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James Madison: President & Beyond (1809 - 1836)

7/21/2014

Source: Richard Brookhiser. James Madison (2011)

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison each served two terms as President. Jefferson's popularity plummeted by a large margin not long after he easily won re-election in 1804. By the time Jefferson left office, his popularity as a politician was at its lowest. In contrast, Madison barely won re-election in 1812, and his popularity nosedived even more halfway through his second term in office due to the War of 1812. However, in rallying his nation to what was seen as an American victory over the British, James Madison left office almost as popular as George Washington was during his first term, and far more popular than John Adams and his mentor, Thomas Jefferson. Usually, when a President's popularity falls off a precipice, there is very little chance to climb back into favor (e.g. Nixon, President George H.W. Bush in 1992). President James Madison found a way to do so as the first President to be in power during a major war.

President Madison decided that it was time that the U.S. should at long last possess West Florida and New Orleans. In what would today undoubtedly be called a "Black Op", Madison authorized a clandestine operation against Spain that was headquartered in Baton Rouge and Mobile. Faced with such a popular uprising, Spain ceded the territory to the U.S. Government in 1810; the full potential of the Louisiana Territory could be realized, with the added bonus that Spanish influence was minimized in the Gulf Region.
In June, 1809, Congress passed the Non-Intercourse Act, which lifted the embargo for U.S. ships heading to ports in Great Britain and France; Brookhiser referred to the act as "profitable dishonesty." As a result, the Atlantic was flooded with American merchant vessels heading to Great Britain. Great Britain, however, did not honor the act, and used the "Rule of 1756" to strangle American trade heading to Europe, and relations between the two nations chilled.
In the Spring of 1810, Macon's Bill #2 became law; the U.S. would trade with the nation that lifted their trade barriers first. The Republican doctrine of projecting American strength through trade never worked, and Madison was stunned to see that impact to U.S. trade was even worse than the Embargo of 1807. Napoleon offered to resume trade, but Madison chose to ignore the offer since there were too many obvious loopholes that would be to the disadvantage of the U.S. The British were beyond-incensed that the U.S. seemed to be negotiating with its European nemesis - slowly but surely, Madison was leading America to a war with Great Britain in a roundabout, sideways fashion.

President Madison, unhappy with SecState Robert Smith's disunity and indiscretion, asked for his resignation, and replaced him with James Monroe - it was the creation of the "Virginia Dynasty." This was also the moment that Madison realized that he was the Chief Executive, no longer a legislator or a Cabinet member . . . but Madison was still too passive to be an effective President, and he still focused too much attention on intra-party matters.
In February, 1811, Congress voted to enforce the Non-Intercourse Act against Great Britain, which was a significant step towards war. Congress also wanted the National Bank to expire, contrary to SecTreas Albert Gallatin's advice and wishes. Ironically, it was also against Madison's wishes as well; he had come to see the Bank as Alexander Hamilton argued years before, an institution that was "Necessary and Proper." Madison was unwilling to lead the fight to renew the Bank's charter, however, and Gallatin (whose statue is in front of the Treasury Building) was left to fight the battle himself. The House voted to postpone their vote (which was decidedly anti-Bank) until the Senate conducted their vote. The Senate was deadlocked 17 - 17, but Vice-President George Clinton (NY; still sore that he didn't become President) broke the tie, and voted against the Bank. Madison would realize too late that if he had exercised any executive influence at all, the bank would have been saved, and would have been a very useful tool during the War of 1812 (imagine, the U.S. fought the War of 1812 without a National Bank!).

