A Brief History of the Federal Postal System

President Washington was unable to make decisions on international diplomacy and other problems the young nation faced. He took no official papers with him when he left Philadelphia for Mount Vernon 150 miles away in early October. The President needed to call Congress into session, but could not do so without permission from his cabinet secretaries. His legal advisor Edmund Randolph decided that Washington had no power to move Congress, even during an emergency, declaring it unconstitutional. Dr. Benjamin Rush remained adamant that aggressive bleeding and purging was the only way to treat the disease. But many doctors opted for a gentler French cure, including Dr. Jean de Vèse who had taken over the city's makeshift hospital at Bush Hill de Vè