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 vii
... tion to be nonpartisan executives have seemed perverse , naive , and even disingenuous in a scholarly context in which it is generally assumed that discord and party are both inevitable and valuable . Joseph Charles , for ex- ample , in ...
... tion to be nonpartisan executives have seemed perverse , naive , and even disingenuous in a scholarly context in which it is generally assumed that discord and party are both inevitable and valuable . Joseph Charles , for ex- ample , in ...
Page ix
... tion openly , unashamedly , and enthusiastically as " the leader of his party " ? Should the common judgment that it is impractical for an effective presi- dent to be , even in the Oval Office , anything other than a zealous party ...
... tion openly , unashamedly , and enthusiastically as " the leader of his party " ? Should the common judgment that it is impractical for an effective presi- dent to be , even in the Oval Office , anything other than a zealous party ...
Page 6
... tion of 1776. Other cardinal principles - natural rights , the rule of law , and a balance of powers , as set forth by Locke and by Montesquieu - pro- scribed not only a Hobbesian Leviathan or a Machiavellian Prince but also a ...
... tion of 1776. Other cardinal principles - natural rights , the rule of law , and a balance of powers , as set forth by Locke and by Montesquieu - pro- scribed not only a Hobbesian Leviathan or a Machiavellian Prince but also a ...
Page 8
... tion , and powers of the executive received serious consideration . Proposals for a plural executive , for election of the president by Congress or by the state legislatures , and for an absolute veto were all entertained . Even life ...
... tion , and powers of the executive received serious consideration . Proposals for a plural executive , for election of the president by Congress or by the state legislatures , and for an absolute veto were all entertained . Even life ...
Page 15
... tion of authority . The Puritans also accepted the traditional sense of hierarchy in society that held that some were fit to rule and some to be ruled and that every Christian had a “ calling " defining his particular niche in the ...
... tion of authority . The Puritans also accepted the traditional sense of hierarchy in society that held that some were fit to rule and some to be ruled and that every Christian had a “ calling " defining his particular niche in the ...
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