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JACKSON TO TAYLOR
The election of 1828 was turning point in American political history. It was a
repeat of the election of 1824 with John Quincy Adams facing Andrew Jackson.
Many consider this the real beginning of modern politics. This was the first
election in American history in which there were no restrictions on voting; you did
not have to be a property owner or you did not have to possess a certain amount
of money. This was the first open election and the farmers of America would take
advantage of this situation. Plus this was the first major personality election in
which voters would learn about the private lives of the candidates and would
become much more interested in their lives and their images than the real issues.
Dirty politics or mudslinging really began with this crucial election of 1828.
There were numerous stories about both candidates. And many of these stories
were true. Stories focused upon the cold personality of John Quincy Adams and
how he was such an extreme loner. Stories told of his best friend being his dog
and his nude bathing in the Potomac River. Other stories told of his problems
with his wife and his children. During his presidency, there was the purchase of a
pool table for the white house; critics called it a gaming table. They indicated that
with government funds a pleasure table was placed in the white house. One story
even called Adams a pimp and said that he arranged women for his foreign
guests.
There were many stories also about Andrew Jackson and most of these stories
were also true. It is an understatement to say that Andrew Jackson was one of
the most colorful individuals ever to run for president. There were the stories
about his smoking habits; he smoked a great deal and if he knew that you did not
like smoking, he would often blow smoke right in your face. Some called him Mr.
Chimney. There were stories about his drinking of alcohol and how he liked to
party with his friends. He was called by his friends: King Dung because he and
his friends would often fall down outside the tavern after a long evening of
drinking and roll in the horse manure. Actually he is considered the only
president to be featured on the label of a bottle of hard liquor. He is found on the
bottle of Old Hickory, bourbon whiskey. Stories told about his bad temper and
how he liked to fight and how he liked to fight duels. Stories told that he was a
womanizer and how he married a pregnant women named Rachael who was
already married and was never divorced. He was always very sensitive about this
situation and would readily fight to defend her honor. Stories circulated about his
career in the military and how he would often display a bad temper to his men.
There were many stories about his health since he had two bullets in his body
from his military career and these bullets had poisoned his system and caused
him to be very thin and to have numerous illnesses, especially constant bouts of
diarrhea. But this man Andrew Jackson appealed to the farmers-common
people- of America. He had the habits of common people and it is those common
people who elected Jackson in 1828 in what is considered the most popular
election in our history. A higher percentage of eligible voters voted in this election
than any other election in our entire history. Andrew Jackson was elected as the
most popular man ever and would leave office in 1836 as an extremely popular
president.
Was Jackson really a common man when he was elected president or was this
just an image? There is no doubt that the origins of Jackson were common and
that the habits of Jackson were common. Jackson was the first president to be
born in a log cabin in the frontier. He had little formal education and his family
was a poor farm family. He held many jobs as he was growing up and then joined
the army and rise quickly within the military. He became an Indian fighter with his
battles against the Creeks during the War of 1812; and he became a military
hero as the upset winner of the Battle of New Orleans during that same war.
When the war was over, Jackson became a successful attorney and plantation
owner. The Hermitage is the plantation home of Jackson in Tennessee. Visit his
plantation home at: http://www.hermitage.org/mans.htm He was then elected to
the senate and in 1828 was elected president of the United States. It is true that
he was wealthy when he was elected president. But he never forgot his common
origins and his common man habits kept him in touch with the common people.
He was more common than not.
Andrew Jackson was responsible for the third and last road to the white house in
our early history. His political formula that would last for years in known as the
Jackson formula. It is a four part formula that involved: a. being born in a log
cabin, b. being a farmer, c. being an Indian fighter, and d. being a military hero.
After Jackson's election, it would be difficult being elected president without
having some part of this formula. The part of being a military hero would become
the important and longest lasting part of this formula. There would be many
military hero presidents after Jackson.
Andrew Jackson's election in 1828 is called the rise of common people into
politics. While Jackson is considered the most popular president in our early
history, he is also the most democratic president in our early history. Jacksonian
Democracy has to do with the opening of the basic system of government to
common people. There are many examples of how the government became
more accessible to common people during the presidency of Jackson. Jackson
was elected president in 1828 by average people who voted for the first time;
other common people also came into politics. Take Davy Crockett, for example;
he is part of the Jacksonian Democracy. Here is a man from the west who had
relatively little education and yet he was elected to congress. The inauguration of
Andrew Jackson is another example of the democracy; thousands of farmers
came to Washington, D.C. to share in the victory of Jackson. This was the first
victory for farmers in our history. As Jackson gave his inaugural speech, no one
could hear what he was saying as people were yelling, " Andy, Andy." They
wanted to touch Jackson and get close to Jackson; they followed him into the
white house for the inaugural party and they nearly tore the white house apart.
Newspapers described the inauguration day of Andrew Jackson as being similar
to the invasion of Rome by the barbarians.
Jackson himself made policies which made the system more democratic. He
drastically expanded the spoils system and brought more average people into
government. He established a system called rotation where he took men who
had been involved in government for years and who held important positions in
government and he gave them new jobs of lesser importance as he brought his
people into government. He also created the first unofficial cabinet; this cabinet
was referred to as the kitchen cabinet, because his friends met with him in the
kitchen of the white house and gave him advice. Jackson was the most popular
of the early president and Jackson was the most democratic of the early
presidents. In fact, Jackson's presidency may have featured the high point of
democracy in our entire history.
Jackson is referred to as a president of majority politics. He came in on a high
and he left on a high. His policies were extremely popular and they appealed to a
large number of people. There were three major policies of Jackson that
contributed to his popularity. We have already discussed the Indian policy of
Jackson. Jackson instituted the successful but tragic policy of Indian removal.
The removal of Indians from the eastern United States was a very popular policy
but a very controversial one. He changed the direction of Indian policy and his
staff members began to institute new Indian treaties of removal.
His economic policy was also extremely popular but also controversial and is
open to criticism today. Andrew Jackson had a severe dislike of banks. In 1819
during the depression he had money in a Tennessee state bank and that bank
went out of businesses. He not only disliked banks but he had an intense dislike
of bankers. When he became president he found that he had to deal with the
National Bank of the United States. This bank was initially an idea of Alexander
Hamilton to give the wealthy more control over the economy. It was a
government bank owed by both the government as well as the wealthy. It was
started under George Washington and had been rechartered in 1816. Jackson
had a real dislike of this national bank and of the director of that bank Nicholas
Biddle. Jackson even said that Biddle smelled of money.
The wealthy feared Jackson and wanted him out of office in 1832. They actually
came together under the leadership of Henry Clay from Kentucky and formed a
rival political party known as the Whig party. The Whigs were aware of Jackson's
attitude toward banks in general and toward the National Bank in particular. They
planned to make the National Bank a campaign by getting Biddle to apply for the
renewal of the bank before the election of 1832. The recharter bill passed
congress in the summer of 1832 and this bill was vetoed by Jackson. He did it for
personal reasons and for the fact that he felt that the bank gave the wealthy too
much control of the economy. This became a major issue in the election of 1832
when Jackson faced Whig leader Henry Clay. The bank was the major issue of
the campaign but it did not stop Jackson from being elected for a second term.
Jackson now interpreted his election as a popular mandate to proceed against
the National Bank that still had four years left. He started removing federal funds
from the bank and began depositing them in select state banks. The National
Bank had been the major agent in aiding business, in stabilizing the currency,
and in curbing inflation. That institution was virtually dead and now inflation and
land speculation increased. Problems with the sale of public land led to
weakened confidence in state banks. By 1837 there were be a depression and
the economic policies of Jackson were greatly responsible for that depression.
While Jackson's veto of the National Bank was a popular one, it was not a smart
one from an economic standpoint. But this depression would occur after Jackson
left office and it was a problem for his successor.
Jackson's best day was president was his handing of the Nullification Crisis.
