Part 15 (2/2)

Like his father, Washy knew that he would inherit the Custis fortune, which ain afraid to cross Martha on the loaded subject of the children and the Custisletter written in 1791, Tobias Lear talked about this uneasy standoff between the Washi+ngtons: ”I clearly see that [Washy] is in the high road to ruinThe president sees it with pain, but, as he considers that Mrs W's happiness is bound up in the boy, he is unwilling to take such idity towards him would perhaps be productive of serious effects on her”43 This was one area where the most powerful ton did succeed was in introducing the two children to the theater The boy was sufficiently i that he played Cassius in a performance of This was one area where the most powerful ton did succeed was in introducing the two children to the theater The boy was sufficiently i that he played Cassius in a performance of Julius Caesar, Julius Caesar, enacted at the presidential ht-a literary urge that resulted in a flowery randfather enacted at the presidential ht-a literary urge that resulted in a flowery randfather

Frotons did their best to cope with the inconveniences of the Cherry Street house Though rooh people for large formal dinners and receptions In the fall of 1789, when Washi+ngton heard that the Count de Moustier was being recalled to France, he jumped at the chance to occupy his house at 39-41 Broadway, on the west side of the street south of Trinity Church (erected two years earlier by merchant Alexander Macoh, featured two high-ceilinged drawing rooms, and was much more stately than its predecessor When one New Yorker toured the house and its two neighbors under construction in 1787, he was thrilled by their irandest buildings I ever saw and are said to excel any on the continent”44 On February 23, 1790, the Washi+ngtons moved from their old cramped quarters to this airy, commodious new residence Where they could seat only fourteen people at state dinners before, they now had roolass doors opened onto a balcony with unobstructed views of the Hudson River Washi+ngton also built a stable nearby with handsome planked floors and twelve stalls for horses With his eye for furnishi+ngs, he bought froilt nity, he bought ed porcelain for dinner parties Green was the oreen silk furniture and a green carpet spotted hite flowers Washi+ngton's love of greenery was further reflected in his purchase of ninety-three glass flowerpots scattered throughout the residence It is curious that Ahly saturated with a French sensibility

This executive mansion never had the dark, sht dinners Attuned to the spirit of technical innovation, Washi+ngton bought fourteen laand, a Swiss chehter light than anything used before, chasing away evening shadows and affording up to twelve titonroo shadows from the residence As he wrote excitedly, ”These lamps, it is said, consuht, and are cheaper than candles”45 In this ton initiated America's insatiable appetite for oil, provided theatrical lighting to burnish the splendid statecraft that he practiced, and introduced a welcoton initiated America's insatiable appetite for oil, provided theatrical lighting to burnish the splendid statecraft that he practiced, and introduced a welcome touch of modernity

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

The State of the President A LITTLE AFTER NOON ON JANUARY 8, 1790, George Washi+ngton climbed into his cream-colored coach and rode off to Federal Hall behind a team of four snohite horses In its sparsely worded style, the Constitution ive Congress inforton who turned this amorphous injunction into a for another precedent Trailing hie were the chief justice andto yet another tradition: that the State of the Union speech (then called the annual address) would feature leading figures fro about the new governton's advent occasioned so in the Senate cha but bustle about the Senate Cha tables” for his arrival1 Once at Broad and Wall, Washi+ngton entered the hall-on later occasions, constables held back the croith long white rods-andnervously to protocol, and the president went through an aard coislators When he entered, they rose; when he was seated, they sat Still dressed in shades of ht blue, verging on black, that he had brought back froton entered the hall-on later occasions, constables held back the croith long white rods-andnervously to protocol, and the president went through an aard coislators When he entered, they rose; when he was seated, they sat Still dressed in shades of ht blue, verging on black, that he had brought back from the Hartford factory

