The American Revolution began in 1776 with the publication of the Declaration of Independence, the jumping-off point for the history that follows. George Washington became the country’s first president in 1789, the first year when nationally elected officials can be held accountable within this chronology (though Washington was not elected by voters, but the Electoral College). But things were stirring even before this. During the war, as commander of the American army, Washington was the subject of many rumors, including one that suggested he had conducted an extramarital affair with a cleaning woman in Philadelphia. He was also scolded for using alcohol to tempt voters, even though during colonial days, politicians routinely used free alcohol as an enticement for voters. In the national elections of 1792, the Gazette of the United States commented “That the Voice of the People, was the Voice of Grog.” Physical attacks were also employed against other politicians in this era, as when the representative from Vermont, slighted by the representative from Connecticut, spat a mouthful of tobacco juice at him.
On May 16, 1777, Button Gwinnett (1735–1777), acting governor of Georgia, dueled with General Lachlan McIntosh (1725–1806), a delegate from Georgia, near Savannah. The men had been feuding about McIntosh’s brother, who had been arrested by Gwinnett on “suspicion of treachery,” as well as McIntosh’s own inefficient actions in leading Continental troops against the British. During an official state inquiry into the latter, McIntosh publicly called Gwinnett a “scoundrel and a lying rascal,” sufficient instigation for a duel. Both McIntosh and Gwinnett were wounded in the fight; Gwinnett died from his wounds several days later.1
A popular war hero, George Washington (1732–1799) was also a popular president. Yet he had detractors who were happy to spread rumors diminishing his stature. Among the barbs: he had an illegitimate son named Lawrence Posey, a resident of a farm near Mount Vernon; another illegitimate son was reported to be Alexander Hamilton, Washington’s secretary of the treasury; and during Washington’s command of the American troops in the war, he had a mistress who was a British supporter. The British themselves circulated a bogus letter—supposedly written by Washington—which suggested the general was intimate with a young maid, whom he called “pretty little Kate, the Washer-woman’s daughter.” Benjamin Franklin Bache, Benjamin Franklin’s grandson, was an outspoken critic and used his position as editor of an influential newspaper to publish this kind of anti-Washington content. At various times, he called the first president a “despotic, anemic counterfeit of the English Georges,” deceptive, and guilty of having “treacherous mazes of passion.” 2
Henry Osborne (1751–1800), superior court judge in Georgia, was expelled from office in December 1791 by the state senate because of fraud during the election of Anthony Wayne to the U.S. House. Osborne was charged and convicted of altering the results—from a total of twenty-five votes to eighty-nine votes—with an increase of sixty-four for Wayne. Osborne had previously held several state positions in Pennsylvania but was expelled there as well, in June 1783, after he was found to be a bigamist.3
During the gubernatorial election of 1792 in New York State, Federalist John Jay (1745–1829) received the majority of votes but lost the election. The ruling Democratic-Republican party seized all of the ballots in three counties and declared them invalid, citing irregularities in how the ballots had been collected. Although none was found to be fraudulent, the action resulted in the runner-up, incumbent George Clinton (1739–1812), being declared the winner. Clinton—who became known as the father of New York after serving a total of twenty-two years as governor—later went on to be elected vice president of the United States. Jay won the following election for governor and later was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.4
In 1792, an informal group of U.S. congressmen investigated allegations that Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton (1757–1804) had used confidential information about government activities to enrich his investments. Their inquiry did not substantiate this charge, but it did uncover a previously unknown scandal involving Hamilton as the victim of a blackmail plot. A woman named Maria Reynolds had a sexual tryst with Hamilton in Philadelphia while Hamilton’s wife was home in New York. The event turned out to be a setup, a trap set by James Reynolds, Maria’s husband, who encouraged the continuation of the affair in exchange for hush money from Hamilton. Hamilton ended the affair a year later when Mr. Reynolds upped his demands and demanded a government job in return for silence. The report of Hamilton’s blackmail was kept secret until 1796, when a political rival learned of it and published an account in a pamphlet, creating a public scandal. In the interim, Maria Reynolds divorced her husband, relying on attorney Aaron Burr to do the legal work. In 1804, Burr and Hamilton fought a fatal duel over a different issue.5
