Megan+R.

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Megan Ramba George Washington was a very trusted man throughout the American Revolution and long after he died. He was unanimously elected to be the first president of our new country. George Washington had many challenges that he went through as the first president. He knew as the nation’s first president he would establish many precedents that would be followed for a long time. Washington also had to make decisions about how the government would be run. Washington’s vice president was John Adams; Adams was a very important part of our nation’s government. In the summer of 1789, Congress set up an executive three department branch called the cabinet. The cabinet included the State Department, the Treasury Department, and the War Department; the secretary of state was Thomas Jefferson, the secretary of the treasury department was Alexander Hamilton and the secretary of war was Henry Know, and with them was the attorney general, Edmund Randolph. Washington met regularly with members of the cabinet. Congress’ opinion was divided on how much power the president should have over them. One example is, should the president be able replace an official he had appointed and the Senate had confirmed. Vice President Adams broke the tie so that the president did have that power. The Constitution never stated how they should address the president. Adams came up with names like “His Highness the President of the United States,” but Washington ended up going with plain and simple Mr. President. The Judiciary Act of 1789 was a compromise of the members of Congress. The Constitution did not state much about the nation’s court system, it had only mentioned a supreme court being involved. Disagreement was found in deciding whether to use a national legal system or a state court system. The Congress established a federal court system with 13 district courts and three circuit courts to serve the nation. State laws would stay but the federal courts would have the power to change the state decisions, and the Supreme Court would have the final say. Washington nominated John Jay as the Supreme Court chief justice. With this act Congress was making their first steps toward creating a new independent government. The Constitution didn’t promise people the personal liberties they had fought for in the American Revolution. Congress passed 12 amendment but only 10 were ratified by the states. In December 1791 these amendments were named the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights limits the powers of the government and assures people personal rights. Its purpose is to protect rights of liberty, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of press; and rights of persons accused of crimes including trial by jury. One major problem Washington faced was the national debt for the Revolutionary War. The national debt was the amount of money the nation owed. Congress decided to pay off this debt with bonds. While waiting for the bonds to be payed off a lot of the original owners sold them to speculators. The original bond owners felt betrayed by their nation because they had lost money while the new owners profited. Another idea used to pay off the national debt were tariffs which were taxes on imports to encourage citizens to buy American goods.  In September 1796, Washington announced he would not serve a third term. By only serving two terms he set a precedent that presidents still follow. He was finally retiring at the age of 64 and was going home to Mount Vernon. Throughout Washington’s time as president he had many struggles and achievements.