A Presidential Tour without the Baloney

To the Editor: 
As another presidential election approaches we are once again deluged with promises, guarantees, changes, deletions and creations of “smoke and mirror” programs. It is time to look back and reflect on the first presidential tour.
After being unanimously elected as our first president under the U.S. Constitution, George Washington planned journeys to all of the original 13 states. Before his inauguration in New York City he and his entourage traveled from Mount Vernon into Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey. He rode in his own carriage and before entering a city or town he mounted his white stallion Prescott and simply awed the throngs of people who came to “get a glance” of the general.
His messages, brief as they were, always espoused the Constitution and the newly-established federal government. He would emphasize the “cornerstone of the republic government” – no titles of nobility and no social ranks. If you sought an office you must be elected by your peers. When the Senate wanted to introduce the president for the first time they chose as an introduction “His Highness the President of the United States of America and Protector of the Rights of the same.” He personally had it reduced to “The President of the United States.” So much for all the baloney of monarchial rule and this was one of the many examples of his setting precedent for presidents to follow.
Soon after his inauguration he visited Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire in the fall of 1789. He spoke of the virtues of the Constitution and values of the new federal government with its checks and balances and three governmental branches. These were all new concepts to most people who were used to a monarchy. In the states where the war for independence began he reinforced the need for a strong federal government. While exiting all those places he visited, he would mount his Prescott, ride to the town limits and once again enter his carriage and head to his next destination.
In the fall of 1790 he journeyed briefly to Rhode Island for three days. He wanted to solidify the support of this state and welcome her into the Republic even though it took an embarrassingly long time to ratify the Constitution as its last member.
His fourth and longest journey started on March 21, 1791 from Philadelphia. Because of the length of time and distance to North and South Carolina, Georgia and back through Virginia many of his cabinet members and governmental officials were worried and unsettled about his absence. What would they do if a problem arose? We are talking about some of our great “founding fathers,” names such as Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton and Madison. That speaks volumes for his leadership amongst his peers.
Washington always stressed the same message of acceptance for the newly-created Republic and faith in its future and its leadership. Many who saw him and served under his command during the war for independence, knew him to be a man of “substance” and held him in high esteem.
Political parties have always stimulated heated debates, a closer study of Washington’s travels from 1789-1791 could help us to remember the promises of the Revolution, and that my friend is no baloney.