Oh Mr. Locke, you disappoint me by your views of President Washington. And you are a professor?
Washington’s contribution to American victory was enormous, and analysis of his leadership reveals much about the nature of the military and political conflict. As a conservative, he was determined to show that American officers could be every bit as civilized and genteel as their European counterparts. He convinced many Americans of the need for a stronger government. Washington and other Virginia nationalists were instrumental in bringing about the Constitutional Convention of 1787 to promote that end.
Elected president in 1788 and AGAIN in 1792, his stiff dignity and sense of propriety postponed the emergence of the fierce partisanship that would characterize the administrations of his three successors—John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison.
Washington made several decisions of far-reaching importance:
During Washington's 2nd Administration, the outbreak of war between revolutionary France and a coalition led by Britain, Prussia, and Austria in 1793 jeopardized American foreign policy and crippled Jefferson’s rival foreign policy design (Jefferson was PRO-FRANCE ya know).
Washington insisted, over Jefferson’s reservations, that the U.S. denounce Genêt and remain neutral in the war between France and Britain. Washington’s anti-French leanings, coupled with the aggressive attitude of the new regime in France toward the U.S., thus served to bring about the triumph of Hamilton’s pro-British foreign policy—formalized by Jay’s Treaty of 1795, WHICH SETTLED OUTSTANDING AMERICAN DIFFERENCES WITH BRITAIN.
Shortly after the president’s death, an Episcopal clergyman, Mason Locke Weems, wrote a fanciful life of Washington for children, stressing the great man’s honesty, piety, hard work, patriotism, and wisdom. Washington has long served as a symbol of American identity along with the flag, the Constitution, and the Fourth of July.
As later historians have examined closely the ideas of the Founding Fathers and the nature of warfare in the Revolution, they have come to the conclusion that Washington’s specific contributions to the new nation were, if anything, somewhat underestimated by earlier scholarship.
George Washington had an important role in shaping America as it stands today.
George Washington was much more than ordinary.