4.2Washington's precedents

As the first president, George Washington knew his every act set a precedent. He established the cabinet, kept the nation neutral in the wars of the French Revolution, and firmly but restrainedly put down the Whiskey Rebellion (1794), demonstrating that federal law had teeth.

Most consequentially, he stepped down after two terms, setting an informal limit that held for 150 years. His Farewell Address (1796) warned against permanent foreign alliances and, pointedly, against the "baneful effects of the spirit of party." The warning went unheeded—the parties were already forming—but his voluntary surrender of power remains among his most important legacies.