Trials and Triumphs: George Washington's Foreign Policy

by Frank T. Reuter

When George Washington took office, the territory now known as the United States had been for many years a pawn in the struggle between Europe's great powers -- Great Britain, Spain, and France. It might easily have remained so had not Washington set about the invention of a firm but flexible foreign policy. In addition, Washington considered the persistent question of Indian relations along the entire American western frontier a part of his foreign relations policy. In Trials and Triumphs, Frank T. Reuter traces individually Washington's negotiations and United States relations with Great Britain, Spain, and France, and with the various Indian nations, some of whom held strong allegiances to European powers. In Washington's second administration, the French Revolution brought a new focus to the international setting. During that second term, Washington and his administration, while dealing with the day-to-day expediencies of establishing a new nation safe from both her friends and enemies, set the precedents that would govern both the manner and matter of American foreign policy for a century and a half. In presenting Washington's complex foreign policy within the framework of a short monograph, Reuter relies heavily on the president's own writings. An extensive bibliographical essay details others sources, including the writings of Washington's contemporaries such as Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.

Genres: History

250 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Jeremy Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most intriguing challenges of the early American nation was, in the absence of a standing army or suitable navy, its noted neutrality, despite raging conflicts between the three main European powers, England at the top, France second, and Spain third, each one still holding lands on the American side of the Atlantic, pressing the new nation like a python. Frank Reuter does a thorough job of laying out the tensions that existed, the role these three powers played in trying to manipulate the United States during that early going and, were it not for Washington and several of his Cabinet members, might have successfully minimized the nation to its original thirteen states and never more, maybe less. To be clear, this is not a book for every reader, and most certainly not for someone looking to get a well-rounded picture of George Washington, but this is most certainly a title worthy of its scholarship, worthy of its focus, worthy to be called an overview of the first president’s complex and fragile foreign policy. At the very least, Trials and Triumphs helped to expand my understanding of our early foreign policy at a time when I often wondered how the new president, whose American Revolutionary aid came from France, was dealing with the volatile and violent situation of the French Revolution. Honestly, were it not for the ten or so editing errors, I might have taken it up to four stars.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an outstanding book from start to finish. The author spells out diplomatic action and, more importantly, the economic causes for the actions of the Barbary Coast States, England, Spain and France. Although the most prominent person in the narrative is Washington, Reuter does a fine job of integrating the lives of the secretaries of state and other diplomats.