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Mark Chronister APUSH January 27, 2010

//Born Feb. 22, 1732 in Westmoreland, Va. – Died Dec. 14, 1799 in Mount Vernon, Va.// //Terms in office – (1789 – 1792) and (1792 – 1797)// //Vice President – John Adams (both terms)// //Political Party – Democratic/Republican// George Washington was the United States first official president. George Washington earned this position through his valiant efforts in the American Revolution. After taking a look at Washington’s presidency, I would give him a letter grade of a A-. I would give the presidency this grade because although it was the first one, it was very good. It contained many different views in the Presidential staff but still accomplished much. This presidency was the very first one so it obviously contained some problems. It was basically a trial run to see if this type of Government would work. The President’s staff was also very much split. There were no political parties yet established so there were many peoples with opposing views. The last reason is that the terms in office produced much. Although It seemed like everything he did made someone mad in the colonies and there were a few rebellions, he still was able to accomplish a lot.
 * // George Washington //**

The goals of George Washington in his presidency were to build an executive structure that could accommodate future presidents. He also worked on trying to bring the northern and southern colonies together. Washington only succeeded in one of these two ventures. He did successfully create a government system that would last through the ages and accommodate future presidents. The most important goal, however, was met with failed attempts. Washington toured both the north and south hoping to close the growing gap between them. The plan did not work and this eventually led to a civil war.

During Washington’s presidency, they had not yet set up the party system. In the house and senate they had two parties. It was split up into Pro – Administration, people who supported Washington, and the Anti – Administration, people who did not support Washington. In the whole of Washington’s presidency, the house and senate were both dominated by people in the Pro – Administration. In his first term, almost everyone on in congress supported him. In his second term, though, there was a far more equal amount on each side. For the most part, Washington and congress stayed on the same page. They created many different pieces of legislation. Some examples are the first census, the naturalization act, the patent act, and the copyright act. He also created many departments in the government. Some areas were the U.S. department of state, the U.S. department of war and the U.S. court system.

The most positive thing that George Washington did during his presidency is take an oath of neutrality during the war between France and England. This was very smart because they had just finished fighting a war with the powerhouse of that time period, England, and couldn’t afford to fight again. Although this upset many Pro – French Jeffersonians, it was the right thing to do for a developing country.

The most negative aspect of Washington’s presidency was the tax on whiskey. Washington saw that the country needed a way to pay its debts so he enforced a tax on whiskey. This caused the citizens to uproar. In 1791, citizens in Pittsburgh, Pa. started a whiskey rebellion. This eventually led to an armed rebellion. No one died of fighting but twenty rebels were captured and a few died in jail.

The one big contribution of Washington to future presidents was the political party system. Although, Washington formed both as one, the Democratic – Republican party, it eventually split. This was because of two of Washington’s advisors, Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. These two men had completely opposite viewpoints which led to the two parties. When Washington chose neutrality in the French and English war, this greatly upset Thomas Jefferson. He thought that the country should side with the French and go to war. This is a more republican viewpoint. On the other hand, Hamilton thought that they should stay out of it and this is a more democratic viewpoint. That is the basic origin of the two parties.

In conclusion, Washington’s presidency was very good. I do believe that the country was much better off from when he was first signed in. There was still much turmoil between the colonies and internal fighting within the country was common. I gave him a A- because he did much for the country at that time as well as provided an easy system for future presidents to be signed into. The most important thing is that he looked to the future and helped to shape the United States. If it weren’t for him, we probably would not be where we are as a country today.


 * Bibliography**
 * British, 1753 the growing rivalry between the, and French over control of the. " George Washington ." //Supercomputing '94//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. .
 * "George Washington | The White House." //The White House//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. .
 * "U.S. Senate: Art & History Home > Origins & Development > Party Division." //U.S.// //Senate//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. .
 * Picture - http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://arlie3.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/portrait_of_george_washington