On three ways in which our first president’s second term set precedents for
his successors.
George
Washington was reeelected unanimously (and unopposed) in 1792, the last
time a president ran uncontested, but much of his second term was dominated by
unexpected crises and scandals. That included the unfolding effects of the
French Revolution and the related European wars, about which I’ll write more
below; but no event was more striking and significant than the 1794 Whiskey
Rebellion. Tensions had been boiling over since Washington and his Treasury
Secretary Alexander Hamilton instituted a new whiskey excise in 1791, and came
to a head three years later when a group of Pennsylvania farmers destroyed a
tax inspector’s home and began armed resistance against the federal government.
When diplomatic resolutions failed and Hamilton
led a military force (of 13,000 militia men) against American citizens, it
became clear that Washington’s honeymoon period was over; the presidency and
government had become the controversial and debated entities that they have
remained ever since.
Striking as the Whiskey Rebellion was, it paled in comparison to the
domestic rebellion across the pond, the event that dominated the world’s
headlines throughout the decade: the French Revolution. That event, and the war
between France and England that followed it, threw a number of unexpected
twists into Washington’s presidency, including the seditious efforts of French
ambassador Edmond-Charles
“Citizen” Genêt, who attempted to gain popular support for the French
government in direct opposition to Washington’s neutrality. But these international
threats allow led Washington to strive for the kinds of ambitious successes
toward which many subsequent second-term presidents have worked; in this case,
that meant treaties which would strengthen America’s international
relationships and make the new nation more formidable on the world stage. As
would always be the case, the popular responses to those ambitious efforts were
mixed: the 1795
Jay Treaty with Britain was widely condemned by the opposing
Democrat-Republican Party, while the same year’s Treaty of
San Lorenzo (known here as Pinckney’s Treaty) with Spain was seen as a coup
for Washington.
Despite these ambitious treaties, or perhaps because of the wars and
threats which necessitated them, Washington was very worried about
international affairs, and dwelt at length on their dangers in another
precedent-setting event: his 1796 farewell
address to the nation. In that lengthy
text, which he did not deliver but had published in newspapers, Washington
reflected on what he had learned in his eight years in office, praised the best
of American life and society and warned of its worst tendencies (particularly
in the form of political parties, above which the no-longer-running-for-office
Washington could now safely stand), and departed the national scene with a few
final words of wisdom. Given that term limits had not been established, and
that Washington could have run for a third term had he chosen, this farewell
address reflects a clear choice on the first president’s part, a decision to
end his administration on his own terms and to do so while seeking to influence
the subsequent administrations and centuries of American life. It’s fair to say
that every departing president since has tried to do the same, one more way in
which Washington got our traditions started.
Next second term tomorrow,
Ben
PS. What do you think? Takes on Washington, or any
other president’s second term?
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