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 xi
... popular Jackson , that transformed American public life and gave it the dynamic that has ever since characterized it . As a way of clarify- ing the " premodern ” view of the early presidents , I have tried to explain this contrast with ...
... popular Jackson , that transformed American public life and gave it the dynamic that has ever since characterized it . As a way of clarify- ing the " premodern ” view of the early presidents , I have tried to explain this contrast with ...
Page xiv
... Executive Opportunities , 1789 / 215 Cultural Tensions and the Presidency / 218 Neither " Popular " nor " Partisan " Leadership / 225 Nonpartisanship and the Modern Presidency / 231 Notes / 237 Index / 261 xiv Contents.
... Executive Opportunities , 1789 / 215 Cultural Tensions and the Presidency / 218 Neither " Popular " nor " Partisan " Leadership / 225 Nonpartisanship and the Modern Presidency / 231 Notes / 237 Index / 261 xiv Contents.
Page 17
... popular will or to other elders or to per- sons in high places back in England ; rather , it was incumbent on him to pursue actively the Kingdom of God on earth . Although Winthrop gradu- ally , if grudgingly , allowed elected deputies ...
... popular will or to other elders or to per- sons in high places back in England ; rather , it was incumbent on him to pursue actively the Kingdom of God on earth . Although Winthrop gradu- ally , if grudgingly , allowed elected deputies ...
Page 21
... popular translations of Virgil and Plutarch , gave his thought a lasting in- fluence far transcending party . Abigail Adams , for example , mightily im- pressed by George Washington when she first met him in 1775 , wrote her husband ...
... popular translations of Virgil and Plutarch , gave his thought a lasting in- fluence far transcending party . Abigail Adams , for example , mightily im- pressed by George Washington when she first met him in 1775 , wrote her husband ...
Page 22
... popular emotions — or even more than well - intended politi- cians who might " mend the parts " while they unwittingly “ ruin the whole . " The Growth of the Commercial Ethic Although the exile of James II , the Acts of Settlement , and ...
... popular emotions — or even more than well - intended politi- cians who might " mend the parts " while they unwittingly “ ruin the whole . " The Growth of the Commercial Ethic Although the exile of James II , the Acts of Settlement , and ...
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