Feb. 4, 1789, George Washington was elected 1st president of America. 1989 Time cover saw Founding Father in tears

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Monday, Oct. 23, 1989, Time Magazine Cover Story: The Can't Do Government

After almost nine years of the Reagan Revolution, Americans may wonder whether the Government -- from Congress to the White House, from the State Department to the Office of Management and Budget -- can govern at all anymore. Abroad and at home, challenges are going unmet. Under the shadow of a massive federal deficit that neither political party is willing to confront, a kind of neurosis of accepted limits has taken hold from one end of Pennsylvania Avenue to the other.

On this day, February 4 in 1789, 69 members of Congress cast their ballots to elect George Washington the first president of the United States. As the former leader of the Continental Army and chairman of the Continental Congress, Washington possessed the necessary credentials for the presidency, if not the enthusiasm. After months of appearing to sidestep, and even outright rejecting the idea of assuming the presidency, Washington reluctantly accepted Congress’ decision. Runner-up John Adams became Washington’s vice president.

Washington’s reluctance stemmed in part from the fact that becoming president would place him squarely in the middle of a raging legislative debate regarding the character of the new government, a conflict that persisted to the end of his second term. Washington dreaded presiding over a fragile young nation that already appeared to be dividing along partisan lines. He also expressed concern over his advancing age. In his memoirs, he wrote that on the eve of his inauguration he felt more like “a culprit who is going to the place of his execution” than a national hero. His letters at the time reveal his trepidation and reluctant sense of duty. Nevertheless, he knew he had earned the nation’s trust and respect while leading the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War and that it was now relying on him once again.

Washington’s humility meshed well with the new nation’s democratic sensibilities. When the Senate proposed that he be called by the official title “His Highness the President of the United States of America and the Protector of Their Liberties,” an embarrassed Washington opted for the more modest address of “Mr. President.”

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Images courtesy of Time and Wikipedia

Original Source: Time and History.com