Every Sept. 17, Americans observe Constitution Day. This commemoration invites us to celebrate some of the great blessings of American life: self-government under law, a political system in which the majority rules, and both within a legal framework that ensures stability and respect for individual and minority rights.
Indeed, Constitution Day invites us not only to celebrate this heritage, but also to reflect on it and undertake the necessary work of understanding our constitutional order and those whose efforts brought it to life. Without this, we will be in no position to fulfill the duties implied by celebrating the Constitution — preserving its principles and transmitting them to the next generation.
Constitution Day events often take the form of exploring the contributions of the Founders who were particularly influential in shaping the Constitution — James Madison (the “Father of the Constitution”), Alexander Hamilton (lead author of the Federalist Papers, written in defense of ratifying the Constitution) and Thomas Jefferson (who influenced the early debates over its meaning and application). This focus on the great theoretical minds of the Founding is certainly justifiable and fruitful, but it overlooks the constitutional contributions of one of the greatest Americans of the Founding or any other generation: George Washington.
The omission of Washington in this connection is understandable. He was much more a man of action than reflection. Washington wrote no learned treatise on the Constitution, and he participated only in the most limited way in the debates over framing it, ratifying it and operationalizing it. Nevertheless, it is fair to say that he was America’s “indispensable man,” not only during the War of Independence but also in the creation of our constitutional order.
After the Revolution, Washington famously returned to private life, stating that he would take no more part in the new nation’s public affairs. He was, however, drawn back into political life at the insistence of many prominent Americans who urged — probably rightly — that a convention called to write a new Constitution for the country would lack sufficient legitimacy without Washington’s participation. Washington agreed to preside over the Convention during the summer of 1787, thus lending his massive credibility to the document. Subsequently, the Constitution’s path to ratification was eased by the assumption that Washington would agree to serve as the first president of the United States under the new form of government. We can truthfully say that the Constitution we celebrate each year could not have been written or ratified without Washington’s participation.
Washington’s constitutional legacy does not end with ratification, however. His presidency was much more than just a successful and prudent administration of the public’s business. The Constitution’s full meaning had to be put into practice, and Washington well understood that he would set precedents that would guide the nation for generations to come. He undertook this important responsibility with all the circumspection, care and prudence for which he was so justly famous.
By his conduct in office, Washington established expectations about presidential power that still inform our understanding of the Constitution today. He exerted what we today call “executive privilege” by informing Congress that its members were not entitled to executive-branch communications just because they wanted to see them. When America faced the fraught question of its proper posture toward warring giants Britain and France, Washington issued the Neutrality Proclamation, claiming for the presidency a leading role in foreign policy.
Moreover, Washington’s decisions as president were essential not only to defining executive power, but even the powers of Congress. The proposal of Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton for a national bank stirred a sharp public debate about the scope of congressional powers implied in the Necessary and Proper Clause. While opponents of the bank argued for a narrow interpretation, Washington ended up signing the bank bill into law, tacitly endorsing the broader Hamiltonian understanding of federal power that is necessary to many federal government operations taken for granted today.
Let us remember on Constitution Day that celebrating and understanding the Constitution requires us to honor not only the textual and conceptual role of the Framers but to recognize and understand the leadership of George Washington.