Washington sympathized with Democratic-Republicans

[Onedotman]

Despite being a non-partisan man, George Washington's political views were largely in line with that of the Federalist Party, which favored a strong federal government, protectionism, industrialization and friendly relations with Britain. So what if his views are more similar to that of the Democratic-Republican Party, preferring a less centralized, agrarian state according to Jeffersonian ideals? What POD is needed to achieve this?

One thing for sure is that ITTL Washington wouldn't be choosing Jefferson as VP, since both of them were from Virginia. I can see someone like George Clinton being Washington's choice.

 

[dfl_90]

My understanding is that Washington's frustration with Congress during the war helped shape his views regarding the need for a cohesive national government. Additionally he had a personal interest in improvement projects and promoting commerce, which generally aligned with Federalist goals. So you might need a prewar POD to shift his views that much, although that obviously raises the question of whether his service during the war would be the same. If not, then it's hard to say whether he would be the same unifying figure.

As a side note, Vice Presidents at the time weren't chosen by the presidential candidates. The runner up in the election was elected as Vice President. It was a poorly thought out system and was quickly scrapped as it meant that the incoming president's rival in the election would suddenly become part of his administration. Adams was deliberately given enough votes to put him in second place, as the electors wanted to balance out Washington's support by also supporting a prominent Northerner.