Retirement and Legacy
Desiring to return to Mount Vernon and his farming, and feeling the
decline of his physical powers with age, Washington refused to yield to
the pressures to serve a third term, even though he would probably not
have faced any opposition. By doing this, he was again mindful of the
precedent of being the "first president," and chose to establish a
peaceful transition of government.
In the last months of his
presidency, Washington felt he needed to give his country one last
measure of himself. With the help of Alexander Hamilton, he composed his
Farewell Address to the American people, which urged his fellow
citizens to cherish the Union and avoid partisanship and permanent
foreign alliances. In March 1797, he turned over the government to John
Adams and returned to Mount Vernon, determined to live his last years as
a simple gentleman farmer. His last official act was to pardon the
participants in the Whiskey Rebellion.
Upon returning to Mount
Vernon in the spring of 1797, Washington felt a reflective sense of
relief and accomplishment. He had left the government in capable hands,
at peace, its debts well-managed, and set on a course of prosperity. He
devoted much of his time to tending the farm's operations and
management. Although he was perceived to be wealthy, his land holdings
were only marginally profitable.
During his long absence, the
plantation had not been productive, and there was much work to be done.
On a cold December day in 1799, Washington spent much of it inspecting
the farm on horseback in a driving snowstorm. When he returned home, he
hastily ate his supper in his wet clothes and then went to bed. The next
morning, on December 13, he awoke with a severe sore throat and became
increasingly hoarse. He retired early, but awoke around 3 a.m. and told
Martha that he felt sick. The illness progressed until he died late in
the evening of December 14, 1799. The news of his death spread
throughout the country, plunging the nation into a deep mourning. Many
towns and cities held mock funerals and presented hundreds of eulogies
to honor their fallen hero. When the news of this death reached Europe,
the British fleet paid tribute to his memory, and Napoleon ordered ten
days of mourning.
Washington could have been a king. Instead, he
chose to be a citizen. He set many precedents for the national
government and the presidency: The two-term limit in office, only broken
once by Franklin Roosevelt, and then later ensconced in the
Constitution's 22nd Amendment. He crystallized the power of the
presidency as a part of the government’s three branches, able to
exercise authority when necessary, but also accept the balance of power
inherent in the system.
He was not only considered a military and
revolutionary hero, but a man of great personal integrity, with a deep
sense of duty, honor, and patriotism. For over 200 years, Washington has
been acclaimed as indispensible to the success of the Revolution and
the birth of the nation. But his most important legacy may be that he
insisted he was dispensable, asserting that the cause of liberty was
larger than any single individual.
In 1787, Washington was again called to the duty of his country.
Since independence, the young republic had been struggling under the
Articles of Confederation, a structure of government that centered power
with the states. But the states were not unified. They fought among
themselves over boundaries and navigation rights and refused to
contribute to paying off the nation's war debt. In some instances, state
legislatures imposed tyrannical tax policies on their own citizens.
Washington
was intensely dismayed at the state of affairs, but only slowly came to
the realization that something should be done about it. Perhaps he
wasn't sure the time was right so soon after the Revolution to be making
major adjustments to the democratic experiment. Or perhaps because he
hoped he would not be called upon to serve, he remained noncommittal.
But when Shays's rebellion erupted in Massachusetts, Washington knew
something needed to be done to improve the nation’s government. In 1786,
Congress approved a convention to be held in Philadelphia to amend the
Articles of Confederation.
At the Constitution Convention,
Washington was unanimously chosen as president. Among others, such as
James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, Washington had come to the
conclusion that it wasn't amendments that were needed, but a new
constitution that would give the national government more authority. He
spoke but once during the proceedings, but he lobbied hard with his
fellow delegates in the afterhours for major changes in the structure of
government.
In the end, the Convention produced a plan for
government that not only would address the country's current problems,
but would endure through time. After the convention adjourned,
Washington's reputation and support for the new government were
indispensable to the Constitution’s ratification. Opposition was
strident, if not organized, with many of America's leading political
figures—including Patrick Henry and Sam Adams—condemning the proposed
government as a grab for power. Even in Washington's native Virginia,
the Constitution was ratified by only one vote.
Still hoping to
retire to his beloved Mount Vernon, Washington was once again called
upon to serve this country. During the presidential election of 1789, he
received a vote from every elector to the Electoral College, the only
president in American history to be elected by unanimous approval. He
took the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City, the capital of
the United States at the time.
As the first president,
Washington was astutely aware that his presidency would set a precedent
for all that would follow. He carefully attended to the responsibilities
and duties of his office, remaining vigilante to not emulate any
European royal court. To that end, he preferred the title "Mr.
