This Day in Campaign History: March 16, 1792
President George Washington’s reelection campaign heated up today as John Adams claimed that Washington is not a real war hero. The story of General Washington bravely leading his troops across the Delaware River on a frigid Christmas night in 1776 to attack a Hessian garrison, Adams alleges, is a pure fabrication. “If he was in such haste to escape the Redcoats, then why in tarnation did he pause to have his portrait painted? Besides, who are these ‘Hessians,’ anyway? Have you ever even heard of Hessia?”
The Washington campaign wasted no time in responding to this scurrilous accusation. In a statement printed in the American Aurora, Thomas Jefferson, Washington’s Secretary of the State, said, “President Washington is the Father of this glorious Republic. To claim that the President did not demonstrate the utmost leadership and courage under fire is a traitorous act.” He called this libelous strategy of attacking an opponent’s strength as “slow-rafting.”
Adams rebuked Jefferson, reminding voters of the controversial excise tax that the Administration had placed on distilled spirits in 1791. “What do you expect from these tax-and-spend Democratic-Republicans?”
Jefferson shot back, calling Adams a “Benedict Arnold.” Benedict Arnold, living in London, could not be reached for comment.
It was President Washington who rose above the fray, saying, “I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is the best policy.”
Tags: george washington, john adams
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