“Mr. President”: George Washington and the Making of the Nation’s Highest Office

In the early days of his presidency, Washington found himself bored and idle, yet as acclaimed historian Unger (John Quincy Adams) reveals in this fast-paced chronicle of Washington’s presidency, circumstances soon arose that would allow him to define and shape the executive office. Following the Revolution, the new republic lacked political and economic structure; but when Washington and others proposed scrapping the Articles of Confederation and replacing them with a constitution that would frame the contours of a federal government and its powers, he faced a different kind of fight than he had with the British. Nevertheless, as he led the young nation through numerous struggles—tax revolts, attempts by foreign powers to overthrow the government, and frontier wars with Indians—he established “seven pillars of power” that would define the American presidency: “the power to control executive appointments, foreign policy, military affairs, government finances, and federal law enforcement, along with the power to legislate by presidential proclamation and to issue secret fiats under the cloak of executive privilege.” After three years in office, Washington had “transformed the office of the president from that of an impotent figurehead to one that commanded almost as much power as the British king he had overthrown... at Yorktown.” (Nov.)