<em>Washington's address argued for a careful foreign policy of <u>friendly neutrality</u> that would avoid creating implacable enemies or international friendships of dubious value, nor entangle the United States in foreign alliances.</em>
<em>Washington's presidency was significant beyond the fact that he was the first president. His actions <u>established a strong central government</u> and helped put in place a plan to fix the problem of the national debt.</em>
among George Washington's critics are those who wonder how the nation might have developed had he sided with Jefferson in the partisan debates that swirled all around him as President. By identifying himself with Hamilton, he actually furthered the partisanship he so vigorously denounced in his farewell speech to the nation. In the eyes of those historians who doubt his greatness, this is Washington's most significant failure as President.
