Early American presidency and its constitutional foundations

¶ … American Presidency

The early American democracy benefited from the experience and knowledge of some of the most important figures in American history. They include the first three presidents, George Washington, Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.

The role of George Washington was extremely special partly because of the fact that he was the first president of the New Republic, partly because of the novelty of the entire idea of republic and sovereignty. Unlike any of his followers, George Washington did not have a predecessor from which he could have gained information or knowledge on the way in which the republic would function, the powers in the state would be split or the actual federal system would be combined with the state system. From this point-of-view, the presidency of George Washington marked the beginning of the democratic era of the United States of America.

One of the most important aspects of his presidency rested in the way in which the new institution of the president can accommodate both the expectations of the people as well as the necessities of a newly created state. More precisely, "One of the main goals of his presidency was to present the new administration in such a way as to attract the loyalty of the mass of Americans -- of all factions and parties -- to the new republic. The first president was acutely aware of the need of the new nation for national symbols, and he had an extraordinary grasp of the symbolic function of his office" (Urofsky, 2000). One of the most important aspects when establishing a new country, state, or form of government especially as important as the United States were in the 18th century was the power of its people. The Presidency as a new institution was not privileged to have inherited the trust and commitment of the population, therefore the importance of the presidential administration as the symbol of the states united was crucial and was properly seized by George Washington. Therefore, one of the most important achievements of the presidency related to the establishment of the administration as a symbol of the states united and the executive power as the defining element of the state.

Among other achievements, the financial system proposed and promoted by Hamilton was agreed upon. The result of an important positive change in the life of the states was the construction of the capital, on the Potomac River, which would soon be the new capital city of the United States. George Washington was, according to most accounts, the proper president that gave unity to a newly established country and culture (Jenkins, 1997)

John Adams, the second president of the United States benefited from the experience of Washington's administration. Unlike Washington however, Adams' background included close ties with European powers such as France and Great Britain during his activity with the Congress.

One of the biggest differences between the George Washington and John Adams was in the way in which the two perceived the role of the population and the electorate. As stated before, Washington considered the Administration as representing a tool that would built unity and national consideration for a newly created nation. By comparison, Adams "never accepted the necessity of parties, platforms, compromise, and cooperation. Believing that the president should remain above partisan politics he was incapable of manipulating support for his policies or of putting together a congressional majority in support of his initiatives. Above all, John Adams had not accepted the presidency to serve special interest. His role, as he saw it, was not to be guided by the people so much as it was to educate and guide them" (Urofsky, 2000). This aspect was crucial for the presidency of Adams because it left him with less support among the population and in the Congress, reason for which his initiatives were not considered either priority or a rule.

One of the most important achievements of the Adams administration was the creation of the United States Navy in cooperation with the French state. At the same time though, during Adam's presidency, the United States had almost gone to war with Europe. The critical moment was 1799. However, the United States kept is neutrality "in hopes of preserving and maintaining a kind of pristine U.S. independence of both Britain and France." (Urofsky, 2000). However, he limited its intervention in the French British war particularly because of the desire to maintain a distance from the two European powers. Even so, there were impressive expenses made to ensure a certain level of self-defense armament, money that would later be recovered though increase of local and house takes. This however, is said to have cost him and his party, the Federalist Party, his mandate (Jenkins, 1997).