How was George Washington the first president to violate the idea of a federal government confining itself to the constitution's enumerated powers?
An example of Washington using the power of the Executive Branch for something that was specifically not enumerated in the Constitution, was his signing of the Bank of the United States bill proposed by Hamilton and passed by Congress but objected to by Jefferson. Jefferson said the BUS was not authorized by the Constitution. Washington agreed but sided with Hamilton's argument in favor of the BUS. Hamilton said nothing in the Constitution prohibited the creation of the BUS. Since the Congress could collect taxes, it was reasonable to assume that it could create a bank to hold those taxes and act as a bank for the government.
