THE EXTENT TO WHICH GEORGE WASHINGTON’S PRESIDENCY SET A PRECEDENT FOR THE FUTURE OF THE NATION Noah Pitcher AP United States History 23 May 2018 The first presidential election in United States history was held in 1789. Prior to this election, the United States operated under the Articles of Confederation. In this system, the federal government had no chief executive but was instead led by the congress of the confederation. However, this all changed with the augmentation of the executive branch into the constitution. The constitution was ratified in 1788, just one year before the first election. In this election, the widely popular George Washington was elected as the first ever President of the United …show more content…
One of the most notable precedents that he set was a peaceful transition of power. The election of 1796 was one of the first times in world history, if not the very first, that power was transferred without the predecessor’s death or violent overthrow. Instead, George Washington resigned peacefully and stood by as his successor took over. On Inauguration Day, 1797, he even stood by as John Adams took the oath of office. There seemed to be a mutual respect between the two leaders that would set an example for the transition of power. Speaking of John Adam’s inaugural address, historian David McCullough says that “he paid great tribute to Washington’s leadership.” It is important to note that this mutual respect between consecutive presidents set an example that has largely been followed for centuries. Nearly two centuries later in 1981, president-elect Ronal Reagan expressed similar sentiments, starting out his speech by addressing the sitting president of the time, Jimmy Carter. He describes the transition of power as “nothing less than a miracle” and asserts that the orderly transition of power “takes place, as it is for almost two centuries, [sic] and few of us stop to think how unique we really are.” He goes on to praise Carter for all he has done to ensure that this tradition carries on in a smooth and peaceful manner. The smooth transition from first to second president greatly shaped the way in which power would be transferred for years to
Washington’s first year in the office as president of the United States was 1789. “How to Be Presidential” by Edward G. Lengel focuses on George Washington becoming the first president of the United States. The author used chronological events in Washington’s life to structure this text to develop his claim that George Washington deserved to become America’s first president. The author uses chronological order to develop his claim that George Washington deserved to be the first president of the U.S. In the text, it states, “By the time the Second Continental Congress convened in May 1775, Washington had cultivated a persona of balanced emotions and careful speech-but not of detachment.”
In An Imperfect God, Henry Wiencek presents George Washington as a specific case through which to study what he calls the great “paradox” of American history: how a nation founded on the philosophies of liberty and equality also kept human beings in chains. Washington was a slave-owner his entire life and he took the role of managing the slaves who lived and worked at Mount Vernon including their purchase and sale. Prior to the Revolution, Washington “was just another striving young planter, blithely ordering breeding wenches for his slave trade, blithely exiling a man to a likely death at hard labor” (Wiencek 133) The fortune produced by Washington’s slaves kept him in the ranks of Virginia’s planter elite, securing the social and political prestige that helped lead the Second Continental Congress to appoint him commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in 1775.
Question 1 Throughout Washington’s presidency, he set many precedents including in his farewell address. As the first president he had nothing to go off of and set precedents for future successors which many didn’t follow well enough. He set precedents such as not to have political parties, the title of Mr. President, advice to remain neutral with foreign nations, a two-term presidency, use of force to maintain order, and having a Cabinet for advice. The precedents he set were split into the two categories of the ones followed by the nation to this day and the ones which were forgotten and regretted. To begin with the one of the first two precedents on my list, he gave the advice to not have political parties.
At his introduction in January 1977, President Jimmy Carter started his discourse by expressing gratitude toward active president Gerald Ford for all he had done to "recuperate" the scars departed by Watergate. American appreciation had not been sufficiently awesome to return Ford to the Oval Office, yet eagerness for the new president was very little more noteworthy in the new environment of thwarted expectation with political pioneers. Without a doubt, Carter won his gathering's assignment and the administration to a great extent in light of the fact that the Democratic authority had been pulverized by death and the corrupt of Vietnam, and he had precisely situated himself as a pariah who couldn't be rebuked for current arrangements. Eventually, Carter's administration demonstrated a dreary one that was set
George Washington, fearing that he would be asked to lead the convention and possibly the nation, originally avoided attending (William P. Kladky). However, after convincing him to come, he did not participate much except for the occasional yes or no voting (William P. Kladky). Even so, because of the trust and military recognition George Washington received, he was unanimously voted to be the nation’s leader, as there was no other man for the job (William P. Kladky)
Ronald Reagan was an influential and innovative American President who was often called the “Great Communicator” because of his inspirational speeches. From 1982 to 1984, Reagan gave three official State of the Union addresses. Reagan’s State of the Union addresses from his first term in office conformed to the conventions of modern State of the Union addresses and will be proved by the following points: • The speeches follow a structured formatting of showing concern, targeting specific issues, and offering policy recommendations. • Reagan’s addresses were given orally and followed typical word count. • The tone was optimistic and patriotic and used unifying diction.