South Carolina was in the midst of a cotton depression during the presidency of
Jackson; those in South Carolina were convinced that the main reason for the
economic crisis was the high tariff sought by northern factory owners that
restricted foreign products from coming into the United States. South Carolina, in
particular, blamed the Tariffs of 1828 and 1832 for their present problems. South
Carolina now passed a nullification ordinance in which the state decreed that the
national tariffs did not apply and could not be collected in South Carolina and that
the use of federal force was grounds for secession. Here we another crisis
between the federal government and the south.
Jackson's response was strong and immediate in this nullification crisis. He
ordered the federal forts in South Carolina to be on immediate alert. He issued a
message to Congress in which he recommended a reduction in the tariff. He then
issued a Proclamation to the People of South Carolina in which he stated that
nullification was an impractical absurdity, that the sovereign and indivisible
federal government was surpreme, and that no state could refuse to obey the
laws of the land or could leave the union. Finally he stated that disunion by
armed force is treason. In South Carolina they called him "King Andy", while
most Americans were impressed with his strong, immediate response. The crisis
ended when a compromise tariff was introduced in congress. Jackson had
become a very powerful leader during this crisis and most experts consider this
the high point of his presidency.
Jackson had come in on a high and would leave on a high. He is the sickest
president in American history and is one of the most personal and biased. Yet he
is rated the most popular and democratic president in our early history. While
some of his policies are questionable such as his Indian policy and his economic
policy, he remained the ultimate president of majority politics. Here are details on
the
life
and
presidency
of
Jackson:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/aj7/about/bio/jackxx.htm He gave more people
policies which they wanted. And there is no question the most impressive aspect
of his presidency was his handling of the nullification crisis. His popularity
allowed him to hand pick his successor in 1836. The Whig party nominated a
series of candidates so that the Democrats could not get a majority and so the
election would again be in the House of Representatives. The Democrats turned
to an experienced politician who was vice president during the second term of
Jackson: Martin Van Buren. Van Buren was the choice of Jackson and that was
all the farmers needed to know. Plus Van Buren pledged that he would follow the
policies of Jackson. In 1836 Van Buren was elected the 8th president of the
United States.
Martin Van Buren was known as the Little Magician for his success at power
politics. He was the first career politician to be elected president. This wealthy
man with a Dutch background was very different from Jackson and that would
hurt his presidency. Jackson was a wealthy man with common man habits; Van
Buren was a wealthy man with wealthy man habits. He did not relate well to the
common people and he was continually compared to Jackson. Davy Crockett
said it best when he said that Van Buren was as opposite to Jackson as dung is
to a diamond. But the major problem that Van Buren would face would be the
Depression of 1837. Van Buren is known in our early history as the depression
president.
The Panic or Depression of 1837 was caused by Jackson's economic policies.
He killed the national bank and put money in state banks. The only real control
on the economy was gone and the economy went crazy. Cotton prices fell by one
half; unemployment rose along with rent, food and fuel prices. Several banks
began to close; public land sales fell. Many viewed Van Buren as being very
unsympathetic to the common people during this depression. Van Buren
resonded with an Independent Treasury System in which money would be taken
away from state banks and put in a federal government treasury system. But this
system was found to be ineffective. The effects of this depression would last
during the entire term of Van Buren as president and it would remain as his major
unsolved problem. And it would cause Van Buren to remain a below average
rated president.
The election of 1840 would again feature the evolution of modern politics. The
elections of 1800 and 1824 are similar because these were the only two elections
ever held in the House of Representatives. The elections of 1828 and 1840 were
similar in the evolution of modern politics. By the election of 1840 party lines
began to disappear; parties would now resort to tactics that would lead to victory.
The Whig Party now decided to use the Jackson Formula of the Democratic
Party. The Whigs knew that Van Buren was unpopular because of his wealthy
man habits and because of the depression. They knew that the Jackson Formula
appealed to common people so they nominated William Henry Harrison. He was
not born in a log cabin or involved with farming, but he was an Indian fighter and
military hero. He had defeated the nation of Tecumseh at the Battle of
Tippecanoe. The Whigs also decided to create a political slogan that would help
win the election: "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." This slogan referred to the victory
of Harrison at the Battle of Tippecanoe and also referred to John Tyler from
Virginia who was attempting to get the Southern vote. The Whigs also decided to
turn this campaign into the log cabin campaign. They invented log cabins songs
and sponsored log cabin parties and men and women wore log cabin clothing
and Harrison threw parties in a large log cabin in which hard cider, the log cabin
drink was served. The Jackson Formula worked for the Whig party and in 1840
William Henry Harrison became the first Whig president in American History.
William Henry Harrison is the only non-rated early president. He wanted to give
the image of toughness, so when he went to his inauguration in weather below
zero, he wore little clothing. He also gave one of the longest inauguration
speeches in history because he spoke so slowly. He now developed a bad cold
which became pneumonia and he died in office after only one month. He had the
shortest term in our entire history. The doctors bled him and blistered him and
even used opium, but their efforts failed. Harrison is now the first president to die
in office and John Tyler of Virginia becomes the first accidental president. Refer
to this short biography of the first Whig president Harrison at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/WH/glimpse/presidents/html/wh9.html
Who is this John Tyler? Few Americans knew him. He would become the second
Whig president and another below average rated president. John Tyler was a
states rights Whig. This means that he stood against most of the major politics of
his party such as the restoration of the national bank and national roads and
canals. During his three years as president he constantly frustrated the politics of
his own party and members of his party even talked seriously in congress of
impeachment. The legacy of Tyler is that he weakened and split his party. Some
of his speeches clearly indicated his philosophy and policies:
http://www.intac.com/~rfrone/history/p10-jt.htm He accomplished little as
president and he is to be remembered for few decisions. One of the more
interesting facts of the Tyler presidency is that he became the first president to
marry in the White House; of course, this marriage raised many questions
because he married a woman thirty years younger than he was. There is no
question that Tyler hurt his party and caused Henry Clay, the leader of the party,
to run for president in 1844. This loss in 1844 would make Clay the only three
time loser in our early history.
The Democrats, however, really lacked a leader in 1844 and they now nominated
a political unknown called a darkhorse. After many ballots they turned to James
Polk from Tennessee. Many Americans had no idea who this Polk was, but they
were impressed with the platform of the Democratic Party. The period of the
1840s is known as the era of manifest destiny in our history; this means in simple
English that this was a period of land greed, expansion, and imperialism.
Americans wanted to expand west and the Democratic platform promised the
acquisition of the Pacific Northwest from England the acquisition of the
Southwest from Mexico. This popular platform led to the election of darkhorse
James Polk; this political unknown became one of our highest presidents in only
one term and he is one of the strongest foreign policy presidents in our early
history.
Polk is both a land president and a war president. He was a good domestic
leader and worked well with congress, but his real accomplishments lay in
foreign policy. Polk first tried to get the Pacific Northwest from England. In those
days the Pacific Northwest included the present areas of British Colombia,
Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. In 1818 the United States and
England made an agreement of joint occupancy which allowed both countries to
occupy this area. England was the country that took this agreement seriously and
set up a series of fur trading posts run by the Hudson Bay Company in this
region. The United States now had only a minor claim to this region; some
Americans lived in the region of Oregon. But this minor claim would not stop
aggressive James Polk. Polk let England know that he wanted all the Pacific
Northwest and would get it. He created the slogan: "54 40 or fight" which meant
that if they did not give us all the Pacific Northwest, we would go to war and get
it.
James Polk used the tactic of power diplomacy with England and it worked. Plus
he was a very smart negotiator. He knew that England needed American wheat;
he knew that the British fur trade in the area was in decline. And he knew that
England would not go to war for a region so far removed from England. His
power diplomacy worked and led to the Oregon Treaty of 1846. This was one of
the most successful treaties in our history. This treaty gave us the present Pacific
Northwest. We got much more of this region than we deserved and this is due to
the aggressiveness and power diplomacy of Polk.
Polk now turned to the Southwest region owed by Mexico. He thought that power
diplomacy would also work with Mexico, but Mexico was still unhappy about
losing Texas to the United States. So the Mexican government refused to
participate in negotiations. Polk now decided that war with Mexico was
necessary. He used the Texas border dispute as an excuse for war and in 1846
he became our second war president and one of our best early war president.
