Elections took place in the states during January and February 1789, and by early April enough congressmen had gathered in New York, the temporary national capital, to commence operation. The ballots of the presidential electors were officially counted in the Senate on April 6, Washington being the unanimous choice. John Adams, with thirty-four electoral votes, won the vice-presidency.
When he left Mount Vernon for the eight-day trip to New York for his inauguration, Washington’s progress was a series of celebrations. In every town he was met by bands, honor guards, local dignitaries, and crowds of cheering citizens. The people were informally ratifying the decision to create a new and more powerful United States. On April 30 Washington took the oath of office at New York’s Federal Hall.
Washington made a firm, dignified, conscientious, but cautious president. His acute sense of responsibility led him to face the task “with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution.” Each presidential action must of necessity establish a precedent. “The eyes of Argus are upon me,” he complained, “and no slip will pass unnoticed.” Hoping to make the presidency appear respectable in the eyes of the world, he saw to it that his carriage was drawn by six cream-colored horses, and when he rode (he was a magnificent horseman), he sat upon a great white charger, with the saddle of leopard skin and the cloth edged in gold. Twenty-one servants (seven of them slaves) attended his needs at the presidential mansion on Broadway.
Washington meticulously avoided treading on the toes of Congress, for he took seriously the principle of the separation of powers. Never would he speak for or against a candidate for Congress, nor did he think that the president should push or even propose legislation. When he knew a controversial question was to be discussed in Congress, he avoided the subject in his annual message. The veto, he believed, should be employed only when the president considered a bill unconstitutional.
Although the Constitution said nothing about a presidential Cabinet, Washington established the system of calling his department heads together for general advice, a practice that was followed by his successors. In selecting these department heads and other important administrators, he favored no particular faction. He insisted only that appointees be competent and “of known attachment to the Government we have chosen.” He picked Hamilton for secretary of the treasury, Jefferson for secretary of state, General Henry Knox of Massachusetts for secretary
George Washington arriving by boat to New York City—the nation's capital—for his First Inaugural in 1789.
Source: North Wind Picture Archives.
Of war, and Edmund Randolph for attorney general. He called on them for advice according to the logic of his particular needs and frequently without regard for their own specialties. Thus he sometimes consulted Jefferson about financial matters and Hamilton about foreign affairs. This system caused resentment and confusion, especially when rival factions began to coalesce around Hamilton and Jefferson.
Despite his respect for the opinions of others, Washington was a strong chief executive. As Hamilton put it, he “consulted much, pondered much, resolved slowly, resolved surely.” His stress on the dignity of his office suited the needs of a new country whose people tended to be perhaps too informal. Because opponents of republican government predicted it must inevitably succumb to dictatorship and tyranny, Washington took scrupulous care to avoid overstepping the bounds of presidential power. Yet Washington’s devotion to duty did not always come easily. Occasionally he exploded. Thomas Jefferson has left us a graphic description of the president at a Cabinet meeting, in a rage because of some unfair criticism, swearing that “by god he had rather be on his farm than to be made emperor of the world.”
The linage Wdshington s Arrival in New York City, 1789 at myhistorylab. com
World History