Albert Gallatin (1761–1849) was the first U.S. senator denied a seat after an election. On February 28, 1794, a committee of the Senate voted to keep him from serving on the grounds that he failed to meet the Constitution’s requirement for residency. He had emigrated from Switzerland in 1780 but had not been a citizen for a minimum of nine years at the time he was elected in 1793 because the “start date” was considered the ratification date of the Constitution, 1788. But the real issue behind the ouster was that Gallatin, a Republican from Pennsylvania, was a leader in opposing the financial policies of Alexander Hamilton and the majority Federalist party. His politics gave the Federalists the motivation to remove him from power. The committee voted along party lines—fourteen to twelve—to keep him out.6
Kensey Johns (1759–1848), Federalist senator from Delaware, was removed from office on March 28, 1794, by a majority vote of the Senate. Johns committed no wrong but was an early victim of national politics, in this case having been appointed to replace George Read (another Federalist, and a signer of the Declaration of Independence) by the governor of Delaware, Joshua Clayton. The vote to unseat Johns was motivated by party politics—Republicans angry at the recent successful ouster of one of their own, Albert Gallatin—and focused on a technicality. In this case, Clayton was found to have made the appointment while the Delaware state legislature was in recess, a violation of a provision in the U.S. Constitution.7
On July 8, 1797, the full Senate voted to expel William Blount (1749–1800), a Republican from Tennessee. The case focused on Blount’s questionable activities in the acquisition of land. The evidence included a letter he wrote attempting to instigate an attack on the Florida and Louisiana territories with the hope that Great Britain might acquire the land, benefiting Blount’s real estate investments there. The Senate voted to expel him on the grounds of disloyalty but failed in a later attempt to impeach him, because of a technicality in the impeachment rules.8
On January 30, 1798, Congress engaged in a debate about potential American involvement in a war then under way in Europe. In the House of Representatives, an argument between Matthew Lyon (1749–1822), Republican from Vermont, and Roger Griswold (1762–1812), Federalist from Connecticut, escalated to a shouting match. Lyon, a tobacco chewer—like many members of Congress in that era—spat in the face of Griswold. The House voted on expelling Lyon, but failed to reach the two-thirds majority necessary for this action. It was the first recorded case of an attempt to discipline a congressman and the first recorded case of violence in the House. On February 15, Griswold resorted to his own retribution and attacked Lyon with a hickory cane; Lyon used a pair of fireplace tongs to return the blows. A recommendation to expel both parties was brought to the floor, but not enough votes were raised to pass the resolution.9
In July 1798, Congress passed the Sedition Act, a Federalist-sponsored bill that outlawed speech that was critical of Congress or the president. Matthew Lyon opposed this move and took action. He wrote a letter to a prominent newspaper in his home state, stating that President Adams had “a continual grasp for power…. unbounded thirst for ridiculous pomp, foolish adulation and selfish avarice.” Shortly thereafter, he was the first person arrested under the Sedition Act. In court, his defense was that the act was unconstitutional. The jury—all Federalists—found him guilty and sent him to prison for four months. Out of jail in time for the elections of 1798, he was reelected.10
In 1798, in Paris, U.S. diplomats were targeted in a scheme to extort money from the United States in exchange for a diplomatic agreement to solve problems between the two countries. Three French agents were involved in the deal. To provide a cover of secrecy when communicating this development to Washington, the American representatives dubbed the French agents X, Y, and Z, which provided a label for the ensuing scandal, thereafter known as the XYZ Affair. When news of this unethical activity was published, some politicians attacked President Adams and the Federalist party because they believed the whole thing was a political ploy. The evidence, in the form of the official correspondence from the diplomats abroad, proved otherwise, and the focus of the attack shifted to the French. The result was escalating military confrontations, which lasted until a treaty was negotiated, one with no bribes involved.11
After George Washington’s death in 1799, George Washington Bowen claimed to be the son of George and Betsy “Elixa” Bowen, a former prostitute, who later married Aaron Burr. Born in 1794, Bowen instituted a lawsuit after his mother died because he had not been the beneficiary of her estate. His case lasted thirteen years and ended in the Supreme Court, which decided against him. In the interim, coverage of the proceedings prolonged the scandal about the former president, but it was eventually proven that Bowen was unrelated to Washington. Another scandal involved Washington’s wife, Martha, whose family was reported to have sired children with black slaves on the Mount Vernon estate. These descendants, with the family name Syphax, were sometimes linked to the president as well.12