The 12th Congress convened in 1811, and Henry Clay (KY) was voted Speaker of the House in his first term. For the first time in U.S. History, Clay used his position as Speaker to advance his personal and party's politics, and one of the things he most wanted to see was war with Great Britain (he believed it would benefit western states). There was "New Blood" in the 12th Congress, with John C. Calhoun (SC) on the Foreign Relations Committee, also pushing for war. These young "War Hawks" (Calhoun was only 29) consistently pressured Madison for war.
This Republican Congress was "stripping for a fight" with Britain, but the "War Hawks" were basically clueless that they were in no position to hold their own against a superpower. The revenue stream for the government trickled to virtually nothing, since there was no longer a National Bank which meant no regulation of the economy, no trade of note, and taxes were low. Their desire for war was high, but they were beyond-naive in grasping the true reality of what it would take to even have a chance at success in clashing with Great Britain.
By the Summer of 1812, Great Britain had not rescinded their trade barriers against the U.S., impressment of American sailors continued, as was British support for Native tribes on the frontier (e.g. the Tecumseh). On 1 June, Madison sent a war message to Congress, listing many grievances against the British; couched behind those grievances was a strong desire for national self-respect. After two-and-a-half weeks of debate, Congress voted 74-49 to declare war, while the Senate voted 19-13 (both houses largely along partisan lines). On 16 June, the British repealed their "Orders in Council", which eliminated most of the American grievances, but due to slow communication, there was no way either government could know of the actions of the other (and given the political climate in the U.S., one wonders if it would have made any difference).
In the Election of 1812, President Madison won re-election, defeating the Federalist candidate DeWitt Clinton (who also received the support of anti-war Republicans), but only because he carried Pennsylvania. The Electoral tally was Madison, 128, and Clinton, 89, but if Clinton would have won Pennsylvania, the result would have been Clinton 114, and Madison, 103. It was the strongest showing of a Federalist candidate since President John Adams narrowly lost to Vice-President Thomas Jefferson in 1800.

The early results were in: so far, James Madison had failed as a war-time President, due mostly to the reality that he had the wrong people in charge of the wrong things at the wrong time. Madison had a chance to change all of that, but in 1814, Madison was unwilling to unleash his star, James Monroe, by naming him as acting SecWar while he was also SecState. So, Madison named John Armstrong as SecWar, whose qualifications for the position were lacking to most . . . the Republican party's disdain for all-things-military came back to haunt Madison early in the war (only Monroe and Gallatin were worthwhile Cabinet members).
As the British landed in force in Maryland, SecWar Armstrong believed that the British would leave Washington, D.C. alone, and instead attack Baltimore. Madison, after consulting Armstrong, allowed the decision to remain, and after the "Bladensburg Races", the British entered D.C. without any opposition. After this debacle, Madison named Monroe as acting SecWar in addition to his duties as SecState - that move provided real leadership when it was needed most. However, Madison had appointed Armstrong (and the feeble General William Winder at Bladensburg), plus numerous others that failed to make the grade. And yet, Armstrong was right on one thing - the British did indeed want Baltimore.

By the end of 1814, Madison and Washington, D.C. were no longer major players in the war. The focus shifted to negotiations in Ghent, Belgium (lead by John Quincy Adams), General Jackson in New Orleans, and the Federalist Convention in Hartford, Connecticut. Madison received the news of these three events in the following order, which lifted Madison's popularity as President to a level only surpassed by Washington in his first term.
First came word of Jackson's miraculous victory at New Orleans on 8 January, 1815 (The American army was outnumbered at least 10:1). Then came news from Ghent of a treaty that was signed in late-December, 1814, ending the war. And lastly, news of the desire of the New England Federalists in Hartford to secede from the Union. The sequence of events to the American public were processed like this: the miraculous victory in New Orleans meant the British have had enough of the war, so therefore we WON THE WAR, and those Federalists are traitors! For his remaining time as President, Madison was lauded as a hero by the vast majority, his party was once again united, and the Federalist party became extinct. Ironically, in March, 1816, Congress and President Madison authorized a Second National Bank of the United States.

