What Challenges Did George Washington Face As A President Essay

For two terms, George Washington was the president of America. As the first president, Washington had to set the standards for what future presidents should do. George Washington grew up in Fredericksburg, Virginia where his first job was a land surveyor. As a young kid, Washington never thought of himself being the president one day. At the first presidential election in 1789, Washington ran against John adams. Washington received 132 votes and Adams received 77 votes. This means Washington would the president and John Adams would be the Vice President. since his presidency started right after the American Revolution, there were many challenges Washington would have to face as president. Washington faced many challenges during his eight year

First, George Washington had to made a decision to choose loose interpretation over strict interpretation. Washington could choose a loose interpretation or a strict interpretation. Hamilton had a plan that included a national bank and higher taxes which he wanted the constitution to construct of a loose interpretation. Thomas Jefferson on the other hand wanted the constitution to construct of a strict government with specific detail and did not agree with Hamilton’s plan. Washington agreed with Hamilton because he finally realized the nation would be better with a more general constitution. Second, Hamilton’s financial plan said that the nation needed to combine the debt between the southern and northern states to get rid of all of the war debt. The southern states disliked this a lot and were very angry that that they had to pay off the debt of the north after they already payed of all the debt of their own. The southern states also pointed out that this plan should not be accepted by Washington because it was unconstitutional and was not stated in the constitution. Lastly, George Washington had to made a decision if he agreed with Alexander Hamilton to set up a National Bank. Once again, this was Thomas Jefferson vs Alexander Hamilton. Alexander Hamilton had a financial plan that included setting up a national bank. Thomas Jefferson opposed the idea of having a

Jefferson and Hamilton did not agree with each other about the financial plan and how the government should be run so people chose sides and this formed different groups. Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton had different views on what type of government should be ran in the U.S. and if the Constitution should be strict or loose. People started to form groups and join political parties due to these arguments. Washington had to stop this. Washington said this before retiring in his farewell speech, “I [George Washington]...warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects [of political parties]”(Document 6). Washington was trying to show Political parties are bad and should stop. he was also trying to show that no groups should be formed and everyone should stay neutral and not pick a side just like himself [George Washington]. Another thing that caused political problems was the Interpretation of constitution. Interpreting the constitution was a very difficult task for George Washington. He was either going to choose a loose or strict constitution. He ended up interpreting the constitution most of the time loosely, which allowed flexibility with the constitution. Due to Washington interpreting the constitution loose, political groups formed. Also, they were allowed to use the Democratic- Republican Party format. The last political problem was Political parties forming because some