George Washington had made no secret of the fact that he really didn’t want to be president. National leaders had to convince and cajole him into doing it, telling him that without his leadership, the Constitution would not survive and, without the Constitution, the United States would fall apart. Washington served for four years, expecting to get the new nation off to a good start, then finally retire to his plantation in Virginia. Once again, national leaders begged him to remain for a second term.
I think Washington really regretted his decision to remain for a second term. Some of his most controversial issues arose in that term, including the Citizen Genet Affair, the Whiskey Rebellion, the Jay Treaty controversies. Also, by half-way through his second term, his cabinet members all abandoned him.
Postmaster General
Resignations were normal in government. Postmaster General John Osgood had left during the first term. The Postmaster General was not a part of the cabinet at the time and really didn’t have any role in policy making aside from running the post office. Osgood, originally from Massachusetts, had been living in New York, working first under the Confederation Congress then under President Washington. When the capital moved from New York to Philadelphia in 1791, Osgood did not want to move and resigned instead.
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| Edmund Randolph |
There, he got caught up in the Yankee-Pennamite Wars, which I discussed a bit in earlier episodes during the Revolutionary War. This ongoing fight was between Yankees from Connecticut and Pennsylvanians who both claimed control of the Wyoming Valley. The Pennsylvania State Assembly appointed Pickering as an official in the newly-formed Luzerne County, tasked with mediating conflicting land claims between settlers.
It was in this capacity that some Connecticut settlers kidnapped Pickering in 1788, trying to force him to recognize their land claims. Pickering refused to negotiate with his kidnappers and was dragged through the forest while Pennsylvania militia were trying to track them down. After nearly three weeks, his captors released him.
Pickering spent the next few years taking time away from his farm to help negotiate some of the treaties with Indians regarding control of land in western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Territory. President Washington offered him several jobs, including Quartermaster General of the new army, but Pickering declined. He finally accepted the role of Postmaster General in 1791.
Pickering would serve as postmaster for about three and a half years before moving on to become Secretary of War. We'll get into the reasons reasons for that shortly. Joseph Habersham succeeded him in the role, and continued in that role until the Jefferson Administration.
Habersham was from Georgia. He had served as a colonel in the Continental Army, but resigned after serving as Lachlan McIntosh’s second in the 1777 duel that killed Button Gwinnett, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
After the war, Habersham remained active in Georgia politics where he served as Speaker of the Georgia House. He was serving as mayor of Savannah when Washington appointed him Postmaster General.
Secretary of State
The first cabinet member to resign was Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson. When Washington first appointed Jefferson the two men seemed to get along well. As Washington’s first term came to an end, Jefferson was among those who begged Washington to accept a second term. Washington, in turn, asked that Jefferson stay on as Secretary of State.
Jefferson and Hamilton regularly found themselves on opposite sides of many issues. The Bank of the United States was a big one. But what really divided the two men was foreign policy. Hamilton wanted a good economic relationship with Britain, while Jefferson wanted closer ties to France.
Washington’s effort to form consensus on these divergent views was to begin having cabinet meetings where they could all sit around a table together, hash out their differences, and reach an agreeable solution. Jefferson hated these meetings. He referred to his conflicts with Hamilton there as being “daily pitted in the cabinet like two cocks.” This was a reference to cock fighting, a popular pastime where gamblers would throw two chickens into an arena, known as a cock pit, where the two animals would try to peck each other to death.
Jefferson came to believe that Hamilton had a growing influence over Washington, who seemed to be siding more and more with policies that favored Britain abroad and rich bankers and investors domestically. To counter this, Jefferson began subsidizing Philip Freneau, who published the National Gazette, which regularly attacked Washington. When the paper published a cartoon showing Washington being sent to the guillotine, Washington lost his temper and railed against the paper that Jefferson continued to support.
Finally, at the end of 1793, less than a year into Washington’s second term Jefferson had had enough. He submitted his resignation. Washington said he accepted it with regret and felt deserted by Jefferson.
After returning to private life, Jefferson continued to attack Washington as becoming too senile and becoming the puppet of Hamilton and the Federalists. In 1796, Jefferson wrote a letter to a friend where he referred to former revolutionary heroes as “apostates” who had been “shorn by the harlot England”. This letter eventually became public and Washington took personal offense at this, wrote Jefferson a letter bluntly expressing his offense, and the men ceased all communication. They would never reconcile.
Attorney General Edmond Randolph took over as Secretary of State following Jefferson’s departure. Randolph resigned after about a year and a half, for reasons we’ll get into in a moment. Timothy Pickering completed the remainder of Washington’s term as Secretary of State.
Secretary of War
The next secretary to depart was Henry Knox. During the Revolutionary War, the 25 year old Boston bookseller became one of General Washington’s most reliable general officers. After the war, Knox moved to a capacity, serving in charge of the army under the Confederation Congress. Washington happily asked Knox to continue in that role when he became President.
Washington tended to regard most of his cabinet secretaries as advisors. His relationship with Knox was a little different. Perhaps it was because Washington felt most knowledgeable personally in military matters, he tended to treat Knox more like a staff assistant than an advisor. He would give Knox instructions rather than ask his opinion on many matters of military policy.
At the same time though, Knox held Washington’s trust and confidence. Hamilton once remarked near the beginning of President Washington’s first term that Washington spoke with Knox the way a man does with his wife. Knox generally aligned himself with Hamilton as a Federalist and seemed to have a solid relationship with the president.
That relationship began to fall apart in 1794. The incident that caused the rift came during the Whiskey Rebellion.
After the Revolutionary War ended, Knox lived extravagantly. He rented a downtown mansion in Philadelphia where he lived with Lucy and his children. Lucy also enjoyed gambling and loved to play cards with Philadelphia's elite. The salary of a government bureaucrat simply did not support this lifestyle. So Knox engaged in land speculation to supplement his wealth.
Knox borrowed heavily to make investments in the Ohio Company. He also partnered with William Duer to purchase two million acres of land in Maine. During this time, Knox built a 19 room mansion in Thomaston, Maine, which he named Montpelier.
I mentioned Duer back in Episode 379 when his speculation led to the financial panic of 1792 and his bankruptcy. Knox was hit hard by those events and was struggling on the edge of bankruptcy himself.
By the summer of 1794 Knox’s financial situation had reached a crisis point. Knox had to request six week’s leave from his position so that he could travel to Maine and settle some of the financial problems related to his property there.
The timing could not have been worse. This was at the height of the Whiskey Rebellion and just around the time that Washington issued his call to raise a militia army to crush that rebellion. This was one of the most critical times for the Secretary of War. Washington reluctantly approved the leave but he was not happy about it. When Knox ended up being gone for, not for six weeks but for more than two months, Washington grew even angrier.
Hamilton happily filled in for Knox, accompanying Washington to western Pennsylvania. But while he was going to war, the president wanted his secretary of war by his side, not the treasury secretary. When Knox returned to Philadelphia in October, he sent a note to Washington, who was still out in the field with the army, whether he wanted Knox to join him. Washington sent a curt response, essentially saying it was too late to be useful. Washington was already on his way back to Philadelphia by this time.
Two months later, at the end of December, Knox submitted his resignation. Knox cited financial reasons for his resignation. Washington, still annoyed by Knox’s absence during the Whiskey Rebellion, accepted the resignation, in a way which witnesses called frosty and overly formal. Knox returned to Maine, where he sold much of his lands to stay out of debtor’s prison. He eventually resolved his finances, but his public life was at an end. Despite Washington's coolness toward Knox at the end of his term, the to men remained close friends and continued to correspond with each other until Washington's passing.
