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George Washington had returned to Mount Vernon to wait for the ratification of the Constitution. While he did not speak publicly on the subject, Washington did pass on private support and advice to those who would favor the new Constitution. George Washington was such a popular figure the public felt that it was the correct action to ratify the Constitution. During the ratification process Washington continued to support the Constitution. It has been suggested that before the ratification was done people were already selecting George Washington as the first President.  

George Washington had returned to Mount Vernon to wait for the ratification of the Constitution. While he did not speak publicly on the subject, Washington did pass on private support and advice to those who would favor the new Constitution. George Washington was such a popular figure the public felt that it was the correct action to ratify the Constitution. During the ratification process Washington continued to support the Constitution. It has been suggested that before the ratification was done people were already selecting George Washington as the first President.  

==President==

==Presidency (1789-1797)==

[[Image:Washington painting at the Oval Office.JPG|right|George Washington painting at the Oval Office]]

[[Image:Georgewashington.jpg|right|President George Washington]]

George Washington was at Mount Vernon when Charles Thompson, the long-term secretary of the Continental Congress brought him the news that he was elected President. The arrival of the document at Mount Vernon made it legal. Washington left on April the 16th traveling to New York City, the temporary capital of the new Republic. On April 30, George Washington stood on the balcony of New York City Hall to take the oath of President of the United States.

George Washington was at Mount Vernon when Charles Thompson, the long-term secretary of the Continental [[Congress]] brought him the news that he was elected [[President]]. The arrival of the document at Mount Vernon made it legal. Washington left on April the 16th traveling to [[New York City]], the temporary capital of the new Republic. On April 30, George Washington stood on the balcony of New York City Hall to take the oath of President of the United States. His Presidency almost never happened as he almost died of [[pneumonia]] in 1790 and was unable to function as Chief Executive for several weeks.

Washington acted carefully and deliberately, aware of the need to build an executive structure that could accommodate future presidents. Hoping to prevent sectionalism from dividing the new nation, he toured the New England states (1789) and the South (1791). An able administrator, he nevertheless failed to heal the widening breach between factions led by Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. Because he supported many of Hamilton's controversial fiscal policies--the assumption of state debts, the Bank of the United States, and the excise tax--Washington became the target of attacks by Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans.

Washington acted carefully and deliberately, aware of the need to build an executive structure that could accommodate future presidents. Hoping to prevent sectionalism from dividing the new nation, he toured every state in the union in his first term, from New England (1789) to the South (1791). The [[White House]] was built mainly by George Washington's government, with him micromanaging the designs of the executive mansion as well as the future capital. (Construction began on October 13, 1792 and was ready for occupancy on about November 1, 1800).

Washington was reelected president in the [[United States presidential election, 1792|1792 Presidential Election]] and the following year the most divisive crisis arising out of the personal and political conflicts within his cabinet occurred--over the issue of American neutrality during the war between England and France. Washington, whose policy of neutrality angered the pro-French Jeffersonians, was horrified by the excesses of the French Revolution and enraged by the tactics of Edmond Genet, the French minister in the United States, which amounted to foreign interference in American politics. Further, with an eye toward developing closer commercial ties with the British, the president agreed with the Hamiltonians on the need for peace with Great Britain. His acceptance of the 1794 Jay's Treaty, which settled outstanding differences between the United States and Britain but which Democratic-Republicans viewed as an abject surrender to British demands, revived vituperation against the president, as did his vigorous upholding of the excise law during the [[Whiskey Rebellion]] in western Pennsylvania.  

The White House was built mainly by George Washington's government. (Construction began on October 13, 1792 and was ready for occupancy on about November 1, 1800).

Washington's Presidency marked the first United States Cabinet in the Executive Branch, the first federal judiciary system and oversaw the ratification of the United States [[Bill of Rights]]. An able administrator, he nevertheless failed to heal the widening breach between factions led by [[Secretary of State]] [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[Secretary of the Treasury]] [[Alexander Hamilton]]. Because he supported many of Hamilton's controversial fiscal policies--the assumption of state debts, the Bank of the United States, and the excise [[tax]]--Washington became the target of attacks by Jeffersonian [[Democratic-Republican]]s.

 

When Washington was first sworn in to office he was faced with the on going Northwest [[Indian War]], a battle between the United States and Indians for control of the Northwest Territory in the U.S. He ended the war in 1795 by ceding Indian lands in the [[Ohio]] [[River]] [[Valley]] to the United States. Washington was reelected president in the [[United States presidential election, 1792|1792 Presidential Election]] and the following year the most divisive crisis arising out of the personal and political conflicts within his cabinet occurred--over the issue of American neutrality during the war between [[England]] and [[France]]. Washington, whose policy of neutrality angered the pro-French Jeffersonians, was horrified by the excesses of the [[French Revolution]] and enraged by the tactics of Edmond Genet, the French minister in the United States, which amounted to foreign interference in American politics. Further, with an eye toward developing closer commercial ties with the British, the president agreed with the Hamiltonians on the need for peace with Great Britain. His acceptance of the 1794 Jay's Treaty, which settled outstanding differences between the United States and Britain but which Democratic-Republicans viewed as an abject surrender to British demands, revived vituperation against the president, as did his vigorous upholding of the excise law during the [[Whiskey Rebellion]] in western [[Pennsylvania]].

==Retirement and Assessment==

==Retirement and Assessment==