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__** George Washington **__ (Feb. 22, 1732 - Dec. 14, 1799) Federalist Party First Term: 1789-1792 Vice President: John Adams Second Term: 1792-1797 Vice President: John Adams When assigning a grade to our country's first president, one must first take into consideration the fact that being the first, he had no one else's examples to follow after. He had been given the immensely important task of creating a governement for America entirely from scratch. Washington accomplished many things in the two terms he served in office, and set much needed precedents for future government officials. He is the founding father of our democratic government system, and for his efforts he deserves an "**A**".

Washington mentioned in his first inagurual address the he wanted to build a government that "expresses [the people's] sentiments not less than [his] own." He hoped to establish a strong, successful central government for the country that kept the opinions of the people at the forefront. He also aimed to keep foreign nations uninvolved politically in order to avoid any complications. Paying off the nations debt and putting it on a steady economic ground was also at the top of his list of things to do. Overall, he succeeded in building the framework of our government throughout his presidency, adding positions as needed, and heeding the Constitution every step of the way. By creating government offices such as Department of State, War, and Treasury, Post Master General and Attorney General, he was taking steps toward accomplishing his goal of creating a governing body. Furthermore, creating the Supreme Court as well as the federal and district courts helped establish our government. He set the guidelines for presidential succession, in the event that something would happen to one of the political heads. Length of presidential terms were also set during his presidency. Clearly, Washington was successful in completing his goal of establishing a government, as all his contributions still exist today. In reference to his goal of pulling the nation out of debt, Washington was also successful. He established the Bank of the United States, as well as the first United States Mint in Philedelphia. These are the markings of the first financial system in the United States, and helped establish our country. As far as his goal of keeping neutrality with foreign nations, he also succeeded. He stayed out of conflicts over seas, and there were no dilemmas involving foreign nations during his presidency.

As Washington was strictly against partisanship, political parties had not yet been established. Therefore, Congress was soley a group of people, not yet divided by political parties. Decisions were made purely on majority rule, and there was no fear of decision making based on political party. As with the rest of the country, Congress highly respected Washington personally, which he never took unfair advantage of. All decisions were made with the good of the people in mind. He received Congress' full support in his appointments of offices. Congress and Washington worked hand in hand to establish our nation's first government, and had a seemingly cooperative relationship. Together they passed the Bill of Rights: the first ten ammendments to the Constitution. These have proved to be one of the important documents Congress has ever passed, as they are still in place today. Other important legislative business was also taken care of with the help of Congress such as the taxation of whiskey in 1794 and the relocation of the capital to Philadelphia in 1790.

The action taken by Washington and his administration that had the most positive outcome would have to be the Proclamation of Neutrality, put into place in 1793. This Proclamation stated that the United States would remain "friendly and impartial towards the belligerent powers." This kept the nation out of a war it was "ill-prepared to fight" between France and Britain, Austria, Prussia, Sardinia, and the Netherlands. It also allowed him to focus on more important things, like building up our nation's new central government. It prevented the United States from sinking further into debt, as there is not doubt that the price of war is high. Deciding not to get involved delayed further complications with England and allowed the fiery embers of our Revolution against them to die down.

An action taken by Washington and his administration that had a negative outcome was the Whiskey Rebellion. Always hoping to pull the nation out of debt, and place the it on steady economic ground, Washington imposed a excise tax upon liquor. The tax was strongly opposed by the citizens, especially the farmers, who often made their own liquor to drink and sell. Many simply refused to pay the tax, and the local governments made no move to try to enforce it. Washington was furious with the lack of obedience to the newly formed legislator. In response, he was forced to use his militia upon his own nation by sending 15,000 militia out to squash the rebellion. Overall, this act had a negative outcome because of the stout disobedience it received.

Being the first president, everything Washington did impacted future generations in some way. He basically created our government, giving people a reason to respect and honor his work. All the offices and precedents he created are still used by our government today, and impact how our government operates. For example, Washington set the precedent for a two term presidency, which was used up until 1940, then permanently put into place in 1947 with the twenty second amendment to the Constitution. This practice has prevented any one preseident from becoming too powerful, and has helped us hold onto our democratic beginnings. Washington also put into place the idea of a succession, which told what to do if a leading member of any of the political branches died, which has proved helpful. These are just two examples of the myriad of systems he put into place that have impacted the way we run our country these days.

Considering the strong foundation that Washington layed for our country, it could be conceded that the nation was definitely better off after his presidency. Washington deserves his grading of an "A" for all the hard work he put in. Undeterred by the difficult task he had been handed, he set a countless number of precedents, aided in the creation of multiple important pieces of legislation, and got our country back on track after the revolution. He is known as one of the greatest founding fathers of our nation for his work, which has proved to be long lasting. He was able to accomplish all of his goals as president, and was successful overall. He remained well liked by the people throughout his whole presidency, and is still highly respected by Americans even after his death. George Washington was a paramount choice for a first president.

__Sources__: Degregorio, William. //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents--6th Edition: Includes Material through 2005 (Complete Book of Us Presidents)//. 6 Updated ed. Fort Lee: Barricade Books, 2005. Print.

"Miller Center of Public Affairs." //Miller Center of Public Affairs//. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Jan. 2010. .

Wyatt, Blassingame.. //The Look It Up Book of Presidents; From George Washington Through Bill Clinton//. Rhinelander: : L. F. C. Bible Study, 1993. Print.