In a hopeful speech, Washi+ngton anticipated Ha the need to establish public credit and proriculture, and commerce He sounded a theme already resonant in his warti national defense: ”To be prepared for war is one of thepeace”2 He also advocated the advanceh the formation of a national university The speech was composed in the didactic style of a wise parent, patiently lecturing his children, that characterized Washi+ngton's public pronouncements and defined his political rhetoric When it ended, the legislators stood, Washi+ngton bowed, and then he descended to the street Willia style, but ever watchful for ton had fallen into ”the Britishdepartress He also advocated the advanceh the formation of a national university The speech was composed in the didactic style of a wise parent, patiently lecturing his children, that characterized Washi+ngton's public pronouncements and defined his political rhetoric When it ended, the legislators stood, Washi+ngton bowed, and then he descended to the street Willia style, but ever watchful for ton had fallen into ”the Britishdepartress3 When Washi+ngton delivered his speech, he had little sense that a furor was about to erupt over Ha system or that American politics would becoress had enacted legislation to create a string of lighthouses, beacons, and buoys along the eastern seaboard for the custoe of a vast public works project He also had enore powers, as he na the colonial era, the evasion of customs duties had become a titon's approval for constructing ten boats called revenue cutters to police the ays and intercept s birth to what later becaton and Hamilton distributed the construction work and skipper jobs to different parts of the country, but for a nation already wary of bureaucracy, the progranificant, and for soovern money matters, the Treasury Departress debated its shape in 1789, republican purists wanted it headed by a three-ainst concentrated power When a single secretary was chosen instead, Congress tried to he that, unlike the other cabinet secretaries, he should file periodic reports directly with theislature, however, this approach enressive style guaranteed that the executive branch, not Congress, would oversee econon policy, executive primacy in economic matters ran counter to the view of ress would enjoy policy-reater efficiency and consistency than would otherwise have been the case

On January 14, 1790, Hamilton delivered the Report on Public Credit Report on Public Credit that Congress had requested in the fall With his nie, Haislators had envisioned No evidence exists that Haton before he completed it Since the president was not well schooled in the arcana of public finance, Jefferson thought he had been hoodwinked: ”Unversed in financial projects and calculations and budgets, his approbation of theress had requested in the fall With his nie, Haislators had envisioned No evidence exists that Haton before he completed it Since the president was not well schooled in the arcana of public finance, Jefferson thought he had been hoodwinked: ”Unversed in financial projects and calculations and budgets, his approbation of them was bottomed on confidence in the ton was a helpless dupe of Ha back to their wartiton and Hamilton had shared a common worldview and an expansive faith in executive power They had seen firsthand how Britain's well-funded public debt had enabled it to prosecute the ith seeton had blasted the fanciful notion that ”the war can be carried on without money, or that money can be borroithout permanent funds to pay the interest of it” Jefferson's insinuation that Washi+ngton was a helpless dupe of Ha back to their wartiton and Hamilton had shared a common worldview and an expansive faith in executive power They had seen firsthand how Britain's well-funded public debt had enabled it to prosecute the ith seeton had blasted the fanciful notion that ”the war can be carried on without money, or that money can be borroithout perovern off the enormous debt-54 ations-aht the Revolutionary War It would have been te nation to repudiate this burden, but as a ton and Haht nations should honor their debts if they aspired to full membershi+p in the community of nations ”With respect to the payton had written before becoood sense of this country will never suffer a violation of a public treaty, nor pass acts of injustice to individuals Honesty in states, as well as in individuals, will ever be found the soundest policy”6 If Washi+ngton gave Ha close to carte blanche on fiscal reed on the steps needed to ta debt But he had also set up a policy- apparatus in which major decisions had to cross his desk for approval, so he was confident that he could control the soave Ha close to carte blanche on fiscal reed on the steps needed to ta debt But he had also set up a policy- apparatus in which major decisions had to cross his desk for approval, so he was confident that he could control the sometiued that, to restore fiscal sanity, the government did not have to retire the debt at once All it had to do was devise aaside revenues at predictable intervals, it would faithfully retire it in future years Such a well-funded debt, Ha” inasmuch as it would provide investment capital and an elastic national currency7 The report foresaw a medley of taxes, from import duties to excise taxes on distilled spirits, to pay off existing debt and to service a new foreign loan With its new taxes and its funded debt, Hae up unwelcome memories of the British ministry The report foresaw a medley of taxes, from import duties to excise taxes on distilled spirits, to pay off existing debt and to service a new foreign loan With its new taxes and its funded debt, Hae up unwelcome memories of the British ministry

In his report, Hainal holders of the warti many Continental Army veterans, had sold them after the war at a tiny fraction of their face value, believing that they would never be repaid in full Hamilton planned to redeem them at face value and wanted current holders of the paper, even if they were speculators, to reap the rewards of the steep price appreciation that would follow enactht, could he establish the principle that owners of securities were entitled to all future profits and losses Without such a policy, the United States could never establish thriving securities markets Hamilton was also persuaded that, since the debt had been raised to finance a national war, the federal government should assume responsibility for the states' debts as well Such an act of ”assumption” would have extraordinarily potent political effects, for holders of state debt would transfer their loyalty to the new central governether It would also reinforce the federal government's claim to future tax revenues in any controversies with the states Peerless in crafting policies eenda, Haram with another in a way that made them all difficult to undo