This Mexican War can only be explained in terms of land greed and imperialism.
We wanted land from Mexico and we felt that their military was weak, so we
decided to go to war with Mexico and to take the land. In this period of manifest
destiny, Americans supported this war of imperialism.
Polk was correct in his analysis of the Mexican military and after some early
defeats of the Mexican army in northern Mexico, Polk now expanded the war
goals and tried to get as much of Mexico as possible. We eventually invaded
central Mexico and captured their capitol. We had invaded and conquered
Mexico and now Polk sent diplomat Nicholas Trist to negotiate for Mexican land.
Trist was a realist and he put together the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in which
we purchased the American Southwest. Polk was not happy with Trist or this
treaty. But he supported the treaty, but he did not allow Trist to be paid for his
diplomatic services. Years after Trist's death, his widow was sent money and a
letter of apology.
James Polk did not run for president in 1848. He had become a very popular and
powerful president, but he said that he achieved what he wanted to achieve and
he left office. Polk is rated high as president. Many today will question his tactics
and even call him unethical. But he lived up to the platform of the Democratic
Party and he acquired the west coast of the United States through power
diplomacy and war. He was a successful land president and a successful war
president. His decision not to run for president hurt the Democratic Party and
now they turned to weak candidate Lewis Cass. The Whig Party had won on the
Jackson Formula and they nominated another military hero. This time it was the
military hero of the Mexican War: Zachary Taylor. Taylor was a Southerner from
Louisiana who was also a plantation owner. He had been a career military man
and had absolutely no political experience or understanding of politics. He was
also very cheap. When a telegram was sent to him collect to inform him that he
was the choice of the Whig Party for president, he refused to pay for the
telegram. Eventually he read in a newspaper that he had been nominated for
president. The Jackson Formula worked again and Taylor would become the
third Jackson Formula president. Zachary Taylor became president during the
period known as the coming of the Civil War. He is also the first of four president
known as the four stooges who as a group make up one of the weakest periods
for the American presidency. Taylor will be followed by Fillmore and Pierce and
Buchanan and then the Civil War would begin.
JEFFERSON TO JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
Thomas Jefferson was elected in a disputed election in 1800; he was elected by
the House of Representatives and the Federalist Party- the first Republican
party- was afraid that Jefferson would change the system of government and
cater to the majority who happened to be farmers. But Jefferson saw that the
system was working, so he did not start a "revolution" but he did try to change
the emphasis of government and he did try to start programs that would benefit
the farmers. This was the Jefferson tradition: when a new president with a new
party comes into power, the government system does not change, but a new
direction or emphasis in government is apparent. His first inaugural speech
stressed the need for a government of limited powers. Thomas Jefferson is the
first Democratic president in American history; he is also referred to as a study
in contract and he is rated above average. His eight year presidency was a
mixed bag with some highly rated policies and some questionable policies. He
is also the first of the Virginia Dynasty. This term refers to twenty four years of
Virginia Democrats as president.
Why was Thomas Jefferson referred to as a study in contrast? Thomas
Jefferson was well educated; he was our first college graduate president. He
was also very wealthy with his plantation home at Monticello. Take a tour:
http://www.monticello.org/ This home reflected the multi-talented personality of
Jefferson. Actually he may be the most talent president we have ever had. He
was an architect, an educator as the founder of the University of Virginia, an
inventor, a bilingual traveler with his many trips to France, a musician, the first
Secretary of State, the second vice president of the United States, the author of
the Declaration of Independence, and the founder of the Democratic Party. Plus
he played the violin beautifully. He was not just the first Democratic president;
he was Mr. Democrat. He even composed his own epitaph: "Here was buried
Thomas Jefferson, Author of the Declaration of Independence, of the statue of
Virginia for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of VA." Yet this
multi-talented, wealthy man believed in majority politics. What a contrast! This
means that he wanted to follow policies in government that would benefit the
farmer. Actually in many ways Jefferson was a farmer at heart. He was the first
president to serve in the newly created Washington, D.C. In those days
Washington, D.C. was in the middle of the wilderness. The initial white house
was like a barn and Pennsylvania Avenue was mud. Jefferson felt that he had a
rural capital for a rural nation. As president Jefferson tried to invent various
farm implements such as plows and he also sponsored an agricultural fair. But
the contrast would continue. He made the government more accessible by
allowing anyone to attend public government party and function; he wanted to
be addressed as "Mr. Jefferson" rather than "Mr. President." He even walked to
his own inauguration. This well educated, talented man was one of the worst
dressers as president. His clothes would never match and he loved being
informal and wearing a bathrobe and slippers. It is believed that he had the
largest wine bill of any president in our history because he preferred expensive
French wine. His wife had died and he was a widower president. But he was a
womanizer with slave women and many writers believe other women. This
informal president also had a very interesting cabinet. James Madison, known
as little Jimmy due to his size, was a very colorful Secretary of State whose wit
was evident in cabinet meetings and James Madison's wife Dolly was the
adopted first lady who was responsible for many a white house party. It is clear
that Thomas Jefferson was a study in contrast.
Thomas Jefferson served eight years as the first Democratic president and is
rated an above average president. It is again important to mention that he did
not change the basic system of government that clearly favored the wealthy but
that was working. There are three major polities of Jefferson that need to be
discussed: his land policy, his court policy, and his foreign policy. He is
considered to be rated high on his land policy, but his court policy and foreign
policy were not very successful. This is why he is not rated as high as George
Washington and is rated above average.
When Thomas Jefferson became president, Napoleon was in power in France.
Napoleon had just acquired from Spain the region to the west of the United
States known as Louisiana. This area comprised what is the midwest region
today. Napoleon now had the idea of making this region his American empire.
Meanwhile, Jefferson was concerned about western trade. The Spanish had
allowed the United States to use their city of New Orleans for western trade;
Jefferson now felt that Napoleon would cut off the use of this city and even
limit the use of the Mississippi River. So Jefferson sent James Monroe as a
special minister to France to negotiate with Napoleon and his ministers to
purchase the city of New Orleans for up to $10 million which may also include
parts of Florida and to guarantee the continual use of the Mississippi River.
Meanwhile, the plans of Napoleon for an American empire had fallen apart,
plus Napoleon desperately needed money as he was about to go to war with
England. Napoleon even was afraid that England may acquire the region to the
west of the United States. So Napoleon's ministers offered to the American
ministers the following deal: we will sell all of Louisiana for $15 million. After
negotiations and counter negotiations, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was put
together and sent to Jefferson. He knew that there would be opposition to this
land acquisition and there was. Plus he was a believer in the strict interpretation
of the constitution and there was nothing in the constitution about expanding
the boundaries of the United States. Still Jefferson believed that this treaty
would be of great benefit for the future of the United States; it would double
the size of the United States. So Jefferson supported the treaty and the treaty
was ratified. The Louisiana Purchase has become the greatest real estate deal in
American History; the United States acquired more than 875,000 square miles
and did double its size. Thomas Jefferson is the first of two major land
presidents in our early history. He also becomes the first exploration president;
he decided to use the United States army to begin to explore this nearly
acquired region. A detailed description of the Louisiana Purchase can be found
at: http://www.inlink.com/~terryl/LPTerritory.html. It was this purchase that made Jefferson
very popular and ensured his re-election in 1804.
Jefferson and his ministers' adept handling of the negotiations with France
helped the rating of Jefferson, but his court policy and his foreign policy would
hurt his rating. Thomas Jefferson believed that the court should reflect the
philosophy of the president. But the courts were filled with Federalist or
conservative judges. To make matters worse, John Adams had appointed more
Federalist judges and court officials just before he left office. These
appointments were known as the midnight judges. Jefferson tried to stop as
many of these appointments as possible. He withheld the appointment papers
from Willliam Marbury who had been appointed by Adams as justice of the
peace of the District of Columbia. Marbury eventually took his case to the
supreme court. John Marshall who was cousin of Jefferson but who did not like
his cousin was now chief justice of the supreme court. Marshall wanted to
avoid a conflict with the Thomas Jefferson in this matter, but he did rule in the
case of Marbury v. Madison that the supreme Court did have the power to
review laws of congress. This power of judicial review has become the major
power of the supreme court. But Jefferson's problems with the courts would
continue.