Timothy Pickering replaced Knox as Secretary of War, serving in that role for less than a year before moving on to Secretary of State in 1796. James McHenry replaced Pickering at the War Department. McHenry was a surgeon from Maryland. He served as a Continental officer during the Revolution. After the war, he served in the Maryland Senate and as a delegate to the Continental Congress. McHenry would remain in that position for the rest of Washington's term and into Adams' term.
Secretary of Treasury
Alexander Hamilton also left for money reasons. Hamilton had been the youngest member of the cabinet, and arguably the most impactful on the new government. He had served as an aid to Washington for most of the Revolution. Washington had come to admire and respect his abilities, especially in matters of finance.
During his tenure as Treasury Secretary, Hamilton became the de facto leader of the Federalists and also a lightning rod for abuse from the Democratic Republicans. The main cause of criticism was that Hamilton was imposing a British style economy, where much of the nation’s wealth went to speculators and financiers who did not really work for a living. Opponents believed that this would eventually result in a form of aristocracy, similar to the system in Britain, which they hated.
At the beginning of Washington’s second term, William Branch Giles, a Congressman from Virginia introduced a resolution to investigate Hamilton. Giles was a young man, only 27 years old when first elected to Congress. Giles was the first Representative to win a special election in 1790, replacing Theodorick Bland, who had died in office.
Giles aligned himself with the Jefferson-Madison faction in Congress. This faction not only opposed many of Hamilton’s economic plans, they also suspected that there was an element of corruption. Hamilton might be enriching himself or his friends in these transactions, at the expense of the treasury.
At the end of December, 1792, Congress demanded a full accounting of some loans that Hamilton had taken in order to repay other loans that had a higher interest rate. Hamilton submitted a report to congress a week later, on January 3, 1793, explaining the transactions. That was not good enough for Giles. A few weeks later, he introduced a series of resolutions, demanding much more details including the names of people who profited from the transactions.
These resolutions essentially accused Hamilton of financial misconduct. Specifically, private investors in the Bank of the United States would benefit from these transactions. The resolutions censored Hamilton’s behavior and attacked his honesty.
Giles did not come up with this on his own. Jefferson had worked secretly with Giles in developing the resolutions. Jefferson was still a member of Washington’s cabinet at this time. Jefferson was open about his opposition. He spoke with Washington about his concerns that Hamilton was hiding financial problems with the bank with these transactions. But he kept his cooperation with Giles a secret.
In the end, Congress refused to pass the resolutions. Their attacks on Hamilton were unfounded. Jefferson probably knew this from the beginning, but figured that some mud from the discussion would stick to Hamilton, even if he was ultimately exonerated.
Hamilton would remain as Treasury Secretary for several more years. But, like Henry Knox, Hamilton’s lifestyle was not possible on his salary as a member of the Cabinet.
Ironically, the attacks by Giles and the other Democratic Republicans delayed Hamilton’s departure. He would have resigned sooner than he did, but stayed on until he was absolved of all the accusations in the Giles Resolutions. Had he quit before, many would have taken that as an admission of guilt.
When Hamilton finally resigned on January 31, 1795, he was nearly broke. He returned to private practice as an attorney in New York in order to rebuild his wealth.
Following Hamilton’s departure, Oliver Wolcott took over at Treasury. Wolcott was from Connecticut. He began working with the Treasury Department under Hamilton as soon as it was formed. He first worked as an auditor, then serving as Comptroller. When he replaced Hamilton as Secretary, little changed. Wolcott greatly admired Hamilton and even kept up a vigorous correspondence with Hamilton when Hamilton returned to New York. Hamilton’s critics complained that Hamilton was still running the Treasury Department and influencing President Washington, just using Wolcott as the conduit for his policies and ideas.
Attorney General
Attorney General Edmund Randolph was the last to go. He had served as the President’s legal advisor for many years, even before he became president. Unlike other members of the cabinet, he was also able to take on other private legal clients to supplement his government salary. We saw last week when Randolph represented Chisholm in the case of Chisholm v. Georgia that led to the adoption of the 11th Amendment.
After Jefferson resigned as Secretary of State, Randolph moved over to State. William Bradford took over as the new Attorney General. Bradford was from Philadelphia. He had served as attorney general of Pennsylvania and on the state Supreme Court before joining the administration. Bradford seemed to be a man with a great legal future ahead of him. He was still in his late 30s while serving as attorney general. Sadly, he became ill and died during the summer of 1795.
Charles Lee next took over as Attorney General. This is not General Charles Lee from the Revolution. This Charles Lee was the younger brother of Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee. He was a capable attorney who had some experience in the Virginia legislature. I suspect his being a part of the powerful Lee family contributed to Washington’s decision to appoint him.
Fauchet Scandal
Randolph’s final departure as Secretary of State came under a cloud of scandal involving French minister Jean Antoine Fauchet. Recall that France had sent Fauchet in late 1793 to clean up the mess created by Citizen Genet that destroyed relations between France and the US.
During Fauchet’s first year in America the Whiskey Rebellion took center stage. That same year, John Jay was in London negotiating a treaty with Britain that French officials worried would destroy the Franco-American alliance.
Fauchet tried to build relationships with top US officials, including Edmund Randolph. In late October, Fauchet sent a secret dispatch, known as dispatch number 10, to officials in Paris. His report attacks the Washington administration on a number of issues It describes the Washington administration as decrepit. It mentions Randolph as a “confidant” and reports Randolph’s concerns that federalist policies supported by Washington are giving rise to what he calls a “financiering class” that wants to restore monarchy in America and enslave American trade to England.
He also reports that Randolph suggests that for a few thousand dollars, he can influence the outcome of the Whiskey Rebellion in a way that would benefit France. The dispatch is a cynical analysis of American politics that suggests a few bribes could influence government policy and says explicitly that all of these patriots have their price.
Fauchet put the dispatch aboard a ship headed to Paris. A British warship intercepted it, and sent the letter to London. Officials there forwarded the dispatch to British Ambassador George Hammond in Philadelphia. In late July, Hammond shared the document with Treasury Secretary Wolcott, who, in turn, shared it with Secretary of War Pickering. At the time, Washington was home at Mount Vernon.
Pickering and Wolcott viewed the dispatch as evidence that Randolph has asked the French Ambassador for a bribe, and is also committing treason by undercutting American policy in favor of France.
All of these events are unfolding in the period just after the Senate has ratified the Jay Treaty, the public is just learning about the Treaty’s terms, and President Washington is debating whether to sign it.
Washington returns to Philadelphia to deal with the matter. After reading the dispatch and discussing it with Wolcott and Pickering, the president determines that Randolph is essentially a French agent. At the time, Randolph was the only cabinet member opposing the Jay Treaty.
After Washington returned to Philadelphia in August, he decided to end this dithering and sign the Jay treaty right away, before the scandal over Randolph broke. He ordered Randolph to inform Minister Hammond and to send a signed copy of the treaty to London.
Once that was done, Washington called Randolph into his office. There, with Wolcott and Pickering present, Washington showed the dispatch to Randolph and demanded an answer. Randolph read the document as best he could. It was in French. After a short discussion, Randolph was asked to leave the room while Washington discussed the matter with the others. When Randolph returned, Washington demanded a written explanation of the allegations in the dispatch. Since these involved some matters that took place more than a year ago, Randolph said he wanted to consult with other records before writing his version of events.
Randolph believed that Washington was convinced that he was guilty of something, maybe treason, maybe just disloyalty, but it was clear that the President did not believe there was an innocent explanation for the allegations made in the dispatch. Instead of writing an explanation, Randolph returned home and drafted his letter of resignation.
Randolph’s departure marked the last of the men who made up Washington’s original cabinet.
Next Week: A treaty with Spain changes US borders and opens up the Mississippi River to America for the first time.
