[[George Washington]] was so popular and respected that he probably could have become king. Even if Washington did not become king, he could have ruled as president for the rest of his life. But his greatness was, like Jesus, to decline power that was available to him in order to advance a greater good. Washington was inaugurated as president in 1789 and voluntarily gave up power in 1797 at the age of 65 - seven years younger than the 2008 presidential candidate John McCain and nine years younger than President Donald Trump when he runs for reelection in 2020. Washington set an unwritten tradition of a maximum of two terms for presidents, which was followed by every president until the Democrat Franklin Roosevelt. After Roosevelt broke the rule by being elected four times to president in the early 1940s, the two-term tradition was enshrined in the Constitution as the 22nd Amendment in 1951.<ref>http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html</ref>
An example of Washington's greatness was his handling of "Citizen" Edmond Genet (pronounced "zhe–nay"), who was sent by France to the United States just after the French Revolution. France felt that the United States owed it assistance after how France provided so much help to Americans to win the Revolutionary War. But Washington wanted to stay out of foreign conflicts. Ignoring Washington's wishes, Genet went around America stirring up pro-French sentiment with his impassioned speeches. Genet even sent out private American citizens to attack British shipping (called "privateers," but acting like pirates). Washington told Genet to stop this, but he refused. Washington told France to recall him. But the French Revolution had become uncontrollable, with senseless violence and executions. "Citizen Genet," as he was known, reasonably feared the guillotine if he returned to France. He then begged Washington to grant him asylum in this country, which means allowing him to stay here safely. Despite Washington's enormous and justified irritation, he granted Genet's wishes. Genet later married the daughter of the governor of New York, and became an ordinary farmer!
Another example of George Washington's leadership was his handling of the Whiskey Rebellion in 1794. Farmers in western Pennsylvania protested a 7-cent per gallon tax on corn whiskey. These farmers refused to pay the tax, retaliated against farmers who did pay it, and even attacked U.S. marshals and revenue agents. Washington told the Pennsylvania governor to end the rebellion, but he refused. Washington himself then raised an army from neighboring states and personally risked his own life to ride out as the soldiers' leader to quell the rebellion. The farmers gave up without bloodshed. Several were caught, tried and convicted for their rebellion. What did Washington do next? He pardoned them. The successful suppression of this rebellion established the power of the federal government in the eyes of the people, and let people know that they should not challenge the President of the United States.
The first major legislative accomplishment of the "Washington Administration" (the name given to the government under a particular president) was the Judiciary Act of 1789, which established federal court system. (Later, in the first major ruling of the Supreme Court in 1803, the Court declared a small portion of this Act unconstitutional in ''Marbury v. Madison''.)
More legislation followed. The Patent Act of 1790 established a procedure under the Patent Clause of the Constitution (Art. I, Section 8, clause 8) by which people could obtain patents on exclusive ownership of their inventions, by obtain patents on them. This which created a unique incentive for Americans to invent useful new devices. This motivated Eli Whitney to develop and in 1794 patent the cotton gin which enabled the automated picking of bits of cotton by pulling them through a screen, which filtered out the seeds stuck to the cotton.<ref>https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/famous-inventors/famous-eli-whitney-inventions.htm</ref> A brush then removed the cotton from the blade on each rotation. This was such a productive invention that it picked as much cotton in one hour as the work of several men toiling all day, and enabled the South to vastly increase its production of cotton. The South then imported even more slaves to vastly expand its cotton production.[[File:Cotton gin.jpg|300px|left|thumb|Eli Whitney's invention: the cotton gin]]
In 1790, George Washington's top aide and the Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton, gave a report on public credit to Congress. Hamilton urged Congress to create a national bank run by a private board of directors. Thomas Jefferson, who was a rival of Hamilton, opposed establishing a national bank, arguing that it was not authorized by the Constitution. But Hamilton persuaded Washington based on the "necessary and proper" clause<ref>U.S. Const., Article One, section 8, clause 18: "The Congress shall have Power - To make all Laws which shall be '''necessary and proper''' for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof."</ref> (implied powers) of the Constitution. Accordingly, in 1791 Hamilton was successful in persuading Congress to establish the First Bank of the United States, pursuant to the Bank Act.