Mount Vernon: A Photographic Essay
Celebrating George Washington, Part 4

Photography by Scot Facer Proctor

However much Washington struggled with the decision to become part of what became the Constitutional Convention, he had not won a military victory only to demonstrate to the world that a government for the people would dissolve into anarchy.

On May 14, 1787, delegates from the states met in the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia for the sole purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and George Washington was elected president.   After only five days of discussion, the delegates realized they were on a different course—to create a new Constitution for the United States.

“Washington urged audacity.  According to a fellow delegate, he stated, ‘It is too probable that no plan we propose will be adopted.  Perhaps another dreadful conflict is to be sustained.  If, to please the people, we offer what we ourselves disapprove, how can we afterwards defend our work? Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair.  The event is in the hand of God.” [i]

“The magic of George Washington’s unselfish leadership and his dynamic sincerity also began to have effect. For years he had talked and written, urging a new government…True, he made only one or two speeches on the floor of the Convention; his method was much more effective. He took advantage of the noon or the evening meal to discuss points of difference with individual delegates. This personal approach frequently made a convert.

“Delegates often sought Washington’s opinion and advice. His position as presiding officer required that he maintain an impartial attitude while presiding. Still, many of the delegates wrote that when he was meeting with a committee, and was not in the presiding chair, he frequently showed by his face and gestures when he approved or disapproved of a proposal. More important, every delegate knew where Washington stood on every issue.

“It is worth noting that 30 of the 55 delegates had been officers under Washington’s command during the Revolution. Three of them had served as his closest, most trusted aides. John Dickinson of Delaware had served as a brigadier general. Alexander Hamilton of New York had served as Washington’s lieutenant colonel on his staff and had been an heroic leader in his own right. Edmund Randolph, then the Governor of Virginia, had served as an aide-de-camp to General Washington.

“As each new subject came up, these men, who had lived with Washington during the long war years, told the other delegates what Washington had said or written about the issue.

“Moreover, during the years prior to the Convention, most of the delegates had received letters from Washington stressing the need for union, urging a strong central government, and emphasizing the necessity for an executive with well-defined powers. He had been tireless in urging that the central government must have control of all aspects of commerce, the currency, and other significant matters.

“As president of the Constitutional Convention, Washington exhibited the same type of leadership that had been incredibly effective during the war. He wisely realized that the first few months of the Convention should be largely educational.

“He appreciated that the Constitution should be made for the coming centuries, and thus, as close to perfect as possible. He demonstrated a readiness to listen, a willingness to allow every person to express himself completely, and a patient temperament which permitted a delegate to reopen the same subject as many times as he wished.

“These qualities worked a noticeable effect. Just as Washington himself was always willing to listen to the ideas of any person, so the members of the Convention found themselves listening to each other, trying to understand each viewpoint.

Click here to continue with Part 5 of Mount Vernon: A Photographic Essay, Celebrating George Washington.