CHAPTER XV

THE SUCCESS OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION, 1789-1801

PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S PART IN THE ORGANIZATION OF THE GOVERNMENT

George

President.

IN 1789 George Washington entered upon a new phase of his illustrious career. As commander-in-chief of the military forces he had won the independence of the country, and as private citizen during the national government of the Confedera- Washington, tion he had taken a leading part both in pointing out the the first weaknesses of that government and in securing the new government of the Constitution. Great in military affairs and in private life, he had yet to prove his greatness as an official in civil life. If there had been a national office of importance under the Confederation, undoubtedly he would have been called upon to fill it; but there was none. The new government of the Constitution created such an office in the presidency of the United States, and the people unanimously conferred it upon Washington. It was an honor to be chosen the nation's first President, and a double honor to be chosen unanimously. Every President since has met with opposition. John Adams of Massachusetts was elected the first Vice President. The first Wednesday in March, 1789, fixed upon by the old Congress as the date for the beginning of the new government, came in this year upon the fourth of the month, but through delays incident to the difficulties of travel the new House of Representatives did not convene till the first of April and the Senate not till five days later. After the organization of the two houses and the counting of the electoral vote in joint session, Washington was officially informed of his election, and on the fifteenth of April set out from Mount Vernon to the seat of government in New York. His journey was one long triumphal tour, in the course of which he was greeted from town to town by crowds of enthusiastic citizens, and honored with banquets, toasts and addresses, songs and cheers. At Trenton, New Jersey, where twelve years before he had eluded Cornwallis by his strategy, a triumphal arch spanned the way, and girls dressed in white strewed his path with flowers. He

Delay in the

organization of the new

government.

arrived in New York on the twenty-third of April, and on the thirtieth he was inaugurated.

The oath of office was administered before a large crowd of people at Federal Hall, Wall Street, New York. Like every President since, Washington repeated the following impressive words: Washington's inaugu- "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of

ral address.

the United States." In the inaugural message, delivered later to the Senators and Representatives, the new President displayed the devout spirit which was one of the characteristics of his greatness, when he reverently proclaimed, "It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being, who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of the nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States, a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to its charge." The new government set itself at once to the important task of

Precedents set by Washington.

organization. The President was able to find little in the past history of the country to guide him in the conduct of the affairs of his novel office, but was obliged every day to make precedents of more or less importance for his successors

L

in the presidential chair. Some of his customs have been followed and some have been discontinued. It was rumored at the time that he desired as his formal title, "His Highness, the President of the

United States of America and the Protector of the Rights of the Same," which his countrymen soon shortened to "Mr. President." He delivered his messages in person to the joint session of the two houses of Congress, and in formal audience in his own quarters received their reply. To the treaties which he negotiated he at first

received "the advice and consent" of the Senate in person in the senate chamber. These practices were later discontinued.

NEW YORK'S SECOND CITY HALL, FEDERAL HALL

Erected 1700, at Wall and Broad Streets. Here George Washington was inaugurated first president of the United States, April 30, 1789, and here the Congress of the United States met till the removal of the National Capital to Philadelphia.

Washington was not so confirmed in his own self-esteem that he refused to consult others. The secretaries or the heads of the various executive departments, who were after all only the chief clerks of the President, he often summoned to meet with him in private consulta

tion. Such cabinet meetings were required neither by the Constitution nor by Congress, but as a matter of personal assist- The cabinet ance and as a means of efficiency the custom proved of meeting. great value to Washington as it has to every succeeding President. Washington's choice of secretaries was most happy. Thomas Jefferson, the Secretary of State, was a

THOMAS JEFFERSON

statesman of

member of the legislature of Virginia; as a member of the Second Continental Congress he wrote the Declaration of Independence; as governor of Virginia during a part of the Revolutionary War he led his state in the abolition of several time-honored abuses, such as the right of primogeniture, the law of entail, and certain religious restrictions; and as a member of the Congress of the Confederation he interested himself in the formation of the Northwest Territory, although when the Ordinance of 1787 was passed he was no longer

Hamilton, Secretary of the

Treasury.

Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, who was only thirty-two years of age in 1789, had already been prominent in the movement for the formation and adoption of the Constitu- Alexander tion. He was an immigrant from the island of Nevis in the British West Indies, a graduate of King's College, now Columbia University, a veteran of the late war, and an able lawyer and practical politician. In his difficult post at the head of the Department of the Treasury he proved to be one of the greatest secretaries ever selected by any President. His differences with his colleague Jefferson over the interpretation of the Constitution occasioned many a debate in that famous cabinet, but Washington proved an adept in managing his unruly though brilliant advisers. General Henry Knox