Washington’s Response to a Congressional Request for Documents, 30 March 1796

This document, which will be published in a forthcoming volume, is considered an important precedent for presidential claims of executive privilege. The 1794 treaty with Great Britain negotiated by John Jay was one of the most controversial events of GW’s presidency. Opponents claimed that the treaty conceded too much to […]

Washington’s Eighth Annual Address to Congress

Washington delivered his eighth State of the Union address on 7 December 1796. Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: In recurring to the internal situation of our country since I had last the pleasure to address you, I find ample reason for a renewed expression of […]

Washington’s Seventh Annual Message to Congress

Washington delivered his seventh State of the Union address on 8 December 1795. Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: I trust I do not deceive myself when I indulge the persuasion that I have never met you at any period when more than at the present […]

Washington’s Sixth Annual Message to Congress

Washington delivered his sixth State of the Union address on 19 November 1794. Fellow Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives: When we call to mind the gracious indulgence of Heaven by which the American people became a nation; when we survey the general prosperity of our country, […]

Washington’s Second Annual Message to Congress and Congressional Responses

Washington delivered his second State of the Union address in the Senate chambers on 8 Dec. 1790. A joint committee of Congress consisting of senators Robert Morris and John Langdon and congressmen Elias Boudinot, John Laurance, and William Loughton Smith waited on Washington on 7 Dec. 1790 to inform him […]

Washington’s First Annual Message to Congress and Congressional Responses

Washington delivered his first State of the Union address in the Senate chambers on 8 January 1790. The Virginia Herald and Fredericksburg Advertiser, 21 Jan. 1790, noted that Washington “was dressed in a crow coloured suit of clothes, of American manufacture. . . . This elegant fabric was from the […]

George Washington to the Dey of Algiers

This letter is part of a series; more information can be found on the “George Washington & the Barbary Coast Pirates” page.  Please also see related documents below.