Importance Of George Washington

Improved Essays
George Washington was elected the first President of the United States in 1787. Washington believed that the main goal of his presidency should be to establish precedents that could guide the fledgeling country to greatness. Throughout his term he sought to promote fairness and integrity. In matters of foreign affairs Washington supported polite relationships with other countries, but favored a neutral position in conflicts abroad. Washington nominated John Jay as the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. George also nominated Thomas Jefferson, an anti-federalist, as Secretary of State and Alexander Hamilton, a federalist, as Secretary of The Treasury. These differing viewpoints in the presidential cabinet were encouraged by Washington, …show more content…
Unfortunately by the time Washington left office, political parties were already forming, and today 220 years later our political climate is extremely different from what Washington envisioned for his country. Deviation from the precedents that George Washington wanted to set in his farewell address have caused disunity in the U.S. by creating a system in which political parties are on polar opposite sides on issues leading to gridlock even in a perfect congress with no majority, Washington is correct in saying that a system like ours today leads to disunity and isolation of demographics in our country causing bitterness and anger which means no progress can be …show more content…
In his farewell address Washington states, “...frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.” Washington believes that the most important thing the people of the United States have is their unity, the old saying is that America is a melting pot of many cultures around the world with differing viewpoints that all come together. However if one takes the time to look at the current presidential race and the candidates vying for that position they would see how large the rift is between the people of the United States. In the Democratic and Republican parties the amount of moderates is dwindling and the political climate is becoming more and more radical. Violence has erupted at rallies, the tension between the people supporting the candidates in this election has almost reached the boiling point. Another effect of the formation of political parties is a congress that doesn’t represent the people, and only helps congressmen and women who stand only for reelection and not change. Washington would be appalled by the current political situation and saddened that his vision of America was not

Related Documents

  • Superior Essays

    Washington stated in his farewell address of the dangers of the party system that was rising in the United States and believed the party system would lead to instability and division among the citizens of the United States. Washington’s warning was not heeded and the political parties rose in power for the next election growing the destabilization caused by the political parties. George Washington’s Presidential policies and actions created mostly a stable government with some slightly unstable policies and…

    • 1421 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    American History Honors Entry Assignment The Articles of Confederation could have divided the states into 13 different nation-states, but thankfully for the Constitution, the states became one nation, The United States of America. When the Articles of Confederation were first made, it “was not really much of a government at all and was never intended to be” (XI, Introduction). On July 2, 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was approved for the colonies to break away from the British Empire not as a united group but as, “‘Free and Independent States’” (XII). George Washington and others noticed the Articles would not work to keep the previous British colonies united.…

    • 509 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    George Washington’s last wish as president of the United States was for the political system to not be tainted by political parties; however, the Federalists and democratic republicans quickly destroyed any hope of this. Both sides had contrasting political views and steadfastly held their position. The leader of the democratic Republican Party, Thomas Jefferson, was a major advocate of states’ rights and fought venomously against Federalist policies such as the national bank. Yet, when he became president of the United States, his views started to change. Before his presidency, Jefferson was an ardent supporter of states’ rights and restricted government; however, once he became president, he began to use the government’s power for his benefit.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    All though he was more favorable of the Federalist that had Alexander Hamilton which made Democrats like Thomas Jefferson very mad. Washington knew that political parties were beginning to spread, and in his inaugural address he explained how they would do nothing but bring hate to one another in our country. This worried Washington so greatly the majority and his farewell was explaining to his people that parties and sectionalism was not the way to go about things, in the long run it will only cease to gain power; "However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion. " All Washington wanted was for America to be a nation devoted to believing in one thing:…

    • 648 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    George Washington played the role of commander in chief on the Continental Army, elected president in 1789, formed the first presidential cabinet, and admitted five states. He did a pretty decent job as president since he was the first one. John Adams was Vice President of George Washington, maintained peace between France and the United States, and passed the Alien and Sedition Acts to protect the United States from France harassing the United States with British Cargo. Both were dedicated to advanced America and sacrificed the love of their families for this. They also were partners and helped each other out.…

    • 1165 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    During the period of Washington’s campaign the United States was fairly new and states for the most part governed themselves. States were governing themselves to exercise their new freedom from the centralized government that they all were use to with Great Britain. There were so many thoughts on how the new world should be constructed that this caused problems such as each state wanting their own to the laws of individual’s rights. The lack of a central set of laws l and the ability to control chaos when rebellions or other disturbances occurred was almost impossible. Individuals came together to try and uphold the new world that they had fought so hard to start, so this party moved forward with their vision for the United States.…

