It was bad enough that the French Revolution devolved into a chaotic bloodbath - worse yet was the fact that France went to war with England and then appealed to the United States for assistance through the office of Ambassador Genet. President Washington wisely decided on a course of strict neutrality and went so far as to dispatch John Jay to London to procure a treaty of non-aggression with the British Crown. It was the best thing we could have done as France turned out to be a historical basket-case and the British our most reliable ally.
