Washington’s Presidency Father of His Country

I. How is a President Elected? Despite popular belief, the President is elected by the Electoral College, not by the popular vote B. The Electoral College consists today of 538 electors who indirectly chose the President of the United States. The Amount each state gets depends on the amount of Representatives and Senators each state has. The candidate that wins the popular vote in the state will then receive that amount of votes for the Electoral College

Today’s Electoral College

A. The First Acts George Washington became the first president of the United States on April 30th, 1789. 1. John Adams became his vice-president

B. Washington was careful to act because he knew he would establish precedents, or traditions for others to follow 1. “No slip will pass unnoticed.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMzdAZ3TjCA

State Department – handled relations with other countries C. Congress and Washington set up departments and offices in the Executive Branch that became known as the cabinet State Department – handled relations with other countries a. First Secretary of State was Thomas Jefferson. (today it is John Kerry)

2. Department of Treasury – handled financial matters. a. First Secretary of the Treasury was Alexander Hamilton. (today it is Jack Lew)

3. Department of War (Defense) – provides for the nation’s defense a. First Secretary of War was Henry Knox. (today it is Chuck Hagel)

4. Edmund Randolph was chosen as Attorney General to handle the government’s legal matters. (Justice Department) (today it is Eric Holder)

II. The Country’s Economy

While Washington was dealing with foreign affairs and military issues, Alexander Hamilton was left to deal with economic problems 1. The countries national debt – the amount of money it owed- was growing.

B. Hamilton’s Plan 1. As a way to establish good credit, Hamilton proposed to pay off the millions of dollars owed to other countries and to citizens. Hamilton wanted the federal government to pay the debts of the states for fighting the Revolution.

C. Interpretations of the Constitution 1. Hamilton’s Plan (Federalists) believed in a Loose Interpretation of the Constitution, which believes that the federal Government has the power to do anything not specifically forbidden to it in the Constitution. a. Hamilton believed this gave him the right to create a National Bank

2. Leader of the opposition to Hamilton’s plan was Thomas Jefferson (Democratic Republican) who believed in a Strict Interpretation of the Constitution, which argues that the Federal government only has the power specifically written out in the Constitution.

D. Compromise 1. Many people and states were opposed to this plan, so a compromise was made to locate the new capital in the South. a. This new district was laid on the banks of the Potomac River between Maryland and Virginia.

E. The National Bank Hamilton wanted to create a national bank to help build a strong economy. There were 8 banks in the U.S. all established by the states. Madison and Jefferson opposed it believing it would benefit the wealthy and said it was unconstitutional. Washington agreed with Hamilton and created the Bank of the United States.

F. Taxes and Tariffs Hamilton wanted to create an American economy based on manufacturing not agriculture. He proposed a tariff- or tax on imports – to protect US industry from foreign industries The South opposed it because they had little industry

2. Hamilton also got Congress to pass a few taxes to pay off the debt 2. Hamilton also got Congress to pass a few taxes to pay off the debt. One of those taxes was a tax on whiskey. 3. Jefferson and Madison greatly opposed these measures because they feared a STRONGER central government