The Political Writings of George Washington, two volumes.
Edited by Carson Holloway and Bradford. P. Wilson.
Cambridge University Press, 2023.
Hardcover, $300.00.
Reviewed by Michael P. Federici.
Carson Holloway and Bradford P. Wilson are engaged in a project with Cambridge University Press to publish the political writings of important American statesmen. The first two-volume set, published in 2017, was The Political Writings of Alexander Hamilton. The series now continues with a two-volume set of George Washington’s writings and documents. Two additional two-volume sets, one on James Madison and one on John Jay, will soon follow. The volumes serve an important purpose because they are affordable additions to personal libraries when compared to the collected works of Washington. While Washington’s collected works are in print (35 volumes in the UVA Press incomplete edition), readers interested in his political ideas can now avoid sifting through thousands of pages of material, most of which are not relevant to political theory. There are about 77,000 documents in the complete collection and a bit more than 1,000 in the Holloway and Wilson volumes. The second volume of The Political Writings of George Washington contains an appendix with 35 documents authored by John Adams, John Marshall, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Mercy Otis Warren, Daniel Webster, and Abraham Lincoln, among others, on Washington’s death and legacy. Each volume is divided into four chronologically organized sections and contains a thorough table of contents and index.
The Holloway and Wilson volumes serve as a companion to dozens of existing secondary works on Washington such as Richard Norton Smith’s Patriarch: George Washington and the New American Nation, Jeffry H. Morrison’s The Political Philosophy of George Washington, Gary L. Gregg and Matthew Spalding’s Patriot Sage: George Washington and the American Political Tradition, and Ron Chernow’s Washington: A Life. From this secondary literature, readers learn what is apparent from studying the primary sources in the Holloway and Wilson volumes, that Washington quoted or paraphrased the Bible more than any other literary source, that he was not a Deist, that he studied and was influenced by classical thinkers and sources, that his view of human nature was sober and consistent with the Judeo-Christian and classical traditions, and that he was a statesman of prudential judgment and moderation whose republican virtue was apparent throughout his life.
Given the scope of Washington’s writings, choosing the documents for a scaled-down version of his letters, papers, and addresses is difficult. Holloway and Wilson, however, have done a commendable job including documents that capture Washington’s character, statesmanship, and political theory. Six documents (in some cases, sets of documents) included in the two-volume set are worth noting. Washington addressed a group of officers at Newburgh, New York in March 1783 to quash what became known as the Newburgh conspiracy. His speech to officers at Newburgh, as well as letters to Hamilton and others about the conspiracy, illustrate Washington’s prudent and moderate statesmanship. While demonstrating sympathy for officers who were not compensated as promised by the Confederate Congress, Washington cautioned Hamilton “that the army. . .is a dangerous instrument to play with.” Later in 1783, Washington resigned as military commander. His Circular to the States, combined with his role in subverting the Newburgh conspiracy, is partly what led many to consider him as the American Cincinnatus. In the Circular, he captures the consequence of American victory in the War for Independence. “This is the time of their [the United States of America] political probation. This is the moment when the eyes of the whole world are turned upon them. This is the moment to establish or ruin their national character forever.” Washington’s First Inaugural Address delivered on April 30, 1789, echoes the wisdom of Seneca, Plato, Aristotle, and Cicero, that “there is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public prosperity and felicity.” While serving as president, Washington created policies that aimed to promote the happiness of the American people. Included among these was his Neutrality Proclamation issued April 22, 1793, that helped keep the United States out of the French Revolutionary Wars in Europe. The trail of documents provided in The Political Writings of George Washington demonstrates, as was his typical practice, the efforts Washington made to solicit the opinions of his cabinet before deciding on a prudent policy. Washington’s Farewell Address, once standard reading in American schools, repeats his belief that “religion and morality are indispensable supports” to human happiness and political prosperity. He also articulates the Great Rule of American foreign policy, to extend “our commercial relations” to other nations but “to have with them as little political connection as possible.” He also cautions that when the Constitution needs change, it should be in accordance with the law rather than “by usurpation.” One of the last documents in volume II of The Political Writings of George Washington is Washington’s Last Will and Testament, which freed his slaves and provided for their education and care. These documents mark Washington’s journey through the War for Independence, the formation of the constitutional republic, governing the early republic, and his retirement from public life as well as his contemplative desires for his property, possessions, and slaves as he neared death. Along with the dozens of other documents in the two volumes, readers will recognize a consistency of character and thought throughout the course of Washington’s life.
There is no question that Washington belongs in the Cambridge series. His importance to American independence, constitutional formation, constitutional implementation, and American political culture generally is known to most students of American history. What is less known are the details of Washington’s contribution to the American political order and the quality of his political thinking. Unlike Hamilton, Madison, Adams, or Jefferson, Washington had little formal education and did not attend college. He is known for his leadership and character, not for his intellectual acumen. Yet, readers may be surprised by the intellectual depth of Washington’s political thought. His library contained about 1,000 books and he was an avid reader of newspapers. While he relied on aids like Hamilton to draft important speeches and documents, Washington’s sober judgment about politics is evident in his works. His reaction to the Newburgh conspiracy combines prudent judgment and a balanced concern for the welfare of the officers and soldiers who fought under his command as well as the fragile financial and political state of the new American republic. From his prudent statesmanship stems his political thinking that is likewise rooted in his self-study of history and political theory.
What is apparent from reading Washington’s private letters and public documents is that his political ideas were formed from experience and sober assumptions about the possibilities of politics. He was repeatedly reminded by his experience in political affairs of the limits and challenges of politics. His desire for a stronger national government was the consequence of his experience with the inefficiencies and inadequacies of the national government under the Articles of Confederation, especially during the War for Independence. The failure of the Confederate Congress to supply Washington’s troops with adequate resources jeopardized the war effort and caused the army to rely unnecessarily on property conscription. It resulted in mutinous troops and missed opportunities on the battlefield. His desire for a stronger national government was balanced by his support for a limited government with extensive checks and balances. Yet, there was more to Washington’s constitutionalism than the mere structure of government. He knew the centrality of republican virtue in the proper functioning of political institutions. Washington’s resignation of his military commission during the War for Independence was public and mindful of the moment’s significance. In his resignation address, he was clear about supporting civilian control of the military and what the Constitution would call a more perfect union. While he understood the role of virtue, he did not discount the influence of self-interest in human affairs. Washington was a sober, practical statesman who rarely engaged in idealistic speculation. History and experience were the ballast for his political dispositions and judgments.
It is also evident from Washington’s political writings that he spent the bulk of his time conducting political affairs rather than theorizing about politics in the abstract. He was often preoccupied with the mundane tasks of war, economy, and politics. From these experiences with the conduct of political affairs, he developed not only practical wisdom, what the Greeks called phronesis, but an underlying commitment to the rule of law and republican virtue. Yet, Washington was more than a practical statesman. He was a political thinker as well. As the War for Independence was coming to a close and the army was unpaid and under-supplied, he wrote to Hamilton on March 4, 1783, that such problems had been “the subject of many contemplative hours.” Searching for the prudent path in political affairs compelled Washington to connect political thought and political action.
What is especially interesting about The Political Writings of George Washington is how it traces Washington’s thinking at pivotal points in his life and the life of the early republic. Reading his letters, for example, reminds us that Washington collaborated with American statesmen and military officers to shape the American political order. Many of his letters are a search for understanding and prudence in difficult circumstances. While Washington expresses his views, he also solicits respected political leaders for their thoughts. The two-volume set goes a long way to illustrating Washington’s contribution to the American political tradition and its corresponding political order.
Michael P. Federici is Professor in the Department of Political and Global Affairs at Middle Tennessee State University.
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