Existing comment:
Potomac Fever
George Washington inherited "Potomac Fever," an obsession with the grandeur and commercial potential of the Potomac River. It emerged among established Virginia and Maryland families residing on the river in the early 1700s. Certainly well before 1790, and possibly as early as 1775, Washington had become convinced that centering America's political and commercial emporium on the Potomac would cement the Union and, with it, his own legacy.
Washington envisioned a capital of beauty and magnificence. From 1791 until his death in 1799 he supported the implementation of the L'Enfant Plan and micromanaged the development of the city. His greatest regret was that the District commissioners could not embrace the details of L'Enfant's plan, causing a series of disagreements that ended in L'Enfant's resignation in 1792.
By 1795 Washington and the city had become so entwined that former District Commissioner Thomas Johnson told him, "the success of the City has now become important to your Reputation." |