I gave a lecture about Thomas Jefferson this week and one of my main themes was how hard it is to be the President you want to be when you first run for that office. I believe this applies to all presidents. It applies to Bush but mostly to Hillary or Obama. Jefferson as the head of the Republican party believed in a few basic ideas of government. First he believed government should be small. Local government was more important because they were closer to the people. One way to curtail the power of the Federal government was by what was called a strict interpretation of the Constitution. In other words, if the Constitution does not explicitly say it, than the government can not do it. He also believed that what would make America great was if we were a country of small yeoman farmers, small farmers where everyone owned their own land. Industry was seen as a curse to Jefferson, Industry created a nation of owners and workers, with the owners having all the power. To Jefferson what made a man free, was land ownership and controlling their own means of production. It was these ideas that made Jefferson popular, and in 1800 when he ran for president, it was these ideas that carried him into the White house.
It is how he won the presidency and what he did once entering the White House that is interesting. In the election of 1800 four men ran for the office of President and none won a majority of the electoral college, so the decision fell to the Congress. Only Jefferson and Aaron Burr’s names (the top two vote getters) were brought to the Congress to vote on. But in Congress neither man could get the votes required for a victory. Maryland was a split state so Jefferson’s men went to work to try to persuade the Maryland delegates to vote for Jefferson, which after some compromise they did and Jefferson won. However, it is the compromise that is important. Jefferson promised the men from the Federalists party that if he won he would not dismantle the economic policies that had been put in place by Alexander Hamilton, namely the national Bank and tariffs. Hamilton as the head of the Federalists party believed in tariffs, because he believed tariffs would help the US become an industrial power. He disagreed with Jefferson, and believed that industry was the way to make the nation great. So Jefferson’s first act as president was to compromise his own views of government.
After Jefferson took office, he continued to make decisions that went against his own way of thinking. The best example is also his greatest achievement, the Louisiana Purchase. When France took control of the Louisiana territory, Jefferson worried that the French might want to re-colonize the Americas and decided instead to send James Madison to see Napoleon and authorized him to spend 10 million to buy New Orleans. When Madison arrived the French (for reasons to long to explain) had decided they did not need Louisiana and offered to sell the entire area to us for 15 million, but they needed the money in cash. Madison did not have the authority to make the purchase, but recognizing the great deal and the importance of the purchase (as a Republican he also believed in the value of yeoman farmers and knew they would need more land) and agreed to the terms. Jefferson approved of Madison’s decision, but now faced the problem of not having the money to pay. What Jefferson decided to do was borrow money but also issue government bonds to raise the money. This was a difficult Constitutional issue for Jefferson, who believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution. No where in the Constitution does it give the President the power to acquire new land, or issue bonds to pay for new land. Jefferson, for what he considered the greater good, had to break one the fundamental issues of government that he believed in. He stretched the power of the Federal government when it suited his interest.
Later in his presidency, when Jefferson was having issues with the British he passed a measure called the non-intercourse act (I have to warn my students that this is not as exciting as it sounds). This act basically cut off trade with the British. Later after Americans continued to trade with the British Jefferson passed the Enforcement act, which gave the government power to search any ship suspected of smuggling. This may not seem wrong, people should not break the law, but what Jefferson is doing was creating more government power. He had intended to limit the power of the government when he took over, but instead he made it even bigger. Also by restricting trade with British, he cut off all industrial trade, but since Americans required industrial goods, they had to begin creating industry in America, and without British competition, America launched into the industrial revolution. So the President who believed industrialization was the worst possible path our nation could take is responsible for beginning the industrial revolution.
The election of 1800 is often referred to as the Revolution of 1800, in that the victory of Jefferson was seen as a victory for the little guy. Jefferson’s ideology over Hamilton’s. Yet even though Jefferson won the battle, Hamilton won the war, in that today we are not a country of yeoman farmers, but instead an industrial powerhouse. Was Jefferson a bad President, no of course not. He made decisions that he though was best at the time, even when those decisions went against what he promised when he was running for the office. My point is being the leader of the free world is hard. I truly believe most politicians when they are running for president truly want to help people, there way of doing it I disagree with, but most are genuine. What they learn quickly is things are not as easy, ideology and practicality are not always the same thing. When you listen to politicians speak, we need to understand that know matter how much they call for change, change may not be possible, or even wanted. Even the best of men, Thomas Jefferson, could not carry through what he promised, why might we think lesser men can.
