The Washington Presidency

Washington had to establish the national government’s structure

• The Constitution is a set of rules. Think of it as an outline.
• The national governments of the time were monarchies.
• Washington wanted a citizen government.
• How to set up the national government was a huge question.

Washington had to establish the national government’s structure

• What about relationships with foreign governments. France and England were getting ready for war – again.
• The United States had signed a treaty of alliance with France after the Battle of Saratoga. What did that mean?

Washington had to establish the national government’s structure

• How about taxes? The Constitution gave the new government the authority to tax – as opposed the Articles of Confederation, but remember how taxes were viewed before the Revolutionary War.
• What would the new nation do about taxation?

Washington had to establish the national government’s structure

• Washington turned to his best and brightest friends from the Constitutional period. There were four men he trusted above anyone else. They were Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and John Jay.
• He gave them control over parts of the government. These became known as departments.
• These men were smart and strongly opinionated. At times, they didn’t like each other all that much, but they all owed high allegiance to Washington and the Constitution.