Washington's Government

George Washington in 1783 saw a nation desperately in need of "a supreme power to regulate and govern the general concerns of the confederated Republic," a need that was met—on paper—with the Constitution of 1787. This important and insightful volume explores how those paper powers came to be transformed into a functioning federal government, one that could take on the many challenges facing the new American nation." —Kevin Butterfield, Washington Library at Mount Vernon, author of The Making of Tocqueville’s America: Law and Association in the Early United States

"Washington’s Government brings together original scholarship on the Washington administration—an important yet oddly neglected topic. The scholarship is fresh and imaginative, and the writing is clear and accessible." —Richard R. John, Columbia University, author of Network Nation: Inventing American Telecommunications