Until the publication of Haton's an to erode on February 11, 1790, when Madison rose in the House and, in a surprising volte-face, denounced the idea that speculators should benefit fro shot across the bow of the administration Madison favored a policy of so-called discriinal holders of the debt, mostly forovernment paper soared Many Americans found it hard to see speculators rewarded instead of veterans, and Madison's speech tapped a powerful vein of discontent Speculation in govern, radically and ress away from the continental perspective that had united hiress away from the continental perspective that had united him with Hamilton when they co-authored The Federalist The Federalist For Madison, the funded debt and the expanding ranks of Treasury employees were far too re betrayed by Madison, Haued that his former comrade's discrimination proposal was siinal holders of securities and parcel out their shares of the profits would be a bureaucratic nightmare He also considered speculation to be an inescapable, if unsavory, aspect of functioning financialranks of Treasury employees were far too re betrayed by Madison, Haued that his former comrade's discrimination proposal was siinal holders of securities and parcel out their shares of the profits would be a bureaucratic nightmare He also considered speculation to be an inescapable, if unsavory, aspect of functioning financial markets

As the hero of the old soldiers, Washi+ngton confronted a ticklish dilemma, and Madison later attested that the president's ly exercised” by the debate 9 9 On the one hand, Washi+ngton sympathized with veterans who had unloaded their IOUs to ”unfeeling, avaricious speculators” On the one hand, Washi+ngton sympathized with veterans who had unloaded their IOUs to ”unfeeling, avaricious speculators”10 At the same time, he had warned his men at the end of the war not to part with these certificates, telling theeneral orders in May 1783: ”The General thinks it necessary to caution the soldiers against the foolish practiceof disposing of their notes and securities of pay at a very great discount, when it is evident the speculators on those securities must hereafter obtain the full payment of their nominal value” At the same time, he had warned his men at the end of the war not to part with these certificates, telling theeneral orders in May 1783: ”The General thinks it necessary to caution the soldiers against the foolish practiceof disposing of their notes and securities of pay at a very great discount, when it is evident the speculators on those securities must hereafter obtain the full payton's words had been prophetic Because Congress had ordered Haton did not want to overstep his bounds by lobbying for it, and he re it To David Stuart, he wrote circumspectly, ”Mr Madison, on the question of discrimination, was actuated, I am persuaded, by the purest motives and most heartfelt conviction But the subject was delicate and perhaps had better not have been stirred” Washi+ngton's words had been prophetic Because Congress had ordered Haton did not want to overstep his bounds by lobbying for it, and he re it To David Stuart, he wrote circumspectly, ”Mr Madison, on the question of discrimination, was actuated, I am persuaded, by the purest motives and most heartfelt conviction But the subject was delicate and perhaps had better not have been stirred”12 While Washi+ngton introduced no ringing opinion during the debate, his silence was tantamount to approval of the Haure in A rod for protests It was also expedient for Washi+ngton to allow Haaining, while he his of the presidency Taken aback by Madison's defection and the veheton was especially disheartened that the country had split along geographic lines, placing him at odds with the South He wrote privately that if the northern states moved ”in a solid phalanx” and the southern states were ”less tenacious of their interest,” then the latter had only therainia associates that only widened through the years Reflecting their bias in favor of landed wealth and against paper assets, entry recoiled in horror at the northern financial revolution ushered in by Hamilton The tobacco inia planters ripe for tirades against northern speculators, who seeinia had already paid much of its debt and therefore opposed a federal takeover of state debt, which would reward irresponsible states that had repudiated their loans Things went so far that in soarded as almost a traitor to his class When David Stuart reported that spring on extreovernrew distressed ”Your description of the public ives me pain,” he replied ”It seems to be more irritable, sour, and discontented thanit is in any other state in the Union”14 On February 22 Madison's proposal to discriovernment debt was roundly defeated in the House, 36-13 In a preview of probleative votes cainia On February 22 Madison's proposal to discriovernment debt was roundly defeated in the House, 36-13 In a preview of probleative votes cainia