President," instead of more imposing names that were suggested. At first
he declined the $25,000 salary Congress offered the office of the
presidency, for he was already wealthy and wanted to protect his image
as a selfless public servant. However, Congress persuaded him to accept
the compensation to avoid giving the impression that only wealthy men
could serve as president.
George Washington proved to be an able
administrator. He surrounded himself with some of the most capable
people in the country, appointing Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the
Treasury and Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State. He delegated
authority wisely and consulted regularly with his cabinet listening to
their advice before making a decision. Washington established
broad-ranging presidential authority, but always with the highest
integrity, exercising power with restraint and honesty. In doing so, he
set a standard rarely met by his successors, but one that established an
ideal by which all are judged.
During his first term, Washington
adopted a series of measures proposed by Treasury Secretary Hamilton to
reduce the nation's debt and place its finances on sound footing. His
administration established several peace treaties with Native American
tribes and approved a bill establishing the nation's capital in a
permanent district along the Potomac River. In 1791, Washington signed a
bill authorizing Congress to place a tax on distilled spirits, which
stirred protests in rural areas of Pennsylvania.
Quickly, the
protests turned into a full-scale defiance of federal law known as the
Whiskey Rebellion. Washington invoked the Militia Act of 1792, summoning
local militias from several states to put down the rebellion.
Washington personally took command, marching the troops into the areas
of rebellion and demonstrating that the federal government would use
force, when necessary, to enforce the law.
In foreign affairs,
Washington took a cautious approach, realizing that the weak, young
nation could not succumb to Europe's political intrigues. In 1793,
France and Great Britain were once again at war. At the urging of
Alexander Hamilton, Washington disregarded the U.S. alliance with France
and pursued a course of neutrality. In 1794, he sent John Jay to
Britain to negotiate a treaty (known as the "Jay Treaty") to secure a
peace with Britain and clear up some issues held over from the
Revolutionary War.
The action infuriated Thomas Jefferson, who
supported the French and felt that the U.S. needed to honor its treaty
obligations. Washington was able to mobilize public support for the
treaty, which proved decisive in securing ratification in the Senate.
Though controversial, the treaty proved beneficial to the United States
by removing British forts along the western frontier, establishing a
clear boundary between Canada and the United States, and most
importantly, delaying a war with Britain and providing over a decade of
prosperous trade and development the fledgling country so desperately
needed.
All through his two terms as president, Washington was
dismayed at the growing partisanship within government and the nation.
The power bestowed on the federal government by the Constitution made
for important decisions, and people joined together to influence those
decisions. The formation of political parties at first were influenced
more by personality than by issues.
As Treasury secretary,
Alexander Hamilton pushed for a strong national government and an
economy built in industry. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson desired
to keep government small and center power more at the local level, where
citizen's freedom could be better protected. He envisioned an economy
based on farming. Those who followed Hamilton's vision took the name
Federalists and people who opposed those ideas and tended to lean toward
Jefferson’s view began calling themselves Democratic-Republicans.
Washington despised political partisanship, believing that ideological
differences should never become institutionalized. He strongly felt that
political leaders should be free to debate important issues without
being bound by party loyalty.
However, Washington could do little
to slow the development of political parties. The ideals promoted by
Hamilton and Jefferson produced a two-party system that proved
remarkably durable. These opposing viewpoints represented a continuation
of the debate over the proper role of government, a debate that began
with the conception of the Constitution and continues today.
Washington's
administration was not without its critics who questioned what they saw
as extravagant conventions in the office of the president. During his
two terms, Washington rented the best houses available and was driven in
a coach drawn by four horses, with outriders and lackeys in rich
uniforms. After being overwhelmed by callers, he announced that except
for the scheduled weekly reception open to all, he would only see people
by appointment. Washington entertained lavishly, but in private dinners
and receptions at invitation only. He was, by some, accused of
conducting himself like a king.
However, ever mindful his
presidency would set the precedent for those to follow, he was careful
to avoid the trappings of a monarchy. At public ceremonies, he did not
appear in a military uniform or the monarchical robes. Instead, he
dressed in a black velvet suit with gold buckles and powdered hair, as
was the common custom. His reserved manner was more due to inherent
reticence than any excessive sense of dignity.
General Howe's strategy was to capture colonial cities and stop the
rebellion at key economic and political centers. He never abandoned the
belief that once the Americans were deprived of their major cities, the
rebellion would wither. In the summer of 1777, he mounted an offensive
against Philadelphia. George Washington moved in his army to defend the
city and was defeated at the Battle of Brandywine. Philadelphia fell two
weeks later.
In the late summer of 1777, the British army sent a
major force, under the command of John Burgoyne, south from Quebec to
Saratoga, New York, to split off the rebellion in New England. But the
strategy backfired, as Burgoyne became trapped by the American armies
led by Horatio Gates and Benedict Arnold, at the Battle of Saratoga.
