying that, but it was still bad. However, Washington also signed the Slave Trade Act of 1794, which prohibited American ships from bringing new slaves into the US. Jefferson expanded on this law by banning the importation into the United States of all slaves on any ships. Washington was also open to immigration, requiring immigrants only spend 2 years living in America before becoming citizens. He did eventually raise it to 5, but even that was lenient for the time.

Finally, foreign policy was another area in which Washington excelled. Delays from a snowstorm caused Washington to be inaugurated on April 30, 1789, rather than when the Constitution actually took effect. 5 days later, on May 5, 1789, the French Revolution began. As France began to abandon aristocracy for opportunity, feudalism for capitalism, theocracy for religious freedom, and censorship for free speech, much of Europe followed suit. Poland, in particular, adopted its own egalitarian constitution on May 3, 1791. In retaliation, Austria and Prussia sponsored the Declaration of Pillnitz on August 3, 1791, pledging to fight the growth of revolutionary fervor. France responded by declaring war on Austria and Prussia on April 20, 1792. This began the War of the First Coalition. Washington successfully kept the US out of this conflict by banning Americans from aiding either side materially. Martin Van Buren used similar tactics to prevent the US from going to war with Britain over the Canadian independence movement. Washington also signed the Jay Treaty, reviving America's alliance with Britain.

George Washington was one of the greatest presidents in US history. His foreign policy allowed the US to focus not on tending to the bizarre Gordian knot of European conflicts, but on refining its domestic stability. He restricted the slave trade, was pro-immigration, and protected the intellectual property of authors. Furthermore, he restored America's economic strength following the calamities of the Revolutionary War and Shays Rebellion at the same time that he prevented the presidency from becoming a tyrannical role resembling the ancient monarchies of Europe. Through these accomplishments, Washington shielded the manna gifted to the people of the United States from becoming infested with maggots of elitism, conservatism, and authoritarianism. And by doing this, he proved to the entire globe that democracy, freedom, public education, local self-determination, and the other virtues that catalyzed the American Revolution were not wishful thinking, but instead the foundation for great civilizations.