what was one of washington’s problems when he took office that would have prompted this quote?

One major problem Washington faced when he took office was the huge national debt and overall financial chaos left over from the American Revolution.

Context of Washington’s early problems

When Washington became the first president in 1789, the new United States had enormous war debts, both at the national level and in many individual states, and its credit was very weak. There was no well‑established financial system, no national bank, and a lot of uncertainty about how the new government would raise money and stabilize the economy.

Why this would prompt a quote

A quote about Washington worrying, warning, or reflecting on the difficulties of governing would very likely be tied to:

• The “staggering” Revolutionary War debt and the need to create a plan to pay it off.

• The controversy around Alexander Hamilton’s proposals for assuming state debts and establishing a national bank, which caused intense political conflict.

So, one clear problem that could have prompted such a quote is the crippling national and state debt and the challenge of building a stable financial system for the new nation.