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 55
Page vii
... spirit " in free gov- ernments : where it prevailed , “ the alternate domination of one faction over the other . . . has perpetuated the most horrid enormities , [ and ] is itself a frightful despotism . ' " " The contrary idea , that ...
... spirit " in free gov- ernments : where it prevailed , “ the alternate domination of one faction over the other . . . has perpetuated the most horrid enormities , [ and ] is itself a frightful despotism . ' " " The contrary idea , that ...
Page viii
... spirit and principle of self - government . In the eigh- teenth century , of course , commentary on political parties would as un- selfconsciously have used images and metaphors of exactly opposite con- notation : political parties were ...
... spirit and principle of self - government . In the eigh- teenth century , of course , commentary on political parties would as un- selfconsciously have used images and metaphors of exactly opposite con- notation : political parties were ...
Page xiii
... Spirit of 1776 / 72 The Colonial Governorship / 74 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 ...
... Spirit of 1776 / 72 The Colonial Governorship / 74 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 ...
Page 15
... Spirit . And there are differences of administrations , but the same Lord . And there are diversities of operations , but it is the same God which worketh all in all . . . . For as the body is one , and hath many members , and all the ...
... Spirit . And there are differences of administrations , but the same Lord . And there are diversities of operations , but it is the same God which worketh all in all . . . . For as the body is one , and hath many members , and all the ...
Page 17
... spirit , Phineas his zeale . " 13 Winthrop therefore did not conceive of his role in Mas- sachusetts as that of deferring to popular will or to other elders or to per- sons in high places back in England ; rather , it was incumbent on ...
... spirit , Phineas his zeale . " 13 Winthrop therefore did not conceive of his role in Mas- sachusetts as that of deferring to popular will or to other elders or to per- sons in high places back in England ; rather , it was incumbent on ...
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