His Excellency: George Washington (52 page)

52. James Madison to Washington, 18 March 1787, ibid., 94–95; Washington to Edmund Randolph, 28 March 1787, ibid., 112–14; Washington to James Madison, 31 March 1787, ibid., 114–17.

53. Notes on the Sentiments on the Government of John Jay, Henry Knox, and James Madison, April 1787, ibid., 163–66.

54. John Jay to Washington, 7 January 1787,
PWCF
4:502–4.

55. James Madison to Washington, 16 April 1787,
PWCF
5:144–50.

56. Jefferson, 30 May 1787, ibid., 208.

57. Editorial note on 17 September 1787, ibid., 331–32. Two recent books on the Constitutional Convention effectively synthesize decades of scholarship: Carol Berkin,
A Brilliant Solution: Inventing the American Constitution
(New York, 2002); Jack Rakove,
Original Meanings: Politics and Ideas in the Making of the Constitution
(New York, 1997).

58. On the confidentiality theme, see Washington to David Stuart, 1 July 1787, ibid., 240. For his meticulous recording of temperatures, dinners, purchases, etc., see
Diaries
5:152–87. For correspondence about planting instructions, see
PWCF
5:241–43. For an account of expenditures in Philadelphia, see Cash Accounts, 27 May to 18 September 1787, ibid., 173–81, and ibid., 239, for three sittings for Charles Willson Peale in early July. For public response to his appearance on Market Street on 4 June 1787, see ibid., 219.

59. Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 10 July 1787, ibid., 257.

60. Washington to Henry Knox, 19 August 1787, ibid., 297; Washington to Lafayette, 18 September 1787, ibid., 334.

61. On the Constitution as a purposely and necessarily ambiguous document, see John Murrin, “A Roof without Walls: The Dilemma of American National Identity,” Beeman, Botein, and Carter, eds.,
Beyond Confederation,
334–38. My own effort to make the same argument is in
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
(New York, 2001), 13–17, 91–96.

62. On the incident at Head of Elk, see Robert Morris to Washington, 25 October 1787,
PWCF
5:370–71; on the purchase of
Don Quixote,
see the editorial note, ibid., 419; Alexander Hamilton to Washington, 13 August 1788,
PWCF
6:444.

63. Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 28 August 1788, ibid., 480–81.

64. Washington to William Gordon, 1 January 1788, ibid., 1; Washington to Thomas Jefferson, 1 January 1788, ibid., 2–4; Washington to Edmund Randolph, 8 January 1788, ibid., 17–18; Washington to Lafayette, 18 June 1788, ibid., 337; Washington to Bushrod Washington, 9 November 1787,
PWCF
5:422.

65. Washington to Charles Petit, 16 August 1788,
PWCF
6:447–48; Washington to Lafayette, 7 February 1788, ibid., 95–97; Washington to Nathaniel Gorman, 21 July 1788, ibid., 373; Washington to Benjamin Lincoln, 26 October 1788,
PWP
1:72; Washington to Henry Lee Jr., 22 September 1788,
PWCF
6:531; Washington to Alexander Hamilton, 3 October 1788,
PWP
1:31–33; Washington to Henry Knox, 1 April 1789,
PWP
2:2.

66. Washington to William Pierce, 1 January 1789,
PWP
1:227–28; Washington to Lafayette, 29 January 1789, ibid., 262–64; for consultations with Humphreys about the draft of his inaugural address, see the editorial note,
PWP
2:152–57.

67. Address to Charles Thomson, 14 April 1789, ibid., 56–57.

68. James McHenry to Washington, 29 March 1789,
PWP
1:461.

69. Gouverneur Morris to Washington, 23 February 1789, ibid., 339; editorial note on the draft inaugural address,
PWP
2:162; Washington to Henry Knox, 29 January 1789,
PWP
1:260–61.

70. For the trip from Mount Vernon to New York, see
PWP
2:60–158. An excellent scholarly account of the procession, containing the various toasts, odes, poems, and tributes at each location, is in Kenneth Silverman,
A Cultural History of the American Revolution
(New York, 1976), 604–7. Apparently there was at least one sour note during the procession, an article critical of Washington’s royal entourage, as well as his status as a slave owner, which depicted him mounted on his beloved jackass in the arms of Billy Lee. See the editorial note in
PWP
2:115.

71. Editorial note, 30 April 1789, ibid., 155–57.

72. Washington to Lafayette, 18 June 1788,
PWCF
6:338. The inaugural address emphasized Washington’s sense of inadequacy for the task and contained one memorable phrase, the desire to preserve “the sacred fire of liberty.” As with his acceptance of the position as commander in chief, Washington offered to decline any salary and receive only compensation for expenses. See
PWP
2:173–77.

CHAPTER SIX

 1. 
PWP
8:493. See David C. Hendrickson,
Peace Pact: The Lost World of the American Founding
(Lawrence, 2003), for the fullest and most recent assessment of the absence of national unity after the Revolution.

 2. James MacGregor Burns and Susan Dunn graciously allowed me to read their unpublished manuscript on the Washington presidency,
George Washington,
which is excellent at placing it in the context of “presidential history.” The standard single-volume account is Forrest McDonald,
The Presidency of George Washington
(Lawrence, 1974), which I found eccentric. More readable and reliable as a narrative is Richard Norton Smith,
Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation
(Boston, 1993). For its combination of analysis and intellectual sweep, the relevant chapters in Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick,
The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic
(New York, 1993), set the standard.

 3. David Stuart to Washington, 14 July 1789,
PWP
3:198–204, which discusses Henry’s hostility to the power of the executive under the Constitution and cites the famous remark about monarchy.

