Transferring Loyalty

[...]upon arrival, the commissioners revealed their inexperience by agreeing to speak with intermediaries (the XYZ agents), rather than insisting they meet directly with Talleyrand. [...]Gerry was blinded by his intense Anglophobia and his fear that a war with France would drive the United States into an alliance with Great Britain. [...]Berkin also shows how both sides presented their position as the correct interpretation of the Constitution, rather than a rejection of constitutional doctrine. Yet, Washington's forceful response to the Whiskey Rebellion did not take place until the fall of 1794 and Washington requested Genet's recall in the summer of 1793. [...]the timeline of events in Washington's presidency does not support fully that interpretation.