The Political Philosophy of George Washington

Irascible John Adams, who served with Washington in Congress, worked closely with him during the War of Independence as the chair of the Board of War, and served as his vice president for eight years, thought Washington was so poorly educated as to be unfit for high civil office. Years of watching his soldiers suffer from lack of provisions of all kinds and having to live with the knowledge that a decentralized political system could not adequately provide tor the national security led Washington in his June 1783 "Circular ro the States" to urge that "a tone" be given io the central government that would enable it to override state interests.