It is February 5th. Welcome to Episode 36 of History in a Year. Today, a rock star diplomat arrives in America. Edmond-Charles Genêt, better known as “Citizen Genêt,” lands in Charleston with a mission: to drag the United States into the war against Great Britain. We watch as he ignores the President, arms private pirate ships in American harbors, and makes the fatal mistake of threatening George Washington. It is a story of arrogance, diplomatic disaster, and the moment the American presidency proved it was stronger than the mob.
STEPHEN: Welcome to History in a Year: America’s First 250 Years.
LEAH: Join us every single day as we journey from the Revolution of 1776 to the 250th anniversary of the United States.
STEPHEN: You can find every episode, full transcripts, and join the discussion at PointedWords.com. I’m Stephen.
LEAH: And I’m Leah.
STEPHEN: It is February 5th. Welcome to Episode 36. Yesterday, we watched the French Revolution explode. King Louis XVI lost his head, and Europe plunged into war.
LEAH: President Washington did the sensible thing. He issued the Proclamation of Neutrality. He basically said, “We are staying out of this. We are friends with everyone, allies of no one.”
STEPHEN: But the French government didn’t care about George Washington’s proclamation. They decided to send a new ambassador to the United States to make sure we did get involved.
LEAH: His name was Edmond-Charles Genêt. But history remembers him as Citizen Genêt.
STEPHEN: He was only 30 years old. He was handsome, charismatic, arrogant, and fully drunk on the wine of revolution. He arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, on April 8, 1793.
LEAH: Now, pause right there. If you are a new ambassador, where are you supposed to go?
STEPHEN: You go to the capital! You go to Philadelphia to present your credentials to the President.
LEAH: Exactly. But Genêt didn’t do that. He landed in Charleston and stayed there for weeks. Why? Because he was on a recruitment drive.
STEPHEN: He treated the United States like it was French territory. He started handing out “Letters of Marque” to American ship captains.
LEAH: A “Letter of Marque” is basically a pirate license. It authorized private American ships to arm themselves with cannons, sail out, and attack British merchant ships under the French flag.
STEPHEN: This was a blatant violation of American neutrality. If American citizens were attacking British ships, Britain would declare war on the United States. That is exactly what Washington was trying to avoid.
LEAH: But Genêt didn’t care. The people of Charleston treated him like a hero. They threw banquets. They sang “La Marseillaise.” They wore the tricolor cockade.
STEPHEN: Genêt wrote home to Paris: “The true Americans are with us. Only the old men like Washington are afraid.”
LEAH: He finally decided to travel to Philadelphia. But he didn’t take a carriage. He turned it into a victory tour. He stopped at every town along the way to hold massive rallies.
STEPHEN: By the time he reached Philadelphia in May, he believed he was more popular than the President.
LEAH: He finally met Washington. And the meeting was… frosty.
STEPHEN: Washington was the master of the “cold shoulder.” He received Genêt with icy formality. He stood under a portrait of King Louis XVI (the man Genêt’s government had just killed). He made it very clear that he was not amused.
LEAH: Genêt was furious. He left the meeting and went straight to his friends—the Democratic-Republicans.
STEPHEN: Thomas Jefferson (who was Secretary of State) was initially charmed by Genêt. Jefferson loved France. He thought Genêt was a breath of fresh air.
LEAH: But even Jefferson started to get annoyed. Genêt wouldn’t listen. He kept commissioning privateers. He even armed a captured British ship, the Little Sarah, in the port of Philadelphia and threatened to send it out to sea against Washington’s direct orders.
STEPHEN: Jefferson tried to explain the Constitution to him. He said, “Look, in America, the President sets foreign policy.”
LEAH: And this is where Genêt made his fatal mistake. He looked at Jefferson and said, essentially: “I don’t care about your President. Congress represents the people. And if the President won’t fight for liberty, I will appeal over his head directly to the American people.”
STEPHEN: He threatened to “Appeal to the People.”
LEAH: When word of this leaked out, the mood changed instantly.
STEPHEN: Americans loved France. They loved Liberty. But they revered George Washington.
LEAH: You do not come into George Washington’s house and threaten to overthrow him. That is a bridge too far.
STEPHEN: Even Jefferson realized Genêt was a lunatic. He called him “hot-headed, all imagination, no judgment.” He realized Genêt was going to destroy the Republican party if they didn’t cut him loose.
LEAH: So, the Cabinet met. Hamilton and Jefferson (who agreed on nothing else) agreed on this: Genêt had to go.
STEPHEN: They sent a letter to France demanding his recall. “Send us a new ambassador. This one is broken.”
LEAH: But then… a twist.
STEPHEN: While Genêt was partying in Philadelphia, the government in France had changed. The “Jacobins” (the radicals led by Robespierre) had taken over.
LEAH: They hated Genêt’s faction (the Girondins). They sent a letter back to Washington saying, “Sure, we recall him. Send him back. We have a date for him with the guillotine.”
STEPHEN: Suddenly, Genêt went from being an arrogant bully to a terrified refugee. He knew if he stepped foot on a French ship, he was a dead man.
LEAH: So, he begged Washington for asylum.
STEPHEN: And this is the measure of George Washington’s character. Genêt had insulted him. He had threatened his authority. He had tried to drag his country into war.
LEAH: But Washington said, “We will not send a man to his death.”
STEPHEN: He granted Genêt political asylum. On one condition: He had to shut up and retire from politics.
LEAH: And he did! The rock star diplomat moved to New York. He married Cornelia Clinton—the daughter of the Governor of New York!
STEPHEN: He bought a farm. He lived the rest of his life as a quiet American citizen. He died in 1834 and is buried in upstate New York.
LEAH: The crisis was over. Washington had won. He proved that the Presidency could withstand the pressure of the mob.
STEPHEN: But while the political fever was breaking, a biological fever was just beginning.
LEAH: In the late summer of 1793, a strange sickness appeared on the docks of Philadelphia. People started complaining of headaches. Then their skin turned yellow. Then they started vomiting black blood.
STEPHEN: The Yellow Fever had arrived.
LEAH: Join us tomorrow for Episode 37. The Plague. We descend into the horror of the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793. We see the government flee the capital, leaving the city to die. And we see the heroism of the free black community who stayed behind to nurse the sick when no one else would.
STEPHEN: I’m Stephen.
LEAH: And I’m Leah.
STEPHEN: You can find every episode at PointedWords.com. And this… is our story.