The Birth of a New Nation
Washington's retirement to Mount Vernon was short-lived. He was unanimously elected president of the Constitutional Convention. Washington was unanimously elected as the first president in 1789 and again in 1792. He remains the only president to have received 100% of the votes. Washington declined a salary from Congress, since he valued himself as a selfless public servant. The only reason he even became president was because the whole nation wanted him to. He only accept the payment at the urging of Congress. He preferred his title as "Mr. President" instead of a grandiose name. He was an able president and talked regularly with department heads. He always followed up on actions and was consistent. He was reluctant to run for a second term but did so because he believed he needed to for the good of America. He wanted to stop the creation of political parties by running for a second term. He noticed that two members of his cabinet, Hamilton and Jefferson differed on their opinions. Hamilton wanted to make a financially powerful nation while Jefferson wanted to follow the French ways. Washington typically favored Hamilton's ideas over Jefferson's. Jefferson's political actions, and attempts to undermine Hamilton nearly led Washington to dismiss Jefferson from his cabinet. Jefferson left voluntarily, but Washington never forgave him and never spoke to him again. Washington refused to run for a third term and set the bar for the rest of the presidents. None of the them would run for a third term except Franklin Roosevelt. After that, Congress passed a law stating that a person could only serve two terms as president.