Jefferson now tried to use impeachment as a political weapon and to remove
judges who were unpopular and/or conservative. He had little trouble in
removing Judge John Pickering because Pickering had problems with mental
illness, but he now tried to remove Judge Samuel Chase. But this attempt to
remove Chase failed and it was an embarrassing moment for Jefferson. Chase
may have been conservative and a Federalist judge, but he was not incompetent
and he was not removed as judge. Jefferson no longer would use impeachment
as a political weapon. Jefferson even had a court problem with his own vice
president Aaron Burr. Burr was part of a plan to set up a separate government
system in the New England area that would stop new Western territories from
altering the power balance in Congress. But Alexander Hamilton thwarted this
plan by blocking Burr's attempt to become governor of New York. It was also
believed that Aaron Burr, a known womanizer, had a personal conflict with
Hamilton over a woman. Burr eventually challenged Hamilton to a duel and
Hamilton accepted. He was afraid that the government would collapse under
the leadership of Jefferson and he saw himself as an American Napoleon. The
Burr-Hamilton duel occurred on July 11, 1804 in Weehawken, New Jersey.
Hamilton missed on his first shot, but Burr's shot was deadly. Hamilton, the
founder of the Federalist party, was mortally wounded and died several hours
later. Jefferson's main political opposition was gone, but problems with his vice
president would continue. In 1804 George Clinton replaced Burr as vice
president under Jefferson. Burr now participated in an illegal expedition in
Spanish territory and was arrested for treason. Jefferson wanted Burr to be
found guilty of treason, but Chief Justice John Marshall would again frustrate
Jefferson. Marshall's definition of treason was so strict that Burr received an
acquittal and now spent many years in exile in Europe. Jefferson was not
successful in his struggles with the court system; many Americans felt that he
wanted to control the courts. This is one of the more unpopular aspects of the
Jefferson presidency. But his problems in foreign policy would become very
evident in his second term and also led to his unpopularity.
During Jefferson's second term, France and England were at war. Both
countries would violate the neutral rights of the United States on the sea. Both
countries would stop our ships and seize our ships, but the British practice of
impressment- stopping of United States ships, seizing some sailors on board,
and "impressing" them into service in the British navy- really angered the
American public While Jefferson and his Secretary of State James Madison
tried to resolve this situation diplomatically, they had no success. Plus tension
increased on the sea. 12 United States ships were detailed off the coast of New
York. Then in June, 1807 the United States frigate Chesapeake was stopped by
the British frigate Leopard. A battle resulted in which 3 Americans were killed
and 18 wounded. Cries for war were heard from Democrats and Federalists
alike. But Jefferson saw that the United States was in no position militarily to
go to war, so he sound an unpopular diplomatic solution. He sent emissaries to
negotiate with England for payment of damages and then as a last ditch effort,
he supported an embargo which allowed no exports from the United States to
any country. He felt that the French and England needed our exports and they
would change their policy toward the United States on the sea. But this
Embargo Act of 1807 made Jefferson very unpopular, particularly along the
Atlantic coast. (Incidentally the word "embargo" was used as a word that could
be spelled forward as well as backward- This was the O Grab Me law). Many
merchants discovered that Jefferson had created an economic crisis and they
resorted to smuggling to avoid this law. This law did not have its attended
success and before Jefferson left office it was withdrawn. Thomas Jefferson left
the presidency on a low in 1808. He is rated an above average president. He did
not change the system of government that was working. He became a flexible
president in supporting the Louisiana Purchase Treaty- the high point of his
presidency. But he did have problems with the court and he was unsuccessful in
resolving problems in foreign policy.
James Madison was the choice of the Democratic Party in 1808 and he was
easily elected president. James Madison becomes the fourth president of the
United States and the second president in the Virginia Dynasty. He is the
shortest(height-challenged) president in American History at barely over five
feet tall. And he is referred to as a "study in frustration." James Madison
became president with a great deal of potential. Here is an excellent biography
of Madison: http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/bios/04pmadi.html and you can see what type
of background he had before becoming president. He may have been small in
stature and unimpressive physically, but he achieved a great deal in his lifetime.
He has been referred to as "the father of the constitution" and he has earned this
title for his working during the constitutional convention and in his defense of
the constitutional system of government. He was the co-founder of the
Democratic party and was a congressman who was responsible for the Bill of
Rights- the first ten amendments to the constitution- one of the most widely
used parts of the constitution. He had been Secretary of State during the
Jefferson presidency. So here was a experienced congresssman, politician, and
statesman. But he was frustrated by events in foreign policy and by the War of
1812.
James Madison inherited the deteriorating situation with England as well as
growing discontent over Jefferson's embargo and avoidance of war. James
Madison was now forced in his first term to deal primarily with problems in
foreign policy. And he was very inconsistent in foreign policy. He was
embarrassed by his dealings with England and he was taken in by Napoleon's
diplomatic tricks and now Madison reopened trade with France while he
limited trade with England. Madison now issued a war ultimatum to England
with a time limit. Communications in those days were slow and the time
limited passed. Madison felt that he had no choice and he now declared war on
England. While Madison was frustrated by his foreign policy and his spending
little time in domestic affairs, he would be more frustrated by the worst war in
our early history: the War of 1812.
The War of 1812 will be discussed in detail in our last topic: early war. But we
now need to discuss the role of James Madison as our first war president and
our worst war president. There is no question that Madison's inconsistent
foreign policy was a major factor in the coming of the war. Madison not
became a war president with little understanding of war, with no military
experience, and with virtually no military. The United States was inadequately
prepared for the War of 1812. Madison also had very poor military leaders and
military advisors. His Secretary of War was William Eustis and was referred to
as Willy Useless. He did a poor job of coordinating the military effort. James
Madison, however, is considered the only war president who ever participated
in a battle. He rode to the area near Washington,D.C., where the Battle
Bladensburg was taking place; some report that he even fired a shot. But he
saw we were losing, so he rode back to the capitol and ordered that it be
abandoned. The British army marched unopposed into Washington, D.C. and
set fire to all public buildings and caused over $1.5 million in damages.
Meanwhile, Madison was a president in hiding as he fled to Virginia. Plus
Madison was one of the most criticized war presidents; the major critics were
the Federalists in New England and they called the war: "Mr. Madison's War"
and many state governors in that area tried to stop their citizens from
supporting the war and participating in the war. Plus the war ended in a tie.
There were 1,877 killed and 4,000 wounded; the United States had major war
debts. Washington, D.C. was in shambles. Madison's last days as president
were involved with creating a peacetime military, with the establishment of a
second government bank and in failing to create a federally funded network of
roads and canals. The Federalist party had been major critics of Madison and
the war. James Madison never reached his potential and was frustrated for
much of his presidency; he is rated a below average president. After the war
ended, many Americans considered the Federalists traitors. This was the death
blow to the Federalist party: the first Republican party. Their leader and
founder had been killed in a duel and the party now disappeared.
The election of 1816 featured the election of Democrat James Monroe: the last
of the Virginia Dynasty. Here are some highlights of the life and times and
presidency of Monroe: http://gi.grolier.com/presidents/ea/bios/05pmonr.html The eight year
presidency of James Monroe is identified by the term The Era of Good
Feelings. There were many reasons for this period of good feelings. Political
tension disappeared as there was only one political party: the Democratic Party.
Actually it appeared that there were no formal political parties. Good feelings
were evident in major westward expansion; Americans were moving in large
numbers into the midwest area. It was a time of mass capital and mass labor;
the American Industrial Revolution with beginning and factory labor led to
mass labor. It was a time for the growth of national culture and for patriotism.
Our national anthem was adopted as our national song. There was peace in
politics at home and peace in foreign policy. France and England were no
longer at war, the few problems in foreign policy were minimal. The nation
didn't seem to need a president. And they had one who actually did little as
president. He was not much of a speaker or writer, but he was always pictured
as a friendly and honest man. He is rated average as an early president. While
the Boston newspaper referred to this time as the era of good feelings, there
were both good feelings as well as bad feelings.
In 1819 there was a America's first real economic depression known as the
Panic of 1819. Various economic factors such as inflation and speculation in
western lands and overextended investments in factories led to this severe
depression. This depression led to economic suffering and to the closure of
many banks, but Monroe did not take a leadership role in dealing with this
depression. Actually Monroe would start a long standing tradition of presidents
not getting involved in economic crisis and assuming that these economic
setbacks would eventually go away.
Of course, the major source of bad feelings would be the rise of political
sectionalism. The North was becoming increasing urban and industrial. New
York City had now become the financial center of the country, meanwhile the
South was moving toward the land of cotton plantations and slaves. Eventually
the South would become the world's major supplier of raw cotton. Then there
was the West. This was a much more open, democratic and liberal area than the
South and North. The North and South came together in the federal government
but their economic goals and values were becoming more and more different.
The first crisis that occurred between North and South came in 1820 with the
Missouri Crisis; this is the early beginning of problems between north and
south that would eventually lead to war in 1861.
In 1820 Missouri wanted to be admitted to the union as a state; Missouri was a
Southern slave state. If Missouri was admitted to the union, the South would
control the Senate. The population in the north was growing faster than in the
south, so the south knew that its political future lay in the Senate. Northern
congressmen such as Rufus King from New York tried to block statehood for
Missouri. Monroe took no leadership role in this crisis. It was up to congress to
resolve the first crisis of political sectionalism. A compromise known as the
Missouri Compromise was reached; Missouri was admitted as a southern state
and Maine was admitted as a northern state. So the balance in the senate
continued. Also a line was created along 36 30 that prohibited slavery north of
that line.
Monroe's accomplishments are limited. He was an honest individual who did
little to cause the good feelings or did little to alleviate the bad feelings. Today
he is remember primarily for his statement in foreign policy known as the
Monroe Doctrine. During Monroe's second term the United States recognized
the independence of many new Latin American countries. England now put
pressure on the United States to issue a statement that would limit Spain and
France in particular from extending their land holdings in the New World.
Secretary of State John Quincy Adams reacted to that pressure created a
statement in foreign policy that Monroe included in his annual address to
Congress in 1823. This Monroe Doctrine basically warned the nations of
Europe that colonization of the Americas was over and that the United States
would become the guardian of the Western Hemisphere. At the time of the
announcement of this doctrine, it meant little, but over the years it has become
an essential part of America' s foreign policy.
In 1824 political unity was over and five men wanted to be president. This
would be the last time that a congressional caucus would choose a candidate for
president. The congressional caucus nominated Secretary of War William
Crawford. Now state legislatures added their nominations. Tennessee
nominated Andrew Jackson, while Kentucky nominated Henry Clay.
Massachusetts nominated John Quincy Adams, while South Carolina
nominated John Calhoun. Crawford suffered a paralytic stoke and was no
longer a viable candidate. Calhoun agreed to run for vice-president on the
Adams and Jackson tickets. Jackson received the most popular votes greatly
due to the fact that he was a military hero and Indian fighter. But he did not
receive enough votes to be elected. For the second and last time the election
was held in the House of Representatives. To understand the win by John
Quincy Adams, we need to discuss the second road to the White House.
We have already discussed the reasons why Washington was elected first
president. All the next presidents had first been Secretary of State: Jefferson,
Madison, and Monroe. It now appeared that this was the position to hold in
order to be president. So John Quincy Adams who needed the support of Clay
to win; so he offered him a deal: if you support me, I will make you Secretary
of State. Remember that Adams himself had been Secretary of State. This was
obviously an attractive offer to Clay and with Clay's support, John Quincy
Adams was elected the sixth president of the United States by the House of
Representatives. It was a legal election, but an unpopular one. Jackson's
followers screamed, "We was robbed" in their good English. John Quincy
Adams would become a one term below average rated president.
There was a great deal of similarity between John Adams and his son John
Quincy Adams. Both of these men had poor images and they were both loners.
They took little advice and trusted few people. John Quincy Adams walked
alone with his dog every evening and would write some of his key ideas at
night in his diary. Plus when the weather permitted, he would swim nude in the
Potomac River. He did not trust or like the media. One of the few interviews he
gave was to a lady reporter who came to the bank of the Potomac River when
he was swimming nude and hid his clothes. She would not give them back until
he gave an interview which he did reluctantly. But John Quincy Adams is rated
higher than his father because he took the job of president as a job. His father
believed it was an honor not a job. John Quincy Adams, however, did have
problems different from his father and those were family problems. Adams and
his wife did not get along well. They would continually fight in the White
House; she would throw things and would break plates over his "massive bald
head." He also did not get along well with his children. In fact one of the great
tragedies of the Adams presidency was the suicide of his son. In addition, as the
nation celebrated its fiftieth birthday on July 4, 1826, Adams learned that his
father as well as Thomas Jefferson had died.
John Quincy Adams is known as the prophet president due to his future ideas.
He wanted the United States to become a naval power; he wanted with federal
funding road and canal construction projects. And he wanted a national
university and to turn Washington,D.C. into a cultural center. He had much
opposition to his ideas, especially from those who believed that states should be
responsible for many of these projects. Plus Andrew Jackson wanted to try and
embarrass Adams any way that he could. Jackson and his followers in congress,
for example, blocked Adams' plan to participate more actively in the affairs of
Latin America. Andrew Jackson could not wait until the election of 1828; he
was nominated for president as was John Quincy Adams. The election of 1828
not only featured the election of the most popular early president, it also
featured the beginning of modern politics.
Andrew Jackson to Zachary Taylor Readings
Andrew Jackson was elected in a popular election 1828. Jackson is considered the
majority politics president and one of the most popular in American history. Here are a
series of sites dealing with the life and times of Andrew Jackson:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/aj7.html and
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/aj7/about/bio/jackxx.htm. Here is his first inaugural address:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/jackson1.htm. Jackson's Indian
policy was the policy of removal that began with the Removal Act of 1830. Here is that
act: http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/removal.htm. Andrew Jackson did not like
banks in general and the National Bank of the United States in particular. The Whigs led
by Henry Clay attempted to get an early recharter of that bank and Jackson vetoed the
recharter bill. Here is his Bank Veto:
http://odur.let.rug.nl/%7Eusa/P/aj7/writings/veto.htm and Henry Clay's response to that
veto: http://alpha.furman.edu/~benson/docs/clay.htm. Jackson was reelected in 1832 and
here is his second inaugural address:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/jackson2.htm. A real crisis occurred
in his second term known as the nullification crisis; here is his response to South Carolina
in the midst of this crisis:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/proclamations/jacko1.htm. Here is a site
with links that covers the life and presidency of Andrew Jackson:
http://www.presidentsusa.net/jackson.html
Martin Van Buren was Jackson's choice and was elected president in 1836. Here is the
inaugural address of Martin Van Buren:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/vanburen. Martin Van Buren was
involved with a major depression greatly due to the economic policies of Jackson. Here is
a site with links that covers the life and presidency of Martin Van Buren:
http://www.presidentsusa.net/vanburen.html
William Henry Harrison was elected in 1840 as the first Whig president. His inaugural
speech was one of the longest in American history due to the slow presentation:
http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres26.html. Here is a site with links that features the life
and brief presidency of Harrison: http://www.presidentsusa.net/whharrison.html. After
one month, Harrison died in office and was replaced by John Tyler. Here are the
highlights of his accidental administration:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jt10.html and here is a site that features the
life and presidency of Whig president, the first accidental president, John Tyler:
http://www.presidentsusa.net/tyler.html
Tyler's presidency hurt the Whig party and the Democrats recaptured the white house
in 1844 with a darkhorse candidate named James Polk. Here are a series of sites that
feature the life and times of James Polk:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jp11.html and
http://statelibrary.dcr.state.nc.us/nc/bio/public/polk.htm and
http://www.geocities.com/peterroberts.geo/Relig-Politics/JKPolk.html
Here is the inaugural speech of James Polk:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/polk.htm. Polk became the second
war president with the Mexican War and he also was responsible for a successful treaty
with England for the Pacific Northwest known as the Oregon Treaty. Here is that treaty:
http://www.ccrh.org/comm/river/docs/ortreaty.htm. Here is a site that features the life and
presidency of John Polk: http://www.presidentsusa.net/polk.html
Polk did not run again for president and the Whigs returned to power with the election
of military hero Zachary Taylor. Here is the inaugural address of Zachary Taylor:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/taylor.htm. Here is a site that features
the life and presidency of Taylor: http://www.presidentsusa.net/taylor.html. Taylor
became the second Whig to die in office and was replaced by Millard Fillmore. Here is a
biography
of
this
little
remembered
Whig
president:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/mf13.html and here is a site with links that
focuses
on
the
life
and
http://www.presidentsusa.net/fillmore.html
Index Next
presidency
of
Fillmore:
Jefferson to Jackson Readings
The election of 1800 was a tie election between two Democrats: Thomas Jefferson and
Aaron Burr. The election was eventually decided by the House of Representatives and
Thomas Jefferson became the first Democratic president and the third president. Here are
a series of sites dealing with the life and times of Thomas Jefferson:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/tj3.html and
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/tj3/about/jeffersonxx.htm and
http://sc94.ameslab.gov/TOUR/tjefferson.html and
http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0760627.html. Here is Jefferson's first inaugural
address: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/jefinau1.htm. Thomas
Jefferson was considered the most talented man ever to be president; here are some of his
memorable quotes from the Jefferson papers collection in the Library of Congress:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/mtjhtml/mtjquote.html. Thomas Jefferson was president
during the purchase of the Louisiana Purchase and during the passage of the Embargo
Act. Jefferson also wanted to remove Federalist judges from the courts and this led to the
Marbury v. Madison case: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marbury_v._Madison. Jefferson
was reelected in 1808, greatly due to his support of the Louisiana Purchase treaty. Here is
his second inaugural address: http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres17.html. Here is an
excellent site on the life and presidency of Thomas Jefferson with various links:
http://www.presidentsusa.net/jefferson.html.
James Madison was elected president in 1808 and became the fourth president of the
United States. Here are a series of sites on the life and times of James Madison:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jm4.html and
http://www.leftjustified.com/leftjust/lib/sc/ht/fed/mbio.html and
http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/P/jm4/about/madison.htm and
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576510/James_Madison.html. Here is his
inaugural address: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/madison1.htm .
Madison was frequently frustrated by problems in foreign policy and did not get much of
an opportunity to deal with domestic issues. His second inaugural address in 1813 shows
his priorities as our first war president:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/madison2.htm. Here is an excellent
site with links on the life and presidency of James Madison:
http://www.presidentsusa.net/madison.html.
James Monroe saw the end of the Federalist Party by 1816 and was elected the fifth
president and the third president of the Virginia Dynasty. Here are a series of sites on the
life and times of James Monroe: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/jm5.html
and http://www.allsands.com/History/People/jamesmonroe_whv_gn.htm. His presidency
is connected with a period known as the Era of Good Feelings. Here is the first inaugural
of Monroe: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/monroe1.htm and the
second inaugural of Monroe:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/monroe2.htm. The Monroe
presidency featured a high level of patriotism and The Star Spangled Banner became our
national anthem: http://www.150.si.edu/chap3/flag.htm. While Monroe accomplished
little as president, he is remembered for his memorable statement in foreign policy known
as the Monroe Doctrine. Here is that doctrine:
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/monroe.htm. Here is an excellent site with links on
the life and presidency of James Monroe: http://www.presidentsusa.net/monroe.html.
The election of 1824 was a disputed election with five prominent Democrats running
for president. The election ended up for the second and last time in the House of
Representatives. John Quincy Adams received the support of Henry Clay and was elected
the sixth president of the United States. Here are a series of sites on the life and times of
John Quincy Adams: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ja6.html and
http://www.law.cornell.edu/background/amistad/adamsbio.html and
http://www.multied.com/Bio/presidents/jq_adams.html. Here is the inaugural address of
John Quincy Adams: http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/inaug/qadams.htm .
Adams encountered numerous problems as president, many of them personal and was
defeated by Andrew Jackson in the election of 1828. Here is an excellent site with links
on the life and presidency of John Quincy Adams:
http://www.preside006Etsusa.net/jqadams.html.
Index Next
TAYLOR TO GRANT
The election of 1848 featured the beginning of a weak presidential period in
American history. The four presidents before the Civil War as known as the four
stooges of early American history and they were responsible for the coming of
the Civil War because as a group they created a power vacuum at a critical time
in our history. The stooges begins with the election of Zachary Taylor, the military
hero of the Mexican War. Taylor came at a time when the nation needed a strong
president because congress was becoming increasingly split between north and
south. But they would not get a strong president with Zachary Taylor. He was a
strange mix of slave owner and supporter of a strong national government. Yet
he provided little leadership in his two years as president and was not a
politician. Experts would tell us that he is really the first career military man to
become president in our early history. During a crisis in congress over the
expansion of slavery into the nearly acquired southwest area, he opposed the
expansion of slavery, yet he was a slave owner. Generally he tended to avoid
decisions and in the summer of 1850 he ate unripe cherries and milk. He got very
sick and died in office. For years it was believed that he died of acute indigestion,
but recently there were stories of how he was poisoned. So in 1991 his body was
exhumed and tested and it was discovered that he was not poisoned, but he died
of natural causes. Here are the results of the Taylor scientific investigation:
http://www.ornl.gov/ORNLReview/rev27-12/text/ansside6.html It seemed strange
that he would have been poisoned, for he made few enemies while he was
president. Taylor was the third Whig president and is rated low as president. He
now joins John Adams in the lowest category.
When Taylor became the second Whig president to die in office, Whig Millard
Fillmore now became president. Many Americans still today ask the question:
Who is Millard Fillmore? He is actually the most forgotten of the early presidents.
Fillmore was a lawyer from Buffalo, New York. He had been born and raised in
New York state and had some political experience having served in the House of
Representatives. But he was known as a weak speaker and weak politician.
When he became president, even his father questioned his leadership qualities.
Fillmore continued the Taylor tradition; he generally avoided decisions and was a
weak leader president. He did support the uneasy Compromise of 1850 that
solved few problems and he was rejected by his party in 1852. But by 1852 the
Whig party was slowly beginning to fall apart. It is believed that the only real fact
to remember about the Fillmore presidency is that he became the first president
to put a bathtub in the white house. So we have this picture of Fillmore taking a
bath as the nation continues to fall apart. Fillmore is also rated low along with
Taylor.
The election of 1852 featured the Whig candidate who was another military hero
from the Mexican War General Winfield Scott. The Whigs had won two elections
with the Jackson formula and they now hoped that they could win a third election
with the Jackson formula. But Scott was known as a heavy drinker and this would
hurt his chances. Some also felt that his lack of political experience would help
push the nation toward war. The Democrats in 1852 nominated another
darkhorse; their first darkhorse candidate James Polk has become a very strong
president in foreign affairs. The Democrats also wanted to offer a candidate who
would keep the nation together. In essence the Democrats offered a "safe"
candidate in 1852. The darkhorse was Franklin Pierce of New Hampshire. Pierce
was a virtual unknown in 1852 and did little campaigning. But the Democrats
supported the Compromise of 1850 which eased sectional problems in congress,
while Scott was a questionable candidate. In 1852 Franklin Pierce was elected
the fourteenth president of the United States.
Franklin Pierce had some political background in state and national politics, but
he entered office in a very nervous state for his young son had just been killed in
a train wreck. Plus he was married to a very dominant woman. Pierce made few
decisions as president and those ideas he has created more tension between
north and south. He discussed the idea of buying Cuba and making it a Southern
state, so he seemed to be pro-South and to be interested in extending slavery.
On the other hand, he supported the Kansas Nebraska Act which allowed people
in Kansas to decide on whether they wanted slavery or not. This led to fighting in
Kansas between northerners and southerners and created "bleeding Kansas."
Franklin Pierce was to be a safe president, but he was not particularly safe. He
was dominated by his wife, his ideas created more tension, and he was rejected
by the Democrats in 1856. He is rated a below average president. It is during his
presidency that the Whig party divided into a Southern group and a Northern
group and disappeared. This is the end of the 2nd Republican party; there are
been four Whig presidents: two died in office and two were accidental presidents.
These four presidents are little remembered in American History. All of the Whig
presidents are rated lower and have little influence on our history. It was also
during the presidency of Pierce that a new party started in the Midwest. This was
initially a regional party and the name of the party was the Republican Party. This
party stood against two evils: the expansion of slavery and the Mormons.
In 1856 this new Republican Party nominated explorer John Fremont for
president. He called himself "the glamour boy" of American politics, but his
appeal was regional. The only national party with national appeal was the
Democratic party. This party nominated the best of the four stooges: James
Buchanan. He was elected in 1856 and now this Pennsylvania native became
president at a critical time in our history. Buchanan had a very capable political
background he moved from state to national politics; he was Secretary of State
under Polk and Minister to England during the presidency of Pierce. He was an
honest hardworking politician who wanted to keep the national together, but he
did not have the leadership or ability to accomplish that difficult task. He is to be
remembered as the last gentleman president with his old style of dress. He is the
only bachelor president in American history and some recent research indicates
that he may have been gay. He had eye problems that made him appear cockeyed and he was obsessed with detail. He spent time researching the job of a
man who seems to have ripped off the federal government for a little money; he
himself once refused a check for thousands of dollars because it was off by one
cent.
Buchanan came at a very difficult time in our history and is rated average often
for his efforts to overcome the impending crisis ahead: the Civil War. He seemed
to rely on the courts to make decisions that would keep the nation together.
Actually the supreme court with the Dred Scott Decision made matters worse
when it ruled that slavery could exist anywhere in the United States. He had an
excellent background in foreign affairs, but this was not a time for foreign affairs,
it was a time for extraordinary leadership. Buchanan did not possess that
leadership. He talked of the improving economy and then the economy suffered
a depression. His policies were inactive during this economic crisis. Actually
Buchanan did too little too late to cause the Civil War to be avoided. Many
historians feel that by the time of Buchanan the Civil War was virtually inevitable
or unavoidable. Even the unity of the Democratic Party had fallen apart by 1860.
There was a northern Democratic candidate and a southern Democratic
candidate. The Republican support was primarily in the north and west. Of
course, the fact that the Republicans took control of the House of
Representatives in 1858 also led to the frustrations of Buchanan as president.
The election of 1860 was a sectional or regional election. The election of
Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln became the immediate cause of the Civil
War. Southern states now became to leave or secede from the union. This was
the final tragedy of the presidency of James Buchanan. He knew that secession
was illegal but he decided that the federal government had no power to stop the
southern states from leaving the union. So James Buchanan just watched as the
nation fell apart.
When Abraham Lincoln became president, he faced a real
crisis: the nation was split. He now had to bring the union back together.
It is difficult to describe the life of this man Abraham Lincoln. There is more
written about Abraham Lincoln than any person in the history of the world except
for Jesus Christ. And the myths connected with Lincoln are more numerous and
more believable than the myths connected with the life of George Washington.
We know that Lincoln is the most commercialized person in American History;
there are more monuments and tributes to Lincoln than anyone else. He is so far
the only president to be featured in Disneyland and Disney World. He was a
natural literary genius; he had an excellent sense of humor and he has become
one of the most hated and criticized presidents in our entire history. Who is this
man: Abraham Lincoln and what are some of the myths connected with him?
It is true that Lincoln was born in a log cabin, but he was born in Kentucky, not
Illinois. His family was a farm family that moved to Indiana where his mother
died. Lincoln here received little education, he said, "less than a year altogether."
But he had the basics of reading and writing. His father remarried and the family
now moved to Illinois. At age 22 Lincoln left home and moved to New Salem,
Illinois, near Springfield. It appeared that he had problems with his father and he
spoke little of his father the rest of his life. He tried various occupations at this
time and even served briefly in the Indian war the Black Hawk War.
The Lincoln myth includes his honesty and his obsession with learning. There
were numerous stories about Lincoln as an honest child; one of those stories
involved his going to the store during a blizzard for his mother. He returned home
with one cent too much in change. He then walked back through the blizzard to
return that money because he was so honest. His obsession with learning also
involved a series of stories such as his reading at night by the fire in the fireplace
and his plowing fields during the day and reading a book on top of the plow at the
same time. Again his honesty was evident even though he had such an
obsession for learning. One day he dropped a borrowed book in the mud when
he was plowing. He was so upset, he worked at various jobs to pay for the cost
of the book. Lincoln has also been pictured as a role model for hard work and
success. Actually he disliked manual labor. He did not like farming and he did try
many jobs such as working on the building of a railroad, and as a river boatman
and even as a store owner, but he failed at these jobs and then he turned to
politics. As with the Washington myth, the stories about Lincoln and his early life
cannot be substantiated and they are believed to be false.
In 1832 Lincoln became a member of the Whig party and was elected to four
successive terms to the Illinois legislature. He now became a lawyer and moved
to Springfield, where he built a successful practice. Now he met Kentuckian Mary
Todd who became his wife; they had four sons but he outlived all of them but
two. Lincoln now was elected to the House of Representatives as a Whig
politician; he was one of the leading voices against the Mexican War. He then
returned to law in Springfield. By this time in his life Lincoln did not believe that
the federal government had the power to end slavery where it existed, but he did
believe that slavery should not be allowed to be extended outside of the South
and into the new territories in the West. He now joined the nearly formed
Republican Party and he ran against Democrat Stephen Douglas for the senate
seat from Illinois. The Lincoln-Douglas political debates are among the best
political debates in our history. While Lincoln was not appointed to the senate, he
did achieve much publicity. Lincoln was the choice of the Republican Party in
1860 and was elected as president. His election would cause southern states to
leave the union and would lead to the beginning of the Civil War.
The Lincoln Myth involves his honesty, his hard work, his obsession with
learning, his ideal relationship with his family even though he was raised by a
stepmother and talked little with his father after he left home, his tendency for
democracy even though he was a Whig, and the myth focuses on the fact that he
was shot on Good Friday. For years he was pictured as the American Christ and
for years Easter was called Black Easter. Abraham Lincoln was the sixteenth
president of the United States and he had one of the most difficult tasks of any
president: to bring the union back together.
Abraham Lincoln was the third war president at a time when the four war
president was Jefferson Davis the president of the Southern Confederacy. An
evaluation of Lincoln as president will focus on his role as the president of the
Civil war and will focus on how he solved the basic problems of that war. By the
time that he had become president seven southern states had seceded from the
union. He immediately decided to send supplies to Fort Sumter in the Charleston,
South Carolina, harbor. This fort was a symbol of federal authority in the state
that had first left the union. South Carolina tried to prevent those supplies and
fired on the fort on April 12, 1861, and the Civil War began.
Abraham Lincoln was similar to James Madison in that he did not have a military
background or a good understanding of the military. He tried to understand the
military and tried to be a good commander in chief by reading books about
military planning and strategy. There is no doubt, however, that Lincoln
mishandled the military and was often at odds with his military commanders.
Take George B. McClellan, for example; McClellan was initially supported with
much enthusiasm by Lincoln, but McClellan never lived up to his potential. Still
Lincoln stayed with him too long. It was only late in the Civil War that Lincoln
developed a chain of command idea in which he began to give more authority to
military leaders and in which he took a less direct role in military strategy and
planning. Lincoln finally created the role of what a modern war president should
be.
Lincoln was also accused of being a tyrant and dictator for violating the civil
rights of many Americans and for also violating the constitution. There were over
13,000 arbitrary arrests during his presidency and there was even a fear that he
would postpone the election of 1864. Of course, the Democrats were greatly
responsible for exaggerating Lincoln's suppression of civil liberties.
In defense of Lincoln, he solved the basic problems of war and was an
outstanding war president and war politician. Lincoln had an outstanding war
cabinet that included all of his major rivals for the Republican nomination for
president in 1860. William Seward was Secretary of State, Salmon P. Chase was
Secretary of the Treasury, Edward Bates was Attorney General, and Edwin
Stanton was Secretary of War. This cabinet often disagreed with him and caused
him many problems, but it is viewed as one of the strongest war cabinets in our
history. Another major problem for Lincoln was the manpower problem. Every
war in our history up to that time had been fought by volunteers; Lincoln initially
turned to the use of volunteers, but he refused to use black volunteers. The Civil
War was the bloodiest war in American history and the volunteers began to
decrease in number. Lincoln now created the draft system to solve the
manpower problem. This draft system was highly criticized and even led to riots
throughout the North, but it was successful in solving the manpower problem. In
addition, Lincoln did use blacks in the military.
Finances were a major problem for Lincoln and for the north. Lincoln used taxes
in the wealthy to get money to support the war effort; he also turned to the sale of
government war bonds. Up to that time in our history paper money was of
different sizes and different colors. Lincoln decided to stabilize the currency by
making money all the same size and color; he created the greenback dollars that
we use today. Lincoln handled the finances of war very well. One of the most
difficult areas for Lincoln was for him to get support for the war cause. He needed
support from the wealthy in the north and from those in the West. Here Lincoln
became a very capable war politician by working with Congress and getting laws
and programs passed that would cater to the wealthy in the north and to those in
the West. He restored the National Bank; Washington had established this bank,
Jackson had killed it, and Lincoln brought it back. He also got congress to pass a
high tariff-tax on imports- that would favor the wealthy factory owners. For those
in the West, he was able to get congress to pass the Homestead Act which gave
those in the West 160 acres of free public land. He also supported education in
the West by a land grant policy of giving land for state colleges throughout the
west. He was able to get support from key elements in the north and west.
As the Civil War was dragging along and while there was pressure on Lincoln to
end the war, Lincoln became an outstanding war politician by creating a new
cause for the war. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation
Proclamation. While this was a limited freedom document, it was clear that
Lincoln was out to end the slave system and out to destroy the South. He then
went to congress and sought a congressional amendment to officially end all
slavery in the United States. The Emancipation Proclamation created a new
interest and new excitement in the war. Finally Lincoln achieved his goal: to save
the union. It took the invasion and conquest of the South to achieve this difficult
goal, but it was achieved on April 9, 1865 when General Robert E. Lee
surrendered to General Ulysses Grant. Lincoln now prepared for the difficult task
of rebuilding the nation: this was known as the reconstruction process. He
believed that the nation should be reconstructed as quickly as possible. In his
second inaugural address in 1865, he urged, "malice toward none" and "charity
for all." Congress, on the other hand, believed that the South should be punished
for the Civil War and there should be a harsh program of reconstruction. But
Lincoln never got an opportunity to follow a program of presidential
reconstruction. He was shot at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C. by John
Wilkes Booth on April 14, 1865 and Lincoln died the next morning. Vice President
Andrew Johnson now became president. Lincoln is the only early president to be
assassinated as president; Johnson becomes the third accidental president in
our early history.
Abraham Lincoln is rated high as president. He was the only president to deal
with an internal war known as the Civil War. He was a Midwest farmer with
Midwest values who became an extraordinary war president and war politician.
He did solve the basic problems of war and he did bring the union back together.
He also did start the end of slavery in American history. If he had not been
assassinated, he would have had to deal with the difficult problem of
reconstruction. It is possible that this struggle with congress over reconstruction
would have hurt his rating as president and may have even led to his
impeachment. But that difficult problem now rested with Southerner Andrew
Johnson.
Andrew Johnson was born in poverty in Tennessee and became a tailor for much
of his life before he entered politics. He had the appeal of Jackson Ian
Democracy, but this Southern senator supported the union as Tenneesee left the
union. He was a hero in the north and a traitor in the south. He became a
supporter of Lincoln and was chosen by Lincoln as vice president in 1864 to
show Lincoln's attempt to bring the nation together quickly. Johnson continued
the policies of Lincoln in reconstruction but he was opposed by Radical
Republicans in congress who began to pass laws to punish the south and to lead
to a military occupation of the south. Johnson tried to stop these laws by use of
the veto but congressmen continued to override his veto. Johnson became
frustrated; he turned to drink and became abusive. Congress now charged that
he broke the Tenure of Office Act when he illegally removed Stanton as
Secretary of War. These charges led to eighteen formal charges of impeachment
in the House of Representatives. Johnson had earned the nickname "King Veto"
through his constant use of the veto. Now he stood before the Senate on trail for
crimes of impeachment. Actually Johnson was just in the way of congressional
reconstruction and they wanted him out of office. When the final votes were
taken, Johnson remained president by one vote. The Senate needed a two thirds
majority to remove Johnson as president. Johnson remained an unpopular
president and is rated a below average president.
In 1868 the only united party was the Republican party. The Radical Republicans
wanted to avoid the problems they had with Johnson. The Republicans now
turned again to the Jackson Formula and nominated Ulysses Grant, a military
hero, the commanding general of the Northern army at the end of the Civil War,
for president. Grant accepted the nomination and would become the last Jackson
Formula president in our early history and the eighteenth president of the United
States. Grant is rated one of the worst American presidents ever and the worst
two term presidents in our history. Why was Grant such a poor president?
Ulysses Grant had no political experience and no political background. He was
unaware of what a president should be. He was similar to Zachary Taylor. These
are career military men who have never been elected to a political position in
their lives and who have no understanding of politics. He had an attitude similar
to John Adams: it was an honor,not a job. This attitude created the Grant
Tradition: the tradition of allowed power in government to shift to congress and
this is where power would remain for years after Grant.
Grant abused the spoils system. He brought some of the most incompetent
individuals into government; they were friends from the military and were
relatives. He saw nothing wrong with rewarding his military buddies and relatives.
Actually the White House became like Camp White House with the number of
military men in the executive department of Grant. Grant also saw nothing wrong
with taking gifts from people and doing favors. By modern standards people
continually bribed Grant. He began to drink heavily and was continually given
liquor as a gift. He loved to smoke cigars and was given more than 20,000 boxes
of cigars during his presidency. His goal was to smoke every cigar in every box.
He was also a womanizer and saw nothing wrong with going to houses of
prostitution. His favorite prostitute was Little Egypt and his relationships with this
lady was well known.
The two term Grant presidency also featured the highest level of corruption and
the largest number of scandals in American History. Grant was not involved with
the corruption and scandals, but he allowed them to take place and was
identified with them. This is why he became increasingly unpopular and would
leave on a low. The scandals first appeared in his first term as president. The
Credit Mobilier Scandal involved congressmen building stock in a railroad
company and giving generous grants of land and money to that railroad
company. The Salary Grab Scandal involved congress trying to give itself a 50%
increase in salary. One of the scandals that showed Grant as president was the
Black Friday Scandal. Jay Gould and Jim Fisk were wealthy men who wanted to
control all of America's gold. But this was difficult because the United States
Treasury was continuing to sell gold. So Gould and Fisk became friends of Grant
and gave him gifts and took him on a trip to Boston. As a favor, Grant, who had
little knowledge of economics, ordered the treasury to stop selling gold. The price
of gold rose substantially. Congress even investigated this situation and stated
that Grant was a victim of poor judgment, but he was not involved in this scandal.
In 1872 Grant was renominated for president by the Republican party, the
Democrats were still weak and divided and nominated newspaperman Horace
Greeley who had just become a vegetarian and who spent more time on the evils
of meat than the scandals of Grant. Grant was now elected for a second term: a
term that featured more scandals and more corruption on all levels of
government and all levels of society. During his second term there occurred the
Whiskey Ring Scandal and the Belknap Scandal. Orville Babcock was the private
secretary of the president and was involved in stealing government tax money;
this was the Whiskey Ring Scandal. William Belknap was the Secretary of War
and was found to be stealing Indian funds. He was removed from this position
before he was arrested and would go to jail. The scandals and corruption were
hurting Grant's rating. He was becoming increasingly unpopular and he could not
understand why. He even wanted to be elected for a third term. But the party
rejected Grant and he left office on a low to be rated one of the worst presidents
in our entire history.