Presidents Above Party: The First American Presidency, 1789-1829George Washington's vision was a presidency free of party, a republican, national office that would transcend faction. That vision would remain strong in the administrations of John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams, yet largely disappear under Andrew Jackson and his successors. This book is a comprehensive and pathbreaking study of the early presidency and the ideals behind it. Ralph Ketcham examines the roots of nonpartisan leadership in Western thought and the particular influences on the founding fathers. Intellectual and political profiles of the first six presidents and their administrations emphasize the construction each put on the office, the challenges he faced, and the compromises he did and did not make. The erosion of nonpartisanship under Andrew Jackson is presented as a counterpoint that helps define the early presidency and the permanent transition from it. Addressing the thoughtful citizen as well as the scholar, the author poses the fundamental questions about presidential leadership, then and now. The best study of the early presidency, this book is an intellectual portrait of the age that will challenge received notions of American history. |
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Page iv
... Constitution and Early American law and government ) Includes bibliographical references and index . 1. Presidents — United States - History . 2. Executive power - United States - History . 3. Political science— United States - History ...
... Constitution and Early American law and government ) Includes bibliographical references and index . 1. Presidents — United States - History . 2. Executive power - United States - History . 3. Political science— United States - History ...
Page viii
... Constitution provided admirable defenses against arbitrary power , but they failed to envision a positive use of power to improve human life . " The American Presidency , " according to Burns , " was not designed to be the center of ...
... Constitution provided admirable defenses against arbitrary power , but they failed to envision a positive use of power to improve human life . " The American Presidency , " according to Burns , " was not designed to be the center of ...
Page x
... Constitution " preferred elective politics and capitalist enterprise rather than monarchy and mercantilism ” —as supplement and refine it . Enlarged government by consent and the protection of free enterprise were indeed important to ...
... Constitution " preferred elective politics and capitalist enterprise rather than monarchy and mercantilism ” —as supplement and refine it . Enlarged government by consent and the protection of free enterprise were indeed important to ...
Page xiii
... Virtue and Leadership in New Constitutions / 76 PART II The American Presidency , 1789-1837 5. The Federalist Presidents / 89 George Washington / 89 John Adams / 93 6. The First Republican Chief Magistrates / 100 Thomas Jefferson Contents.
... Virtue and Leadership in New Constitutions / 76 PART II The American Presidency , 1789-1837 5. The Federalist Presidents / 89 George Washington / 89 John Adams / 93 6. The First Republican Chief Magistrates / 100 Thomas Jefferson Contents.
Page 5
... constitutional monarchy that followed the Peace of Utrecht ( 1713 ) and the ascension of the house of Hanover ( 1714 ) . According to the Whig history learned by the Adamses , Jefferson , and Madison , the " Glorious Revolution of 1688 ...
... constitutional monarchy that followed the Peace of Utrecht ( 1713 ) and the ascension of the house of Hanover ( 1714 ) . According to the Whig history learned by the Adamses , Jefferson , and Madison , the " Glorious Revolution of 1688 ...
Contents
3 | |
11 | |
The American Presidency 17891837 | 87 |
Republican Dilemmas Virtue and Commerce Leadership and Party | 163 |
Notes | 237 |
Index | 261 |
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Abigail Adams accepted Adams's administration admired Alexander Pope American Revolution ancient Augustan Bernard Mandeville Bolingbroke Britain British Buren Cato century Charles Francis Adams Classical colonies commercial common conception Congress Constitution Convention corruption cultural Daniel Defoe defended Defoe democratic Dunciad early presidents economic eighteenth eighteenth-century election England English ethic executive power faction Federal Federalist Franklin George Hamilton ibid idea ideal ideology insisted J. Q. Adams Jackson Jacksonian James Madison Jeffersonian John Adams John Quincy Adams John Winthrop Jonathan Swift legislative legislature liberty Mandeville ment modern monarch Monroe moral nation Number opposition Parliament partisan partisanship patriot king patriot leader Pitt Plutarch political parties president's principles prosperity public philosophy Puritan quoted radical Whig republic republican Revolutionary role rulers scorned self-interest sense six presidents society sought spirit Thomas Jefferson thought tion Tory trade traditional United virtue virtuous Walpole Walpole's Walpolean Washington wealth Wilson Writings wrote York