The Greatest President (Part One)

Our greatest President was George Washington. (In the next post, you'll see me say that the greatest President was Abraham Lincoln because, quite honestly, I can't choose between the two.) To those of us who live in the 21st century, he's become iconic, untouchable--as if he is and always was a marble statue in the rotunda of the Capitol.

George Washington was our greatest President not only for what he did, but also--quite importantly--for what he did not do. It's hard for us to relate to this concept today, but during the Constitutional Convention of 1787, the Founding Fathers were on the horns of a dilemma: on the one hand, they did not want the office of the new President of our fledgling country to be too strong and centralized such that it might resemble a King; on the other hand, they did not want an executive who was so weak that there would be a leadership vacuum at the top of the government. Ultimately, they looked to the man who presided over that convention during the long summer of 1787 when our nation was conceived--George Washington. In Washington, they saw a man whose courage was unassailable, whose leadership and stature throughout America was recognized, who was revered as the man who had endured the suffering with his troops through the course of the long war with Great Britain. They also saw something else: Washington did not thirst for power.

In her book "Miracle At Philadelphia", Catherine Drinker Bowen maintains that the delegates to the Convention drafted Article II (the portion dealing with the executive branch of our government) with Washington in mind. Had he not been there as a reassuring presence, the structure of the office--indeed, our entire government structure--would likely look much different even today.

Even so, Washington could have reached for power. When King George III of England heard that Washington would soon resign his commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, he said "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world." It had been the pattern of victorious commanding generals to grip and hold power, not to step away from it.

He was so revered by his countrymen that, if he had tried to consolidate power against the will of the Congress, many--perhaps even a majority--of his fellow citizens would have supported him. Not only did he not do this, but Washington tried scrupulously to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States", as he and every President have sworn to do on their inauguration day.

 He was constantly aware that nearly everything he did served to create important precedents for those who would follow. For example, his Vice President, John Adams, wanted to address Washington as "Your Excellency"--something far too imperial-sounding, even having an air of royalty in the mind of Mr. Washington. The President insisted on a simple salutation: "Mr. President". It stuck. Today, that's how our Presidents are addressed by their fellow citizens.

Another example, and perhaps the most important: Washington voluntarily gave up his office after two terms. Many think the two-term Presidency has always been part of our Constitution. But after Washington served two terms, every President after him respected his example until Franklin Roosevelt broke the standard and was elected to four terms (he died in office before he could complete his fourth term). It was only then that the 22nd Amendment was adopted, limiting the Presidency to two terms in office.

Washington was, literally, a living legend. Very few Americans have ever held such universal adoration, awe, and respect from their countrymen. His Secretary of State and the future 3rd President, Thomas Jefferson, had this to say upon Washington's death in 1799: "On the whole, his character was, in the mass, perfect. It may be truly said that never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great, and to place him in the same constellation with whatever worthies have merited from man an everlasting remembrance".