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 7
... rulers " acted conformable to the foundation and end of all laws , the public good . " Such " God - like princes . partaking of His wisdom and good- ness , ... indeed , had some title to arbitrary power . " Locke warned , how- ever ...
... rulers " acted conformable to the foundation and end of all laws , the public good . " Such " God - like princes . partaking of His wisdom and good- ness , ... indeed , had some title to arbitrary power . " Locke warned , how- ever ...
Page 13
... rulers must abide by a higher law . The execution of the king remained a symbol of the limitations applicable to any government , especially in New England , where the last of the regicides had found refuge . Yet , Englishmen living in ...
... rulers must abide by a higher law . The execution of the king remained a symbol of the limitations applicable to any government , especially in New England , where the last of the regicides had found refuge . Yet , Englishmen living in ...
Page 14
... rulers and assumed that in a well - ordered community authority could be exercised legitimately only by those pos ... rulers . Puritan dissenters disagreed with James's view only in their rejection of the principle that the qualities ...
... rulers and assumed that in a well - ordered community authority could be exercised legitimately only by those pos ... rulers . Puritan dissenters disagreed with James's view only in their rejection of the principle that the qualities ...
Page 15
... ruler , then , following centuries of Christian teaching , arose from the Apostle Paul's evocation of the Chris- tian ... rulers or ruled , in order that the Christian community , the Kingdom of God , might come on earth . Additionally ...
... ruler , then , following centuries of Christian teaching , arose from the Apostle Paul's evocation of the Chris- tian ... rulers or ruled , in order that the Christian community , the Kingdom of God , might come on earth . Additionally ...
Page 16
... rulers " will not sticke to lie , dissemble , breake their words , forsweare , machiavellize , practice any policy or coun- terpolicy to honesty , reason , religion . " Massachusetts governor John Winthrop made the same point in 1642 ...
... rulers " will not sticke to lie , dissemble , breake their words , forsweare , machiavellize , practice any policy or coun- terpolicy to honesty , reason , religion . " Massachusetts governor John Winthrop made the same point in 1642 ...
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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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