Calhoun, and Henry Clay, it was Congress - not the White House - where glory and influence were more likely to be achieved. In an era marked by such giants as Daniel Webster, John C. When Thomas Jefferson entered office in 1801, the number of federal government workers totaled only 130 and he proposed to cut even that in half. This paralleled the comparatively minor position the federal government occupied in American life.

The Presidency was weaker and more obscure in the first hundred years of American history than it is today. In one of its earliest debates, the Senate considered - and decided against - designating the President as, “His Highness, the President of the United States of America, and the Protector of their Liberties.” Should he reside in a palace, or something simpler and more appropriate for a newly created republic? This uncertainty even led to debate over the proper presidential title. In the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton argued the Constitution invested the executive branch with only slightly more power than that accorded to the governor of New York.Īs George Washington took office in 1789, there was much uncertainty about almost every aspect of the Presidency, including what sort of residence the President should occupy. Instead, they created an executive who had to be both responsive and accountable to the citizenry and balanced against the other two branches of government in terms of its powers and limitations.

The Founders refrained from making the Presidency a facsimile of the British monarchy. Records of the United States Senate.Ĭourtesy The Center for Legislative Archives, National Archives and Records Administration President George Washington’s First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789.

Commander in chief president role