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By DR. FORREST MCDONALD
Rappahannock News Contributing; Writer
The presidency of the United States was created for George Washington, and in many respects it was created by him as well. The office came into existence in that manner because the Founding Fathers could find no other solution to a dilemma brought about by the Revolution.
The colonists’ experience with King George III of England had instilled them with fear of executive power, but the course of events since independence had convinced -them that government without an executive branch degenerates into anarchy. The authors of the Constitution, instead of coping with the problem, passed the buck. Ri.i In drafting Article II, they sketched the powers and duties of fhe president in general terms, and left it to Washington — who was the -only man the American people would i trust to be the first president — to Jill in the details by the precedents . he established.
Washington, for his part, was less than eager to take on such an -^wesome responsibility. He accepted it out of a sense of duty, but resolved to proceed with caution. Accordingly, he tended at first to treat the Constitution as if it were a manual of instructions, adequate to cover every' situation that might arise. Experience taught him otherwise, and in that sense he was like his successors — he had to learn the job on the job. ,The Constitution, for instance, empowered the president to make treaties “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate.” One Saturday morning in 1789, Washington iqid Secretary of War Henry Knox showed up in the Senate chambers to seek the advice and consent of the members on a proposed Indian Treaty. " General embarrassment and confusion ensued, for the Senate was too large and too committed to legislative procedures to serve as an effective advisory body. Washington never again sought the advice of the Senate. Instead, he presented it with finished treaties and asked only (its consent.
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