THE DISCONTENT OF SOUTHERN PLANTERS was further inflamed in February 1790 when Quakers, clad in black hats and coats, filed a pair of explosive petitions with Congress One proposed an ied the unthinkable: the gradual abolition of slavery itself Because they did not believe that God discriminated between blacks and whites, many Quakers had freed their own slaves and even, in soton had torn feelings about the Quakers The previous October he had sent an address to the Society of Quakers, full of high praise, asserting that ”there is no deno us who are more exemplary and useful citizens”15 At the same time the Quakers, as pacifists, had tended to shun wartime duty At the same time the Quakers, as pacifists, had tended to shun wartiton reacted with extreh he had voiced support for emancipation in private letters, to do so publicly, as he tried to forge a still precarious national unity, would have been a huge and controversial leap The ti of the Quaker petitions could not have been more troublesome To David Stuart, he worried that the petitions ”will certainly tend to proives particular ue that the Quakers should be so busy in this business”16 Washi+ngton and other founders who opposed slavery, at least in theory, thought they had conveniently sidestepped the issue at the Constitutional Convention by stipulating that the slave trade was safe until 1808 But because Benjamin Franklin, as president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, had signed one of the Quaker petitions, they could not be suri that ”the people of the southern states will resist one tyranny as soon as another” Washi+ngton and other founders who opposed slavery, at least in theory, thought they had conveniently sidestepped the issue at the Constitutional Convention by stipulating that the slave trade was safe until 1808 But because Benjamin Franklin, as president of the Pennsylvania Abolition Society, had signed one of the Quaker petitions, they could not be suri that ”the people of the southern states will resist one tyranny as soon as another”17 Responding to planter panic, Jaressional opposition to any interference with slavery, unfurling the banner of states' rights Although Hamilton had cofounded the New York Manuton, reh the controversial funding program In fact, virtually all of the founders, despite their dislike of slavery, enlisted in this conspiracy of silence, taking the convenient path of deferring action to a later generation Responding to planter panic, Jaressional opposition to any interference with slavery, unfurling the banner of states' rights Although Hamilton had cofounded the New York Manuton, reh the controversial funding program In fact, virtually all of the founders, despite their dislike of slavery, enlisted in this conspiracy of silence, taking the convenient path of deferring action to a later generation

Washi+ngton tended to conceal his in them only to intimates who shared his opposition He knew of the virulence of Virginia's reaction to the Quaker petitions, especially when Stuart told him that the mere talk of emancipation had alarmed planters and lowered the price of slaves, withto Stuart, Washi+ngton seemed to have no sympathy with the petitions, which he dis of March 16 heQuaker abolitionist, and deeh to record in his diary Mifflin had decried the ”injustice and i these people in a state of slavery with declarations, however, that he did not wish for radual abolition, or to see any infraction of the Constitution to effect it” Washi+ngton listened attentively to Mifflin, then eift of silence: ”To these I replied that, as it was a ht come before me for official decision, I was not inclined to express any sentim[en]ts on theto Stuart, Washi+ngton seemed to have no sympathy with the petitions, which he dis of March 16 heQuaker abolitionist, and deeh to record in his diary Mifflin had decried the ”injustice and i these people in a state of slavery with declarations, however, that he did not wish for radual abolition, or to see any infraction of the Constitution to effect it” Washi+ngton listened attentively to Mifflin, then eift of silence: ”To these I replied that, as it was a ht come before me for official decision, I was not inclined to express any sentim[en]ts on the merits of the question before this should happen”19 The Quaker ress In late March, under Madison's leadershi+p, legislators quietly tabled the proposals by deciding they lacked jurisdiction to interfere with the slave trade prior to 1808 ”The memorial of the Quakers (and a very th been put to sleep” and will not ”awake before the year 1808,” Washi+ngton informed Stuart20 His failure to use the presidency as a bully pulpit to air his opposition to slavery remains a blemish on his record He continued to fall back on the self-serving fantasy that slavery would fade away in future years The public had no idea how much he wrestled inwardly with the issue His final comments to Stuart on the Quaker petitions are cos: ”The introductions of the [Quaker]slavery was, to be sure, not only an ill-judged piece of business, but occasioned a great waste of time” His failure to use the presidency as a bully pulpit to air his opposition to slavery remains a blemish on his record He continued to fall back on the self-serving fantasy that slavery would fade away in future years The public had no idea how much he wrestled inwardly with the issue His final comments to Stuart on the Quaker petitions are cos: ”The introductions of the [Quaker]slavery was, to be sure, not only an ill-judged piece of business, but occasioned a great waste of time”21 In April, shortly after his noble defeat over the slavery issue, Benjamin Franklin died He was the only American whose stature remote