How President Washington Made the First Appointments

When it came to appointing people to help him run the country, Washington showed great thought, care, and emotional intelligence in his selection.

With more than thirty years operating Mount Vernon and eight years commanding the Continental forces during the Revolutionary War, Washington was adept at managing people.

Washington received such a large amount of requests for jobs that he eventually had to stop answering them. Friends, acquaintances, veterans of the war, and even total strangers approached him about positions. These people acted according to the old rules for appointments in the British Empire. In Britain, "who you knew" mattered more than one's qualifications for a position. Washington overturned this corrupt system. He made the primary requirement for a position in government what he called "fitness" for the job - in a word, merit.

As John Adams remarked in the summer of 1789, "No man, I believe, has influence with the President. He seeks information from all quarters, and judges more independently than any man I ever knew." Washington understood that any perception of favoritism or corruption in appointing officials could unravel trust in the new government. To one job suitor, he remarked:

I have no conception of a more delicate task than that which is imposed by the Constitution on the Executive. It is the nature of Republicans, who are nearly in a state of equality, to be extremely jealous as to the disposal of all honorary or lucrative appointments.

Anti-Nepotism

Each executive appointment provided a test of whether the new American republic had truly dispensed with the old European ways of doing business. As a result, Washington held all potential appointees to the same high standards, regardless of their personal or professional connection to him.

In July 1789, Washington's nephew, Bushrod Washington, asked his uncle for the position of United States attorney for Virginia. Washington rejected Bushrod's request because he was not as well qualified as other lawyers in the state.

My political conduct in nominations ... must be exceedingly circumspect and proof against just criticism, for the eyes of Argus [the hundred-eyed guardian of the Greek gods] are upon me, and no slip will pass unnoticed that can be Improved into a supposed partiality for friends or relations.

President Washington showed that nepotism was not necessary for advancement in America. By his own merit, Bushrod Washington became a leading lawyer in Virginia before serving more than 30 years as a Supreme Court justice.

the first supreme court

 

The Executive Branch

George Washington's approach to appointments led naturally to his management style for the executive branch. Having chosen the most talented officials, he allowed them to do their jobs. Washington created a cabinet-style government, a concept not in the Constitution, based on the experience of using a close circle of advisors in his war councils during the Revolution.

While the current presidential cabinet includes sixteen members, George Washington’s cabinet included just four original members: Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of War Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph.

The president expressed great confidence in his team. “I feel myself supported by able Co-adjutors, who harmonize extremely well together," Washington wrote to the Marquis de Lafayette.

Washington's presidential cabinet

In forming a cabinet, Washington rejected the two existing management models used by the British. He would be more than a ceremonial head of state like a monarch but less of a micromanager than a prime minister. Instead, he would delegate authority to his department heads and closely supervise their actions.