When George Washington took office, the territory now known as the United States had been for many years a pawn in the struggle between Europe’s great powers – Great Britain, Spain, and France. It might easily have remained so had not Washington set about the invention of a firm but flexible foreign policy. In addition, Washington considered the persistent question of Indian relations along the entire American western frontier a part of his foreign relations policy.In Trials and Triumphs, Frank T. Reuter traces individually Washington’s negotiations and United States relations with Great Britain, Spain, and France, and with the various Indian nations, some of whom held strong allegiances to European powers. In Washington’s second administration, the French Revolution brought a new focus to the international setting. During that second term, Washington and his administration, while dealing with the day-to-day expediencies of establishing a new nation safe from both her friends and enemies, set the precedents that would govern both the manner and matter of American foreign policy for a century and a half.In presenting Washington’s complex foreign policy within the framework of a short monograph, Reuter relies heavily on the president’s own writings. An extensive bibliographical essay details others sources, including the writings of Washington’s contemporaries such as Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton.