AHG 632: The American Presidency I

Sunday, July 5 to Friday, July 10, 2009

Instructors: Marc Landy and Jeremy Bailey

Course Description:

This course is an examination of the political and constitutional development of the office of president from the Founding era through the Civil War. It focuses on how the presidency shaped American political life as the country grew and struggled with rising sectional tensions.

Learning Objectives:

The course's key learning objectives are encompassed by the following questions:

• To what extent does the presidency as described in Article Two of the Constitution serve to explain how the presidency functioned up through Lincoln? Which development is most important?
• Did the "modern presidency" emerge before the 20th century?
• Are there two presidencies, one domestic and one foreign?
• Is the presidency the most powerful branch?
• Is the presidency too powerful?
• What is the role of political parties in presidential affairs?
• What is presidential greatness?

Requirements:

There will be a final exam given at the end of the course. It will be based on both the readings and class discussion and will be oriented towards the listed learning objectives for the course and the focus questions for each class.

Students auditing the course as a part of a Teaching American History Grant program must complete the readings and attend all of the seminars and fully participate during the week.

Required Texts:

• George Dangerfield, The Era of Good Feelings, Ivan Dee, ISBN 0929587146
• Marc Landy and Sidney Milkis, Presidential Greatness, ISBN 0700611495
• Phillip Shaw Paludan, The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln, ISBN 0700607455
• John Siegenthaler, James K. Polk, ISBN 0805069429
• Photocopied Course Packet (CP)

Schedule

Sunday, July 5

4:30 - 6:00 pm: Introduction & Session 1 - Constitutional Structure and Design

Focus Questions:

• Does the Constitution provide a cogent blueprint for executive power? Or did it invite an ongoing struggle over the presidency?
• Does the Constitution prescribe that the President should take responsibility for the moral health of the nation? What Constitutional provisions relate to this responsibility?

Readings:

• US Constitution, Article II (CP pg 3)
• The Federalist Nos. 51, 68-77 (CP pg 5)

7:30 - 9:00 pm: Session 2 - Institute Lecture (Attendance is required.)

Monday, July 6

9:00 - 10:30 am: Session 3 - Constitutional Structure and Design, cont'd

Focus Questions:

• In The Federalist No. 51, what does Madison mean by giving each department a "will"? Is this will the same thing as the "energy" discussed Hamilton in No. 70? What are the ingredients of energy? In what ways is energy compatible with republican government? Incompatible?
• According to Hamilton, in No. 68, what explains the design of the Electoral College?
• In No. 69, Hamilton shows the ways in which the president is not like a king? Does his discussion in the following essays confirm this argument? Does his discussion of the powers of the president explain modern practice of these presidential powers?

Readings:

• The Federalist Nos. 51, 68-77

10:50 am-12:20 pm: Session 4 - George Washington

Focus Questions:

• What aspects of George Washington's pre-presidential career played the greatest role in influencing his presidency. What were the most important sources of George Washington's views about politics and government prior to his becoming president?
• What role did George Washington play at the Constitutional Convention?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, chapters 1-2

4:00 - 5:30 pm: Session 5 - George Washington, cont'd

Focus Questions:

• What contributions did Washington make as president? How does Washington's opposition to partisanship jibe with his relationship to the Federalist Party?
• According to conventional wisdom, Washington's rhetoric was not a critical part of his presidential leadership? Does the Farewell Address defy the conventional wisdom?
• Is Washington's legacy still with us?

Readings:

• Helvidius-Pacificus Debate (CP pg 44)
• George Washington, Farewell Address (CP pg 49)

Tuesday, July 7

9:00 - 10:30 am: Session 6 - Thomas Jefferson

Focus Questions:

• Jefferson says in his First Inaugural Address, "We are all republicans; we are all federalists." Yet Alexis de Tocqueville describes the struggle between the Federalists and Jeffersonian Republicans as one of "great party conflict," that is, one where the parties were divided by first principles. Did fundamental issues divide these parties? Or was their battle a "lovers' quarrel" in which the differences were heated but limited? In what ways does Jefferson's discussion of principles in the Second Inaugural confirm or change the principles in the First.
• Again, in the First Inaugural, what does Jefferson say he fears?
• What role did disputes over the appropriate authority of the executive play in arousing conflict between the Federalists and Democratic-Republicans?
• According to Jefferson's letter to Shipman, what is the source of the president's removal powers? What does this suggest about party principles?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 3
• Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural (CP pg 60)
• Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Elias Shipman and Others, 1801 (CP pg 63)

10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session 7 - Thomas Jefferson, cont'd

Focus Questions:

• Where does Jefferson find the authority to purchase and incorporate the Louisiana Territory? Does he look to the Constitution? How does the letter to Colvin confirm the argument of the First Inaugural?
• What does the Twelfth Amendment do? Why would Jefferson seek it in time for 1804?

