444 Watch Tower Society government strong enough to field an effective army As a member of the landed gentry, he also saw in the 1786 Shays’s Rebellion by poor western Massachusetts farmers and veterans the seeds of collapse of the new nation Persuaded to chair the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, he brought order and legitimacy to the closed-door proceedings while playing only a minor role in its debates Once enough states had ratified the U.S Constitution, Washington was unanimously chosen as the United States’s first president, taking office in New York City on April 30, 1789 Focusing on fiscal stability and political credibility, Washington selected trusted colleagues, including Alexander Hamilton, his former military aide, and fellow Virginian Thomas Jefferson, former ambassador to France, for what became known as the cabinet As Americans debated what to call their new leader, Washington discouraged “regal” titles in favor of “Mr President.” By 1790 Americans were celebrating their president’s February 22 birthday Governing did not always prove so rewarding for the aging leader As Hamilton and Jefferson clashed over a series of vital issues, factions, soon to become political parties, vied for Washington’s backing His second term was especially difficult Although Washington’s presidency was avowedly nonpartisan, his opinion of the French Revolution, as it declined into anarchy, revealed him as a Federalist and sparked abuse from the Republican press The 1794 Whiskey Rebellion saw Commander in Chief Washington marching into Pennsylvania at the head of 13,000 federal troops sent to pacify opponents of Hamilton’s hated whiskey tax A controversial treaty, negotiated by and named for Washington’s close colleague, John Jay, provoked outrage when it seemed to put the fledgling United States in Britain’s pocket Washington had a final precedent to set With Hamilton’s help he crafted a farewell address to announce that he would not seek a third term In it, Washington urged Americans to come together as a nation and warned against foreign alliances based on other than sound national interests Washington’s second voluntary withdrawal from power set an example that only one U.S president, Franklin D Roosevelt, has ever breached In his final retirement, Washington closely monitored construction of the new federal district that would bear his name, renovated Mount Vernon, and added to his vast land holdings He died of a throat infection at age 67 after insisting on riding out to chores in a freezing December rain An outpouring of tributes ensued, none better remembered than Congressman Henry Lee’s “First in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen.” See also political parties in the United States Further Reading: Brookhiser, Richard Founding Father: Rediscovering George Washington New York: Free Press, 1996; Ellis, Joseph J His Excellency, George Washington New York: Knopf, 2004 Marsha E Ackermann Watch Tower Society Charles Taze Russell founded the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1884 This society brought together many Bible study groups that he had established throughout Pennsylvania over more than a decade Russell rejected many traditional and mainstream Christian doctrines However, his most radical teaching had to with eschatology (doctrines about the Second Coming of Christ, the Battle of Armageddon, and the establishment of the Kingdom of God) Russell claimed that the Bible contained a secret code revealing the dates (1874 and 1914) for what he famously phrased “the end of the world as we know it.” Given the obvious lack of visible evidence, Russell came to believe that Christ had returned in only a spiritual sense in 1874 and that the final conflict between the forces of God and those of Satan was merely set in motion in 1914 At the conclusion of these protracted events, sometime in the very near future, insisted Russell and his society, God would unleash a mass genocide on all unbelievers and reward the faithful with eternal life After Russell’s death and several schisms, the primary group, now calling themselves Jehovah’s Witnesses, under the leadership of Joseph Rutherford, became focused on missionary activity, organizing what was rapidly becoming a world community Successive leaders developed a publishing empire primarily to produce translations of the Bible and literature supportive of their controversial theology Jehovah’s Witnesses are often recognized today for their unconventional beliefs and anticultural behaviors, some of which have led to important legal cases and resulted in Supreme Court decisions that have substantially enhanced America’s religious freedoms Jehovah’s Witnesses forbid their members to engage in the celebration of Christian and civic holi-