Critical Essay by
Dr. Lori Cox Han
Professor, Doy B. Henley Chair of American Presidential Studies
Director, Presidential Studies Program
Wilkinson College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences
View Bio
Often called the “Father of the Nation,” George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799) was a soldier, general, statesman, the commander in chief of the Continental Army and served as the first president of the United States. His legacy is evident both in how historians have portrayed his prominence in the founding era of the United States as well as the enduring monuments (the nation’s capital, the state of Washington, numerous counties, towns, universities, schools, roads, bridges, currency, etc.) that pay homage to his public service and bear his name and/or likeness. As the nation’s first president (1789-1797), he set many important precedents that continue to influence presidential governance and leadership.
Born and raised in colonial Virginia, on a plantation near Fredericksburg, Washington learned farming at an early age following the death of his father. At age 15, Washington worked as a surveyor, and with the money he earned, he began to purchase land of his own. Upon the death of an older half-brother in 1752, Washington inherited the estate of Mount Vernon on the Potomac River near Alexandria, Virginia. That same year he became a commander in the Virginia militia and served in the French and Indian War. He married Martha Dandridge Custis in 1759; he also resigned his military post that year, returned to Mount Vernon, and was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses, serving until 1774. Martha Washington, a wealthy widow, had two children from her previous marriage; she and George had no children of their own. Washington greatly expanded Mount Vernon to 8,000 acres of farmland that included a variety of crops, orchards, livestock and a fishery.
In 1774, Washington served as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. One year later, Washington was named commander in chief of the Continental Army. By most accounts, Washington had more failures than successes in this role. Historians note that while he lacked skill as a military strategist, he excelled in leadership and boosting morale among his troops, most notably during the winter of 1777-1778 at Valley Forge. His greatest loss came when British forces captured New York City in 1776, but Washington repaired his reputation with later, albeit smaller, victories in Trenton and Princeton, New Jersey, in December 1776 and January 1777, respectively. The Revolutionary War would not end for another six years when the British finally gave up their control of the colonies by signing the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783.
Washington had secured his reputation and legacy as a national hero, and believing that he had performed his public duty, he returned to Mount Vernon to spend his remaining years focused on his family and farming. However, in 1787, he agreed to preside over the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia where he became the obvious choice among his fellow delegates to serve as the nation’s first president under a new constitution. At first reluctant, but due in part to strong public sentiment in his favor, Washington decided to run for president. In the first presidential election, held on January 7, 1789, Washington was elected and to this day, is the only candidate to ever receive 100 percent of the Electoral College votes (he would achieve this designation a second time during his re-election in 1792). He was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, in New York City. In 1791, Washington signed a bill into law creating the nation’s capital on land along the Potomac River, which was named Washington, D.C., in his honor.
During the Constitutional Convention, the delegates assumed that Washington would set many precedents as president within the newly formed government. While the framers feared that a single executive leader could turn the new country into a monarchy, most also believed that Washington’s reputation for integrity and fairness would help create an effective presidential role within government (a position with broad powers that would also be checked by Congress, and an individual that would be elected by the Electoral College and not the popular will of the masses).
Indeed, Washington would set many important precedents regarding presidential powers. For example, presidents enjoy broad discretion when it comes to foreign policy, a tradition that got its start during the Washington administration. According to the Constitution, the president can make treaties with the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate. When Washington sought the advice of the Senate on treaty negotiations with certain American Indian tribes, and the Senate delayed the matter by referring it to a committee, Washington reportedly stalked out of the Senate chamber in anger, vowing never again to seek their advice. Since then, no president has sought the Senate’s advice on a treaty, despite the constitutional mandate.
In addition, Washington set a precedent for presidents, not Congress, to determine which foreign ambassadors to receive and which foreign countries would be granted diplomatic recognition. He also set the precedent that department heads should support the president’s policies, going beyond the Constitution’s suggestion to receive written opinions on policy matters. As the first president, Washington was also the first to sign a treaty and issue an executive order, Furthermore, he appointed the inaugural members of both the U.S. Supreme Court and the lower federal courts created by the Judiciary Act of 1789 (he appointed 38 federal judges in total, including 10 to the Supreme Court).
In creating the first Cabinet, Washington included two founding-era luminaries — Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State and Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury. Jefferson and Hamilton disagreed over the power of the federal government as well as the powers of the presidency. Hamilton, a Federalist, favored a strong federal government and robust powers in the presidency. Jefferson favored a stronger role for states’ rights and, when he became president in 1801, he governed with a Congress led by members who shared his view (what would come to be known as the Democratic-Republican Party). While Washington supported a diversity of views on such constitutional matters, he famously warned of the baneful effects of political parties in his farewell address in 1796: “…without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.”
Washington’s decision to retire from the presidency after two terms began a tradition that lasted until Franklin D. Roosevelt sought a third term of office in 1940 (and was elected to a fourth in 1944, though he died in office in April 1945; the 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, codified the two-term limit for presidents). Upon leaving office, Washington returned to Mount Vernon, where he died in 1799. In 1960, Mount Vernon, where Washington is buried, was designated a national monument. President’s Day, first celebrated in honor of Washington’s birthday in 1879, is observed as a national holiday each February.
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