Readings:

• US Constitution, Twelfth Amendment (CP pg 66)
• Thomas Jefferson, Second Inaugural,1805 (CP pg 67)
• Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Vermont Legislature, 1807 (CP pg 71)

4:00 - 5:30 pm: Session 8 - Thomas Jefferson, cont'd

Focus Questions:

• Cont'd from last session

Readings:

• Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John C. Breckenridge, 1803 (CP pg 73)
• Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Wilson Cary Nicholas (CP pg 75)
• Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Colvin, 1810 (CP pg 77)
• Thomas Jefferson, Letter to James Barbour, 1812 (CP pg 79)

Wednesday, July 8

9:00 - 10:30 am: Session 9 - James Madison, James Monroe, and John Quincy Adams

Focus Questions:

• To what extent were Madison and Monroe Jeffersonian presidents? In what ways did they depart from the Jeffersonian gospel?
• Did Madison make a good commander in chief? Party leader? Monroe? Did Jefferson's "union of sentiment" render presidential greatness impossible? Why was there no "Revolution of 1816" or Revolution of 1820"?
• What were the major sources of difficulty that faced Adams as president?
• How did Adams function as party leader? Why was the 1824 election so controversial?
• What do you think of Adams' major public policy proposals -why did they fail?

Readings:

• Thomas Dangerfield, Era of Good Feelings
• The Monroe Doctrine (CP pg 82)

10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session 10 - Andrew Jackson

Focus Questions:

• Did the election of Andrew Jackson pose a threat to constitutional government?
• With the advent of "Jacksonian democracy," a party system is defended as a legitimate institution. How did this development change presidential politics and government?
• Why did Jackson defend a "rotation in office"? Are his arguments persuasive?
• Was the Democratic Party a creature of Jackson's ambition? Or did it constrain his power?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, chapter 4

4:00 - 5:30 pm: Session 11 - Andrew Jackson, cont'd

Focus Questions:

• Jacksonian democracy championed local self-government, yet Jackson sought to defend the Union in his Proclamation against South Carolina's Nullification Ordinance. How could Jackson defend both nationalism and localism? How did changes in the executive office during the 1830s contribute to the rise of these seemingly contradictory principles?
• Jackson's veto of the Bank bill is considered a critical episode in securing presidential authority to participate in legislative matters. Yet in the aftermath of the Bank fight, Tocqueville wrote, "General Jackson's power is constantly increasing, but that of the president grows less. The federal government is strong in his hands; it will pass to his successor enfeebled." Did the Bank veto strengthen or weaken the presidency?

Readings:

• Andrew Jackson, Nullification Proclamation (CP pg 85)
• Bank Veto Message (CP pg 97)

Thursday, July 9

9:00 - 10:30 am: Session 12 - The Whigs to Buchanan

Focus Questions:

• In what ways were the Whig presidents successful in repudiating Jackson? In what ways did they fail?
• In what ways was Polk's situation like Monroe's? In what ways did he continue Jackson's assertion of presidential power? In what ways did he go beyond Jackson?
• Can the Mexican War be disentangled from the house-divided? Was Polk the first modern commander-in-chief?
• Writing as Helvidius, Madison argued that presidents are untrustworthy judges in commencing and concluding war because they regard war as an opportunity for glory. Does Polk confirm Helvidius?

Readings:

• John Seigenthaler, James K. Polk

10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session 13 - Whigs to Buchanan

Focus Questions:

• What does Lincoln's Lyceum address tell us about his view of leadership and his own ambition? How were Lincoln's views on the Union similar to and different from Jackson's views?
• Is it true, as Lincoln claims, that, politically speaking, a "house divided against itself cannot stand"?

Readings:

• Abraham Lincoln, Lyceum Address, 1838 (CP pg 109)
• Abraham Lincoln, House Divided Speech, 1858 (CP pg 114)

4:00 - 5:30 pm: Session 14 - Abraham Lincoln

Focus Questions:

• What is the relationship between Lincoln's role as president and Lincoln's role as party leader?
• Gary Wills argues that Lincoln's address at Gettysburg led to "a new founding" of the nation. What were the distinct features of the "new" republic? Did Lincoln remake American politics himself, and so fundamentally?
• Presidential scholars frequently rank Lincoln as the greatest United States president. What were the most important strengths of Lincoln's leadership? Did his talents and achievements strengthen constitutional government in the United States? Or did his leadership exhibit an inherent tension between extraordinary presidential leadership and constitutional forms?

Readings:

• Landy and Milkis, Chapter 5
• Paludan, The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln

Friday, July 10

9:00 - 10:30 am: Session 15 - Abraham Lincoln, cont'd

Focus Questions:

• Cont'd from last session

Readings:

Abraham Lincoln,

• First Inaugural (CP pg 120)
• Special Message to Congress, 4 July 1861 (CP pg 126)
• Emancipation Proclamation (CP pg 135)
• Gettysburg Address (CP pg 137)
• Second Inaugural (CP pg 138)

10:50 am - 12:20 pm: Session 16 - The Constitution and Development

• Review readings for Sessions 1-3

1:30 - 3:00 pm: Session 17 - Final Exam