Washington was reelected president, almost against his will, on February 13, 1793. The vote was again unanimous. Nearly everyone seemed to agree that only Washington could do the job. That didn't stop politicians from attacking him, however. They attacked him for supporting the national bank, for living in luxury at the presidential mansion, and for remaining distant and aloof from the common people. They even accused him of wishing to become a monarch.
Washington spent much of his time as president deeply frustrated. He couldn't understand why honorable, reasonable, intelligent men couldn't agree. He hated partisanship; he was a social man who believed that everyone could and should get along. Yet while he genuinely liked people, he was often very formal and distant as president. He would not allow his advisors to form personal relationships with him, and he limited who was allowed to see him. This behavior led many to attack him as arrogant. These attacks hurt Washington deeply. Jefferson noted that at one point Washington swore that "by God he had rather be in his grave than in his present situation; he had rather be on his farm than be made Emperor of the World; and yet they were charging him with wanting to be a King."
Washington felt his time as president, especially his second term, was a failure. In some ways he was right. He had lost Jefferson, one of his most intelligent advisors, and was forced to replace him with a less capable man. He failed to keep the divisions in America–between North and South, farmer and merchant, pro-France and pro-Britain–from deepening. Jay's Treaty, though now seen as a diplomatic victory for the United States, was considered a failure at the time. Just about the only bright spot was Pinckney's Treaty, which went far to opening the West. Yet even here, Washington sacrificed some of his own well being for his country. With the Mississippi open to American ships, there was no need to build a canal between the Potomac and Ohio Rivers. Washington's land would still be valuable, but not as valuable as it could have been.