It is how he won the presidency and what he did once entering the White House that is interesting. In the election of 1800 four men ran for the office of President and none won a majority of the electoral college, so the decision fell to the Congress. Only Jefferson and Aaron Burr’s names (the top two vote getters) were brought to the Congress to vote on. But in Congress neither man could get the votes required for a victory. Maryland was a split state so Jefferson’s men went to work to try to persuade the Maryland delegates to vote for Jefferson, which after some compromise they did and Jefferson won. However, it is the compromise that is important. Jefferson promised the men from the Federalists party that if he won he would not dismantle the economic policies that had been put in place by Alexander Hamilton, namely the national Bank and tariffs. Hamilton as the head of the Federalists party believed in tariffs, because he believed tariffs would help the US become an industrial power. He disagreed with Jefferson, and believed that industry was the way to make the nation great. So Jefferson’s first act as president was to compromise his own views of government.
After Jefferson took office, he continued to make decisions that went against his own way of thinking. The best example is also his greatest achievement, the Louisiana Purchase. When France took control of the Louisiana territory, Jefferson worried that the French might want to re-colonize the Americas and decided instead to send James Madison to see Napoleon and authorized him to spend 10 million to buy New Orleans. When Madison arrived the French (for reasons to long to explain) had decided they did not need Louisiana and offered to sell the entire area to us for 15 million, but they needed the money in cash. Madison did not have the authority to make the purchase, but recognizing the great deal and the importance of the purchase (as a Republican he also believed in the value of yeoman farmers and knew they would need more land) and agreed to the terms. Jefferson approved of Madison’s decision, but now faced the problem of not having the money to pay. What Jefferson decided to do was borrow money but also issue government bonds to raise the money. This was a difficult Constitutional issue for Jefferson, who believed in a strict interpretation of the Constitution. No where in the Constitution does it give the President the power to acquire new land, or issue bonds to pay for new land. Jefferson, for what he considered the greater good, had to break one the fundamental issues of government that he believed in. He stretched the power of the Federal government when it suited his interest.
Later in his presidency, when Jefferson was having issues with the British he passed a measure called the non-intercourse act (I have to warn my students that this is not as exciting as it sounds). This act basically cut off trade with the British. Later after Americans continued to trade with the British Jefferson passed the Enforcement act, which gave the government power to search any ship suspected of smuggling. This may not seem wrong, people should not break the law, but what Jefferson is doing was creating more government power. He had intended to limit the power of the government when he took over, but instead he made it even bigger. Also by restricting trade with British, he cut off all industrial trade, but since Americans required industrial goods, they had to begin creating industry in America, and without British competition, America launched into the industrial revolution. So the President who believed industrialization was the worst possible path our nation could take is responsible for beginning the industrial revolution.
The election of 1800 is often referred to as the Revolution of 1800, in that the victory of Jefferson was seen as a victory for the little guy. Jefferson’s ideology over Hamilton’s. Yet even though Jefferson won the battle, Hamilton won the war, in that today we are not a country of yeoman farmers, but instead an industrial powerhouse. Was Jefferson a bad President, no of course not. He made decisions that he though was best at the time, even when those decisions went against what he promised when he was running for the office. My point is being the leader of the free world is hard. I truly believe most politicians when they are running for president truly want to help people, there way of doing it I disagree with, but most are genuine. What they learn quickly is things are not as easy, ideology and practicality are not always the same thing. When you listen to politicians speak, we need to understand that know matter how much they call for change, change may not be possible, or even wanted. Even the best of men, Thomas Jefferson, could not carry through what he promised, why might we think lesser men can.
2 comments:
That is so interesting! I was listening to the news today and in particular a piece on the stock market. One of the correspondents was talking about Obama's tax returns and how most of his money is in 401Ks and IRAs and how he has no stocks. She said Obama visited Wall Street and basically told them they were evil (not direct quote). He also said he would repeal the capital gains tax break etc., which wall street said was actually better for the economy b/c it put real money back into the system.
What she said at the end was what struck me...Obama doesn't have any experience with stocks, capital gains etc., personally so he doesn't really understand how it all works. This is essentially why he's probably against it. I'm sure if he got elected someone, somewhere would have to break it all down for him and then maybe he would change his mind.
Sometimes what we don't know and have no experience with narrows our opinions and judgments. Thanks for your insight!
I've decided I'm going to give you some assignments. I have had a few ideas rattling around my head that I haven't had time to flesh out. I think maybe I'll ask you to turn them into blog posts. Seriously. You can send me a bill.
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