    • 554 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In this letter written by George Washington, the first President of the United States, Washington gives the people and future leaders advice and reasoning he learned through out presidency. He speaks of liberty, unity, and tranquility. George Washington writes this letter to explain why the United States will succeed together. In Washington’s letter he uses the idea of unification by explaining why the North needs the South and why the East needs the West.…

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the Farewell Address that George Washington was on that said main, but said the same thing at the same time too. The Farewell Address was not only a farewell, but advice and warnings for the American people. Three of the things he talks about that was in the address were no other than “the danger of factions”, “religion and morality”, and “America’s role in the world”. The first one speaks about him warning of the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party as well permanent alliances. This means that they need to watch for the ones who claim to know what the common good is and rights of others, for these are the ones that cause pain and destroy what America is really supposed to be.…

    • 558 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Monroe Doctrine Questions

    • 1589 Words
    • 7 Pages

    A.2. During Washington’s presidency, there was a rise in political factions because of their different point of views. George Washington believed political factions could cause a division in the nation. A.3.…

    • 1589 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Personal demands are sacrificed for the greater good, with seemingly strong reason. With weak political parties, more time is spent fighting over every last issue, which allows various factions-special interest groups- to saunter in and gain political influence, contrasting the point of the Madisonian system of democracy. This, along with weak leadership, leads to the alienation of American citizens from politics. Thus, in order to maintain American participation in politics and uphold collective responsibility, one must form a political ideology and conform to a party that aligns with those ideals. This conformism allows elected officials to get more done for the people by limiting conflict within parties and upholding party discipline.…

    • 1655 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    George Washington Cautions against faction because, “…they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection…” (George Washington, Paragraph 11). What George Washington is doing is cautioning against faction because that may cause us to follow other people’s views in our own faction rather than having our own thoughts and opinions. President Obama expressed similar views about faction in his inaugural address when he said “They saw America as bigger than the sum of our individual ambitions, greater than all the differences of birth or wealth or faction” (President Obama, Paragraph 10). President Obama was expressing that the founding fathers who started our country in the 1700s looked beyond the differences such as faction or wealth and instead really made the country for everyone.…

    • 751 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    George Washington’s Farewell Address to the People of the United States was, in essence, Washington’s last-ditch effort to keep America going on the right path before he left office. Washington could see the growing tensions spreading across America, and he knew that factors like split political parties and foreign intervention would only cause the still very young America great stress. When Washington finally made the decision to retire from office, he left behind a series of growing issues that the next president, John Adams, dealt with; however, the original plan Washington had was to retire after only one term, so the first draft of his Farwell Address, co-written with James Madison , didn’t include many of the issues Washington brought up in his publicized speech. When he turned to Alexander Hamilton to edit what Madison had originally written, Hamilton expanded on issues like “foreign affairs, and updated it to reflect the Washington Administration’s revised neutrality policy .” The final draft, published on September 19, 1796, went through several stages of revision and was edited by Thomas Jefferson and Timothy Pickering , among others, and it mainly focused on the importance of a unified government, the dangers of a two-party system, and the negative influence of getting involved in foreign affairs.…

    • 1636 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Anhely Hernandez What Challenges did George Washington Face as President? Washington was no doubt a remarkable leader, even being credited as the primary reason behind America’s victory against Great Britain in the Revolutionary War. Despite this, Washington never wanted to be president as he considered it to be too much pressure, especially given the fact that he was 56 when he was elected. With his election came a whole slew of problems for Washington, most being economic issues that stemmed from his treasurer’s financial plan to pay back the nation’s debt. Another unhelpful bump in the road came in the form of Thomas Jefferson, who often clashed with Hamilton and his ideals, leading to a rift between the people that would eventually result in the political parties we have today.…

    • 702 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The design of two houses making up Congress allows the wants of the people to never be settled, because neither side can reach an agreement. The founding fathers’ intentions for Congress to be a government in which the people are represented and heard clearly failed due to the never-ending cycle of The Washington Establishment, the most prominent evidence of a broken government. No government is perfect; however, America should set an example to other countries as one with a government that truly represents its constituents, not as one with a broken…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Republican Party is moving in a more conservative direction and the Democratic Party staying consistently liberal on major issues of public policy (Jones 2001). Particularly in congress empirical research shows the parties in our government are becoming more homogenous in their political positions, while the differences among the party’s on policy issues continues to magnify (Jones 2001). In congress alone, polarization is visible by that fact that “since 1990 more than half of the congressional votes have featured a majority of one party opposing a majority of another” (Jones 2001). This intense polarization has had major effects on the relationship between congress and the president in particular. Looking at the theory of divided government it explains that legislation is less likely to get passed when the…

    • 1004 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays