The Good, the Bad, and The Ugly of American Presidents: Part 1

All too often, American presidents are generalized. This one was good, this one was bad, or all of them were bad before or after this point. In reality, each President has positive or negative aspects that may be frequently overlooked. Sometimes what seemed good at the time is not so good in retrospect, or what was controversial would be accepted today. In this series, we'll look at the highlights of each President from the founding of America to today.

1. George Washington (in office April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797)

Before the Revolutionary War, Washington was a surveyor and plantation owner in Virginia, also serving with distinction in the French and Indian War, where he achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel and became head of the Virginia regiment.

The Second Continental Congress appointed Washington Commander in Chief of the Continental Army in 1775, a post he held until 1883, when his leadership led to victory over the British and the end of the Revolutionary War. At the outbreak of the war, Washington was one of the wealthiest men in the colonies, refusing to take any salary for his position. After the war, Washington was crucial in the states adopting the Constitution. Washington was then elected as the first American President in 1888, and reelected in 1892.

Achievements as President

As the first President, Washington was expected to decide what the position would entail. While Congress insisted that he accept a salary of $25,000 (roughly $6 million today), he initially said he did not want a salary. Washington also insisted that the President be addressed as "Mr. President" rather than a more royal or illustrious address such as "Your Highness" or "Your Excellency."

Washington's other innovations include the presidential inaugural address, speaking before and sending messages to Congress, and the executive cabinet.

Washington was apolitical. He believed formal formation of parties in the federal government would undermine the efficacy and integrity of the republic.

Relying heavily on Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton, Washington's executive branch established the US Mint, which printed legal federal currency for the fist time. He also sorted out federal and domestic debt and created the national bank, specifically to pay off debts from the Revolutionary War.

Washington celebrated the first national Thanksgiving Holiday in 1789 to promote national unity.

Again relying heavily upon Hamilton, Washington helped normalize relations with Great Britain, opening pathways to increased trade. As part of this effort, the British abandoned the forts they occupied in Western territories on the North American continent.

Washington made great efforts to work with Native American tribes, recognizing their areas as sovereign nations, equating the killing of natives with the killing of whites, and working to incorporate natives with European Americans.

Under Washington's tenure, the Revenue Cutter Service (a precursor to US Customs Service and the Coast Guard) and U.S. Navy were created.

Failures

Despite not wanting official parties in the government, divides in his own cabinet, specifically between Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton and Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson over several matters, but especially over the creation of a banking system, led to the formation of the Federalist (Hamilton) and Republican (Jefferson) parties. These divides became quite bitter and would go on to affect the next two presidencies. Because Jefferson continually undermined Hamilton, and the two could not be convinced to work together, Jefferson, prompted by Washington, resigned from the cabinet and was shunned by Washington afterward.

Declaring the United States officially neutral during the French Revolution, Washington was declared an honorary French citizen, but due to other statements he made about French affairs, the once-strong relationship with France - America's staunch ally during the American Revolution - started breaking down, and by the end of Washington's time in office, France was declaring the right to seize American ships.

Controversies

While Commander in Chief of the Continental Army, Washington initially refused to allow blacks in the army. By 1777, when he was desperate for more men, he reversed that decision. The loyalist governor of Virginia offered freedom to any slaves who would fight on the side of the British, and in 1883, after the Treaty of Paris, Washington tried to reclaim the slaves freed by the British and made such a request as part of the treaty, but the British issued 3,000 freedom certificates instead and allowed former slaves to evacuate New York City before the British fully evacuated the city.

While antislavery petitions were presented to Congress in 1790, Washington appeased Georgia and South Carolina, which threatened a civil war, by signing legislation presented by Congress denying membership of blacks in state militias, denying naturalization of slaves, and allowing bounty hunters and others to go into free states to bring back escaped slaves.

When Congress passed a tax on distilled spirits to help curb national debt, citizens of western Pennsylvania complained, stating it was taxation without representation, and an unfair burden, given that members of their population relied on whiskey brewing and even used whiskey as a key component of trade and currency. They refused to pay the taxes, and took part in what became known as the Whiskey Rebellion. At Hamilton's urging, Washington called up state militias and used them, initially led by himself as commander in chief, to quell the rebellion with force. While Congress celebrated this as a successful demonstration of the government's ability to protect itself against insurgency, some citizens saw it as a betrayal of the very people who helped win independence, and an overreach of power resembling the very reason for breaking from Britain in the first place.

Washington did not want to run for a second term, being tired, sick, and disheartened by the infighting in his cabinet. Convinced by members of his cabinet that if he were not president the country would suffer, he agreed to run again, but problems with his cabinet only increased. Hamilton was accused of corruption, and while exonerated, resigned to make more money for his family. Secretary of War Henry Knox was similarly accused of benefiting from contracts in the creation of the Navy, and finally Washington himself was assailed by the press, who accused him of being overly ambitious and greedy. Washington denied these claims, but being disheartened by them and politics in general, he chose to retire after his second term.

2. John Adams (in office March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801)

John Adams was a successful lawyer before the Revolutionary War, believing in every person's right to legal protection, and famously defending the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre.

During the war he was a leader of the revolution, a key foreign diplomat, and, with Thomas Jefferson, a co-author of the Declaration of Independence. As a member of the Continental Congress, Adams nominated George Washington to be commander in chief of the Contintental Army.

America's first vice president, under George Washington, Adams took the vice president's role as President of the Senate seriously, presiding over the Senate often and directly, sometimes addressing their behavior at length.

In the effort to normalize relations with Great Britain after the war, Adams was made the first ambassador to Great Britain.

Adams is the only President elected as a member of the Federalist Party established by then-Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton during George Washington's term as President. As a Federalist, Adams was in opposition to the Republican Party, established by Thomas Jefferson. Unfortunately for Adams, the rules of elections at the time dictated that the Vice President would be the candidate who had the second most electoral vote. This made Adams' rival, Jefferson, his Vice President.

Achievements as President

Adams won the first contested presidential election in American history, narrowly defeating Thomas Jefferson.

While a member of the Federalist Party, Adams had his own opinions and would not be dictated to by Hamilton or other influential members of the party, particularly in the area of banks, which he believed would ultimately swindle poorer Americans.

Adams was extremely moral, and loyal to his wife. He looked down on any womanizing, known or rumored, even among other known patriots. This was a particularly divisive issue between him and fellow Federalist Alexander Hamilton.

Adams was the first president to live in the White House.

He is one of only two of the first 12 presidents who never owned slaves (the other being his son, John Quincy Adams). In fact, when someone tried to give Adams slaves as a gift, he refused, finding the idea abhorrent.

Failures

To help pay for the increase in military force needed to deal with the undeclared war with France, Adams signed the first direct tax on Americans into law. Federal revenue previously had come from excise taxes and trade tariffs, but in this case a tax was placed on land ownership. Similar to the case of the Whiskey Rebellion under Washington, this tax resulted in a localized rebellion that had to be stopped with military force. Those involved in the rebellion were sentenced to hang but were pardoned by Adams, in what was deemed a massive mistake.

While responsible to building up the army and navy, Adams resented that, with Washington gone, Hamilton was now acting as de facto commander in chief of the army and used the lack of a war and dwindling funds as an excuse to disband the army in 1800, and thus reduce Hamilton's duties, influence, and power.

Controversies

Adams signed the Aliens and Seditions Act into law, restricting immigration and speech in the United States. Under the new law, the president had the ability to detain and deport non-citizens, with additional power during times of war. It also restricted false and malicious statements about the federal government.

While a fierce and lifelong patriot, Adams was neither charismatic nor popular as his contemporaries, notably Washington, Hamilton, and Jefferson. He was older than several of them, and tended to be overweight. This insecurity tended to make him overbearing, and led to accusations during his presidency of being a despot.

Adams decided to keep the Washington cabinet intact and stay the course with Washington's policies, but he typically ignored what his cabinet had to say, which resulted in more strife within his own branch and unpopularity with the federal government in general.

Adams continued Washington's policy of neutrality in the French Revolution, even though Britain was at war with France, and the United States was tradiing with Britain. Adams believed America could not afford a war, while many Americans were in favor of the French, who were allies during the American Revolution. Because America was trading with the French, French ships were taking control of American trade ships in an undeclared war. When the French sent diplomats to the US to negotiate the matter, Adams ignored them for days and made statements they found offensive. This increased Adams' popularity, and turned American sentiment against France for the first time.

After losing to Jefferson in a bitter bid for reelection, Adams left the White House without attending Jefferson's inauguration, making him the first of only five presidents to serve a full term but not attend their successor's inauguration. Like Washington before him, Adams was sickened by politics and only wanted to return home.

Next: Jefferson and Madison