The 1st President Having Been Elected twice, President Washington was a man of many precedents in 1789, George Washington became the first president of the United States, Introduced a policy of neutrality pertaining to foreign wars that was followed up until WWI, Set the precedent for a two term limit of Presidents & even Established the tradition of a Presidential farewell address . Washington strongly beleived that it was a must to have a delicate balance between making the presidency just at the peak of being powerful enought to function in a national government,, Washington definatly influenced the path to the presidency while swifly moving forward, setting high manner in all aspects; political power, military practice, and economic
Intro Growing up, we have all heard the many stories of George Washington. While many recognize him as one of the most important figures in U.S history, others only recognize him by one of his multiple accomplishments; he was the 1st president of the United States. With presidency comes the variety of duties and responsibilities, the main being a president 's inaugural adress. In George Washington 's very 1st inaugural, he uses three rhetorical strategies: personification, amplification, and last but not least, repitition to convey what he truly wants for the States and why a successful Constitution should be in order.
It is very easy to take out country and or freedom for granted. For those of use that have always lived here and never seen anything different it is almost impossible to to fully realize how good we really have it. We were not given anything we have today however, it took an extreme amount of hard work and dedication by the leaders of our past. It is impossible to discuss how this country achieved what we have now today without talking about George Washington. Our first presidents, the man who really pulled our country together and helped lay the ground work that we still live by today.
The first two presidents of the United States, George Washington and John Adams, had differing levels of success in their presidencies. George Washington had a far more admired presidency, as he was able to maintain neutrality in wars and prevent conflict within the United States. He knew that the country was too weak to fight in wars, so he avoided conflict by maintaining neutrality in a war involving France and Britain. Although some did not support his decision, he knew that the country did not have enough strength to survive a loss in a war. It proved to be the right decision.
George Washington was the first president of the United States. There was an election for George Washington, but there was no argument; everyone had voted for him. With that being said, the 1796 election was the first election that there were campaigns for the position. The 1796 presidential election was not the very first election, but it does not mean that there were not any issues or problems
Washington’s Farewell Analysis Vanessa Bates Liberty University Online (GOVT 200-S02) Instructor: Sarah Barber November 22, 2015 The President George Washington’s Farewell Address is a letter written behalf of the president at that time George Washington for the American people. The Farewell Address is one of the most important writings in American history but was written by Alexander Hamilton.
Book Review Being the President of the United States is a leadership position like no other. For those rare few chosen, being the president offers a rare opportunity to mold the country’s future. Over the course of the 241 year history of the United States 44 presidents have come and gone, and some were indisputably more successful at the job than others. In Tom Chaffin’s Met His Every Goal?
The president who set the modern presidency into motion was Woodrow Wilson, who was elected 1912. Wilson was the the first president to employ mass oratory, he changed the theme of presidential speeches, including the Inaugural Address and the Annual Address, which we now refer to as the State of the Union. Wilson “sought
In the 240 years that the United States has been a country, there have been 45 Presidents to lead it through peace and war. From the birth of our nation through revolution, to a war between the states, to interventionism in great wars that encompassed the whole world, the United States has had presidents at the helm to steer it through all forms of conflict and keep the Constitution intact. While there have been many great men to lead this country, there are two presidents who are kept in historical regard for the extraordinary strength they showed in trying to preserve not only the constitution, but this great union as well. In George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, we see two presidencies with some similarities and differences, but who