 4. See the correspondence and editorial notes in
PWP
3:76–77, 536–37;
PWP
4:1–2;
PWO
5:393–400, 515;
PWP
10:5–10.

 5. Editorial note,
PWP
2:205–6, for Martha’s comment.

 6. The letters home to Mount Vernon are too copious to cite in their entirety. For illustrative examples, see
PWP
3:472–76;
PWP
11:273–78, 330–34;
WW
32:297–308, 463–68.

 7. The biographer referred to here is Marcus Cunliffe, whose
George Washington: Man and Monument
(Boston, 1958) makes the case in its title as well as its text that Washington’s private personality was overwhelmed by his public role.

 8. 
PWP
10:535–37, for Jefferson’s conversation with Washington in which retirement after two years is suggested.

 9. 
PWP
2:192–95, 211–14, 245–50;
PWP
3:321–27, 391.

10. 
PWP
5:70–72, 110, 131, 388.

11. 
PWP
3:521–27, where an extensive editorial note synthesizes the several firsthand reports on the Senate imbroglio.

12. 
PWP
4:163, for editorial notes on the tour. See also ibid., 200–1, for a map of the tour;
PWP
6:284–86, for the address to the Hebrew congregation in Newport.

13. 
PWP
7:472–85, for the itinerary of the southern tour; for Prescott and Cornwallis, see
PWP
8:23, 201, 260.

14. Ibid., 73–74.

15. On Madison’s major role during the early months of Washington’s presidency, see
PWP
2:214–16, 419;
PWP
3:387;
PWP
4:3–5, 67–68, 125–27, 307–12. More generally, see Stuart Leibeger,
Founding Friendship: George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic
(Charlottesville, 1999).

16. Thomas Jefferson to Washington, 15 December 1789,
PWP
4:412–13.

17. Washington to Lafayette, 3 June 1790,
PWP
5:468.

18. Washington to John Jay, 5 October 1789,
PWP
4:137.

19. Ibid., 76–80, for the editors’ synthesis of the scholarship on the Judiciary Act. See also Elkins and McKitrick,
Age of Federalism,
62–63.

20. I have written about this episode more fully in
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
(New York, 2000), 81–119.

21. Warner Mifflin to Washington, 12 March 1790,
PWP
5:222–24.

22. Washington to David Stuart, 15 June 1790, ibid., 525.

23. Washington to Tobias Lear, 12 April 1791,
PWP
8:84–86; Tobias Lear to Washington, 24 April 1791, ibid., 132.

24. 
PWP
3:1–31; 265–89.

25. 
Hamilton
6:51–168, which includes a helpful editorial note on the economic technicalities of the
Report.

26. Beverley Randolph to Washington, 4 January 1791,
PWP
7:178.

27. On the routine character of business between Hamilton and Washington, see
PWP
4:520–26;
PWP
6:413–15, 477–80. On Washington’s view of the Virginia campaign against Hamilton’s program, see
PWP
5:286–88, 523–28.

28. 
PWP
7:331–37, 348–58, 395–97, 422–52.

29. Kenneth R. Bowling,
The Creation of Washington, D.C.: The Idea and Location of the American Capital
(Fairfax, 1991), x–xi, 148, 196. See my assessment in
Founding Brothers,
69–80.

30. 
PWP
6:71–73, 368–70, 370–72, 434–37, 463–65.

31. 
PWP
7:161–68, 258–59, 547–50, 585–86, 589–90;
PWP
8:27–38, 506–8;
PWO
9:209–13, 452–68, 603–4;
PWP
10:62–67. See the excellent article by C. M. Harris, “Washington’s Gamble, L’Enfant’s Dream: Politics, Design, and the Founding of the National Capital,”
WMQ
56 (July 1999), 527–64.

32. Rochambeau to Washington, 11 April 1790,
PWP
5:326; Washington to Rochambeau, 10 August 1790,
PWP
6:231–32.

33. The highlights of Morris’s extensive correspondence with Washington are in
PWP
5:48–58;
PWP
7:4–7;
PWP
9:515–17;
PWP
10:223–25. On the Franco-American issues Morris described, see Susan Dunn,
Sister Revolutions: French Lightning, American Light
(New York, 1999).

34. 
PWP
6:58–61, 343–45, 356–58, 359–61, 439–60. The best survey of the affair is Elkins and McKitrick,
Age of Federalism,
212–23.

35. 
PWP
2:196–200, 370–74, 325–26, 490–95. Good background accounts include: Reginald Horseman,
Expansion and Indian Policy, 1783–1812
(East Lansing, 1967); Eric Hinderaker,
Elusive Empires: Constructing Colonialism in the Ohio Valley
(Cambridge, 1997); and for the Native American perception of the engulfment, Daniel K. Richter,
Facing East from Indian Country: A Native History of Early America
(Cambridge, 2001).

36. Knox to Washington, 6 July 1789,
PWP
3:123–29; Knox to Washington, 17 July 1789, ibid., 134–41; Knox to Washington, 4 January 1790,
PWP
4:529–36.

37. 
PWP
3:337–38, 551–64;
PWP
4:468–94;
PWP
5:140–57;
PWP
6:102–4, 186–96, 213–14, 237–39.

38. 
PWP
7:145–50, 262–71;
PWP
9:68–70.

39. 
PWP
4:140–44, 331–32;
PWP
5:11–15, 76–81;
PWP
6:362–65, 668–70;
PWP
8:200–25;
PWP
9:37–41, 158–68. The Washington quotation is from Washington to Edmund Pendleton, 22 January 1792,
WW
34:98–101.