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Next Episode 392 The Treaty of San Lorenzo (coming soon)
Previous Episode 390 The Eleventh Amendment
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Further Reading
Websites
George Washington Cabinet Members: https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/cabinet-members
Timothy Pickering Papers: https://www.masshist.org/collection-guides/view/fa0256
Jefferson and Hamilton: Political Rivals in Washington's Cabinet https://www.mountvernon.org/george-washington/the-first-president/washingtons-presidential-cabinet/jefferson-and-hamilton-political-rivals
Jefferson and the Giles Resolutions https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-25-02-0259-0001
“Introductory Note: Report on the Balance of All Unapplied Revenues at the End of the Year 1792 and on All Unapplied Monies Which May Have Been Obtained by the Several Loans Authorized by Law, [4 February 1793],” Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-13-02-0299-0001
Giles Resolutions: https://rationalwalk.com/the-giles-resolutions
Sheridan, Eugene R. “Thomas Jefferson and the Giles Resolutions.” The William and Mary Quarterly, vol. 49, no. 4, 1992, pp. 589–608. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/2947173
Clifford, John Garry. “A Muddy Middle of the Road: The Politics of Edmund Randolph, 1790-1795.” The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography 80 (1972): 286-311. JSTOR http://www.jstor.org/stable/4247732
Bonsteel Tachau, Mary K. “George Washington and the Reputation of Edmund Randolph.” The Journal of American History, vol. 73, no. 1, 1986, pp. 15–34. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/1903604
Translation [of a letter from] ... Joseph Fauchet, minister plenipotentiary of the French Republic near the United States, to Mr. Randolph, Secretary of State of the United States https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.hxj4gf&seq=1
Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)
Fauchett, Joseph A Translation of Citizen Fauchet's Political Dispatch, No. 10 , Philadelphia: T. Bradford, 179
Conway, Moncure Daniel. Omitted Chapters of History Disclosed in the Life and Papers of Edmund Randolph, New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1889.
Randolph, Edmund A Vindication of Edmund Randolph, Richmond, Charles H. Winne, 1855.
Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*
Chernow, Ron Alexander Hamilton, Penguin Press, 2004.
Chernow, Ron Washington, A Life, Penguin Press, 2010.
Chervinsky, Lindsay M. The Cabinet: George Washington and the Creation of an American Institution, Belknap Press, 2020.
Elkins, Stanley M. and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788–1800, Oxford Univ. Press, 1993 (borrow on archive.org).
Ellis, Joseph J. Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, Knopf, 2000.
Ellis, Joseph J. His Excellency. George Washington, Alfred A. Knopf, 2005.
Heidler, David S. & Jeanne T. Washington's Circle: The Creation of the President, Random House, 2015.
Leibiger, Stuart Founding Friendship George Washington, James Madison, and the Creation of the American Republic, Univ. of Virginia Press, 1999.
Malone, Dumas Jefferson and the Ordeal of Liberty, Little Brown & Co. 1962 (borrow on archive.org).
Meacham, Jon Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power, Random House, 2012
Miller, John C. Alexander Hamilton and the Growth of the New Nation (or Portrait in Paradox), Harper & Brothers, 1959 (borrow on archive.org)
Nester, William The Hamiltonian Vision, 1789-1800, Potomac Books, 2012.
Randall, Willard Sterne Thomas Jefferson: A Life, Henry Holt and Co. 1993.
Reardon, John J. Edmund Randolph: A Biography, Macmillan, 1975 (borrow on archive.org)
Unger, Harlow G. "Mr. President": George Washington and the Making of the Nation's Highest Office, Da Capo Press, 2013.
Warren, Jack D. The Presidency of George Washington, Univ. of Va. Press, 1996 (borrow on archive.org).
Winik, Jay The Great Upheaval: America and the Birth of the Modern World, 1788-1800, HarperCollins, 2007.
* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
