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 ix
... - tive history of the United States , and the career and public philosophy of each of the first six presidents . Indeed , the growth of the presidency into what often has been called “ the most powerful office Preface ix.
... - tive history of the United States , and the career and public philosophy of each of the first six presidents . Indeed , the growth of the presidency into what often has been called “ the most powerful office Preface ix.
Page x
The First American Presidency, 1789-1829 Ralph Ketcham. what often has been called “ the most powerful office in the world ” has led to careful and revealing study of its origins and early development . Yet the chasm between the ...
The First American Presidency, 1789-1829 Ralph Ketcham. what often has been called “ the most powerful office in the world ” has led to careful and revealing study of its origins and early development . Yet the chasm between the ...
Page 3
... called indeed a tory ; but his writings prove him a stronger advocate for liberty than any of his country- men , the whigs of the present day . " 1 What could have made Jefferson see both men as friends of freedom , the one a radical ...
... called indeed a tory ; but his writings prove him a stronger advocate for liberty than any of his country- men , the whigs of the present day . " 1 What could have made Jefferson see both men as friends of freedom , the one a radical ...
Page 17
... called . " 12 With such overarching purposes and such heavy responsibilities , superhuman qualities seemed necessary in the magistrate — a burden that Winthrop's diary attests he was aware of almost every day . Winthrop had been a ...
... called . " 12 With such overarching purposes and such heavy responsibilities , superhuman qualities seemed necessary in the magistrate — a burden that Winthrop's diary attests he was aware of almost every day . Winthrop had been a ...
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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