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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-5 of 35
Page vii
... noted that Washington tried to prevent the growth of parties and saw no place for them in American government . " Had he been successful in this , " Charles added , " it is most doubtful that representative government in this country ...
... noted that Washington tried to prevent the growth of parties and saw no place for them in American government . " Had he been successful in this , " Charles added , " it is most doubtful that representative government in this country ...
Page 7
... noted , but it was equally true in English history “ that prerogative was always largest in the hands of our wisest and best princes " because the people saw that such rulers " acted conformable to the foundation and end of all laws ...
... noted , but it was equally true in English history “ that prerogative was always largest in the hands of our wisest and best princes " because the people saw that such rulers " acted conformable to the foundation and end of all laws ...
Page 19
... noted , " pious Aeneas , the Good Magistrate destined by Jove / Jehova to harrow hell , to rebuild the walls of Latium and change the course of civilization , enacts the design of exodus and restoration that unveils the prophetic sense ...
... noted , " pious Aeneas , the Good Magistrate destined by Jove / Jehova to harrow hell , to rebuild the walls of Latium and change the course of civilization , enacts the design of exodus and restoration that unveils the prophetic sense ...
Page 23
... noted that although " Princes oppress , Lawyers extort , [ and ] Usurers bite , ” wealth would come from the free flow of trade , “ and this must come to pass by a Necessity beyond all resistance . ” 27 Fifty years before Bernard ...
... noted that although " Princes oppress , Lawyers extort , [ and ] Usurers bite , ” wealth would come from the free flow of trade , “ and this must come to pass by a Necessity beyond all resistance . ” 27 Fifty years before Bernard ...
Page 24
... noted that " men are most industrious , where they are most free , and secure to injoy the Effects of their Labours " ( 1690 ) ; and another , that " no People ever yet grew rich by Policies [ government ] ; but it is Peace , Industry ...
... noted that " men are most industrious , where they are most free , and secure to injoy the Effects of their Labours " ( 1690 ) ; and another , that " no People ever yet grew rich by Policies [ government ] ; but it is Peace , Industry ...
Contents
3 | |
11 | |
The American Presidency 17891837 | 87 |
Republican Dilemmas Virtue and Commerce Leadership and Party | 163 |
Notes | 237 |
Index | 261 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
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