Without support from Howe, who couldn't reach him in time, he was forced
to surrender his entire 6,200 man army. The victory was a major turning
point in the war as it encouraged France to openly ally itself with the
American cause for independence.
Through all of this, Washington
discovered an important lesson: The political nature of war was just as
important as the military one. Washington began to understand that
military victories were not as important as keeping the resistance
alive. Americans began to believe that they could meet their objective
of independence without defeating the British army. On the other hand,
British General Howe clung to the strategy of capturing colonial cities
in hopes of smothering the rebellion. He didn't realize that capturing
cities like Philadelphia and New York would not unseat colonial power.
The Congress would just pack up and meet elsewhere.
The darkest
time for Washington and the Continental Army was during the winter of
1777 at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The 11,000-man force went into
winter quarters and over the next six months suffered thousands of
deaths, mostly from disease. But the army emerged from the winter still
intact and in relatively good order. Realizing their strategy of
capturing Colonial cities had failed, the British command replaced
General Howe with Sir Henry Clinton. The British army evacuated
Philadelphia to return to New York City. Washington and his men
delivered several quick blows to the moving army, attacking the British
flank near Monmouth Courthouse. Though a tactical standoff, the
encounter proved Washington's army capable of open field battle.
For
the remainder of the war, George Washington was content to keep the
British confined to New York, although he never totally abandoned the
idea of retaking the city. The alliance with France had brought a large
French army and a navy fleet. Washington and his French counterparts
decided to let Clinton be and attack British General Charles Cornwallis
at Yorktown, Virginia. Facing the combined French and Colonial armies
and the French fleet of 29 warships at his back, Cornwallis held out as
long as he could, but on October 19, 1781, he surrendered his forces.
George
Washington had no way of knowing the Yorktown victory would bring the
war to a close. The British still had 26,000 troops occupying New York
City, Charleston, and Savannah and a large fleet of warships in the
Colonies. By 1782, the French army and navy had departed, the
Continental treasury was depleted, and most of his soldiers hadn’t been
paid for several years.
A near mutiny was avoided when Washington
convinced Congress to grant a five-year bonus for soldiers in March
1783. By November of that year, the British had evacuated New York City
and other cities and the war was essentially over. The Americans had won
their independence. Washington formally bade his troops farewell and on
December 23, 1783, he resigned is commission as commander-in-chief of
the army and returned to Mount Vernon.
For four years, George
Washington attempted to fulfill his dream of resuming life as a
gentleman farmer and to give his much-neglected plantation the care and
attention it deserved. The war had been costly to the Washington family
with lands neglected, no exports of goods, and the depreciation of paper
money. But Washington was able to repair his fortunes with a generous
land grant from Congress for his military service and become profitable
once again.
Though the British Proclamation Act of 1763—prohibiting settlement
beyond the Alleghenies—irritated him and he opposed the Stamp Act of
1765, Washington did not take a leading role in the growing colonial
resistance against the British until the widespread protest of the
Townshend Acts in 1767. His letters of this period indicate he was
totally opposed to the colonies declaring independence. However, by
1767, he wasn't opposed to resisting what he believed were fundamental
violations by the Crown of the rights of Englishmen.
In 1769,
Washington introduced a resolution to the House of Burgesses calling for
Virginia to boycott British goods until the Acts were repealed. After
the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774, Washington chaired a
meeting in which the Fairfax Resolves were adopted calling for the
convening of the Continental Congress and the use of armed resistance as
a last resort. He was selected as a delegate to the First Continental
Congress in March 1775.
After the battles of Lexington and
Concord in April 1775, the political dispute between Great Britain and
her North American colonies escalated into an armed conflict. In May,
Washington traveled to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia
dressed in a military uniform, indicating that he was prepared for war.
On June 15, he was appointed Major General and Commander-in-Chief of the
colonial forces against Great Britain. As was his custom, he did not
seek out the office of commander, but he faced no serious competition.
Washington
was the best choice for a number of reasons: he had the prestige,
military experience and charisma for the job and he had been advising
Congress for months. Another factor was political. The Revolution had
started in New England and at the time, they were the only colonies that
had directly felt the blunt of British tyranny. Virginia was the
largest British colony and deserved recognition and New England needed
Southern support.
Political considerations and force of
personality aside, George Washington was not necessarily qualified to
wage war on the world's most powerful nation. Washington's training and
experience were primarily in frontier warfare involving small numbers of
soldiers. He wasn't trained in the open-field style of battle practiced
by the commanding British generals. He had no practical experience
maneuvering large formations of infantry, commanding cavalry or
artillery, or maintaining the flow of supplies for thousands of men in
the field. But he was courageous and determined and smart enough to keep
one step ahead of the enemy.
Washington and his small army did
taste victory early in March 1776 by placing artillery above Boston, on
Dorchester Heights, forcing the British to withdraw. Washington then
moved his troops into New York City. But in June, a new British
commander, Sir William Howe, arrived in the Colonies with the largest
expeditionary force Britain had ever deployed to date.
In August
1776, the British army launched an attack and quickly took New York City
in the largest battle of the war. Washington's army was routed and
suffered the surrender of 2,800 men. He ordered the remains of his army
to retreat across the Delaware River into Pennsylvania. Confident the
war would be over in a few months, General Howe wintered his troops at
Trenton and Princeton, leaving Washington free to attack at the time and
place of his choosing.
On Christmas night, 1776, Washington and
his men crossed the Delaware River and attacked unsuspecting Hessian
mercenaries at Trenton, forcing their surrender. A few days later,
evading a force that had been sent to destroy his army, Washington
attacked the British again, this time at Princeton, dealing them a
humiliating loss.
In the early 1750s, France and Britain were at peace. However, the
French military had begun occupying much of the Ohio Valley, protecting
the King's land interests and fur trappers and French settlers. But the
border lands of this area were unclear and prone to dispute between the
two countries. Washington showed early signs of natural leadership and
shortly after Lawrence's death, Virginia's Lieutenant Governor, Robert
Dinwiddie, appointed Washington adjutant with a rank of major in the
Virginia militia.
On October 31, 1753, Dinwiddie sent Washington
to Fort LeBoeuf, at what is now Waterford, Pennsylvania, to warn the
French to remove themselves from land claimed by Britain. The French
politely refused and Washington made a hasty ride back to Williamsburg,
Virginia's colonial capitol. Dinwiddie sent Washington back with troops
and they set up a post at Great Meadows. Washington's small force
attacked a French post at Fort Duquesne killing the commander, Coulon de
Jumonville, and nine others and taking the rest prisoners. The French
and Indian War had begun.
The French counter attacked and drove
Washington and his men back to his post at Great Meadows (later named
"Fort Necessity.") After a full day siege, Washington surrendered and
was soon released and returned to Williamsburg, promising not to build
another fort on the Ohio River. Though a little embarrassed at being
captured, he was grateful to receive the thanks from the House of
Burgesses and see his name mentioned in the London gazettes.
Washington
was given the honorary rank of colonel and joined British General
Edward Braddock's army in Virginia in 1755. The British had devised a
plan for a three-prong assault on French forces attacking Fort Duquesne,
Fort Niagara and Crown Point. During the encounter, the French and
their Indian allies ambushed Braddock, who was mortally wounded.
Washington escaped injury with four bullet holes in his cloak and two
horses shot out from under him.
Though he fought bravely, he
could do little to turn back the rout and led the broken army back to
safety. In August, 1755, Washington was made commander of all Virginia
troops at age 23. He was sent to the frontier to patrol and protect
nearly 400 miles of border with some 700 ill-disciplined colonial troops
and a Virginia colonial legislature unwilling to support him. It was a
frustrating assignment. His health failed in the closing months of 1757
and he was sent home with dysentery.
In 1758, Washington returned
to duty on another expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. A friendly fire
incident took place killing 14 and wounding 26 of Washington's men.
However, the British were able to score a major victory, capturing Fort
Duquesne and control the Ohio Valley. Washington retired from his
Virginia regiment in December 1758. His experience during the war was
generally frustrating, with decisions made excessively slow, poor
support from the colonial legislature, and poorly trained recruits.
Washington applied for a commission with the British Army but was turned
down. In December 1758, he resigned his commission and returned to
Mount Vernon disillusioned.
A month after leaving the army,
Washington married Martha Dandridge Custis, a widow, who was only a few
months older than he. Martha brought to the marriage a considerable
fortune: an 18,000-acre estate, from which George personally acquired
6,000 acres. With this and land he was granted for his military service,
Washington became one of the more wealthy landowners in Virginia. The
marriage also brought Martha's two young children, John (Jacky) and
Martha (Patsy), ages 6 and 4, respectively. Washington lavished great
affection on both of them, and was heartbroken when Patsy died just
before the Revolution. Jacky died during the Revolution, and George
adopted two of his children.
From his retirement from the
Virginia militia until the start of the Revolution, George Washington
devoted himself to the care and development of his land holdings,
attending the rotation of crops, managing livestock and keeping up with
the latest scientific advances. He loved the landed gentry's life of
horseback riding, fox hunts, fishing, and cotillions. He worked six days
a week, often taking off his coat and performing manual labor with his
workers. He was an innovative and responsible landowner, breeding cattle
and horses and tending to his fruit orchards. While he kept over 100
slaves, he was said to dislike the institution, but accepted the fact
that slavery was the law. He also entered politics and was elected to
Virginia's House of Burgesses in 1758.