As America basked in its newfound total independence from Great Britain (political, social and economic), there was a Presidential Election in 1816. James Monroe edged William Crawford (GA) for the Republican nomination, and then cruised to the White House by soundly defeating the token Federalist candidate Rufus King (Electoral Vote: Monroe 183, King 34).
James Madison refused to be a spectator to his own Presidency towards the end of his second term, as Thomas Jefferson had decided to do. For example, on 3 March, 1817 (his last day in office) Madison vetoed a bill providing federal money for roads and canals. While Madison wanted improved transportation for expansion, he viewed federal spending for roads and canals as unconstitutional - it was a matter reserved for the states (Monroe would do the same with his famous veto of the Cumberland Road).
In the years after his Presidency, Madison refused to publish his notes from the Constitutional Convention in 1787 as long as he was alive; he thought the impact of their release would be greater after his death (historians treasured his notes, but ironically the general public didn't embrace his account nearly as much at that time). Madison lived for almost twenty years as an ex-President. His most notable contribution was during the Nullification Crisis in the early-1830s, when he joined Jackson (a man he truly did not like or trust) in his pro-Union stance against those that wanted to secede.
James Madison was the last Framer of the Constitution to die (he even outlived James Monroe, who died on 4 July five years to the day after J. Adams and Jefferson). Madison died on 28 June, 1836; his doctors offered to extend his life to 4 July so he could join John Adams, Jefferson, and Monroe, but he politely-yet-firmly declined.

James Madison accomplished something that the vast majority of two-term Presidents could not claim. Not only did Madison's second term surpass his first, but Madison reached his greatest popularity as he exited office after eight years. Think of the two-term Presidents in our history that did not have the "Madison Exit": Jefferson, Grant, Wilson (LBJ, Nixon), Reagan, Clinton, and Bush ("The Younger"); even Washington and Monroe didn't exit office at the same level of popularity as Madison.
The only two-term Presidents that I can think of whose popularity remained high after eight years in office were Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight Eisenhower; even FDR suffered a drop in popularity and effectiveness during his second term. There was no doubt that Madison benefited from luck and timing, but he also made crucial decisions that not only buttressed his popularity, but led the U.S. to a favorable end to its first major war under the Constitution.
(Below: The Presidency of James Madison, from the History Channel's "The Presidents")

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James Madison: Secretary of State (1800 - 1809)

7/19/2014

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Source: Richard Brookhiser. James Madison (2011)

The political life of James Madison could be compared to a mountain range, in that his experience consisted of peaks and valleys. James Madison reached his first political peak in 1789 with the Ratification of the Constitution and George Washington selected as the first President. His first "Valley of Political Despair" occurred in the early-to-mid 1790s, when the opposing party, the Federalists, scored significant political victories, most notably with the National Bank and the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion. By 1796, Madison's political standing in his own party was such that he was bypassed as the candidate for President in favor of a semi-retired Thomas Jefferson. However, by the late-1790s, the Federalist overreaction in enforcing the Sedition Act brought Madison (and the Republicans) near the pinnacle once again; by 1800, the political tide seemed to be turning in favor of James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and the Republican party, with a Presidential Election in the offing.

As a result of Jefferson's victory in the Election of 1800 ("The Peaceful Revolution"), the Republicans held a 3:2 advantage in the House of Representatives, reversing the Federalist advantage. The Republicans also nearly pulled even with the Federalists in the Senate - the Republicans were transformed from an impotent minority faction to the party-in-power almost overnight.
Jefferson stocked his Cabinet with people he knew and trusted, with the most significant members being James Madison as SecState and Albert Gallatin as SecTreas. This triumvirate of Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin would stay together and united, unlike the first trio of Washington, Hamilton, and Jefferson (and the nightmare that was John Adams' Cabinet). One benefit that Jefferson experienced by having Madison in his Cabinet is that his Secretary of State became the "Lighting Rod of Hate" for the Federalists, taking much of the attention away from the new President (e.g. Marbury v. Madison).
James Callendar, however, kept his focus (and newfound contempt and hatred) on Jefferson; he was out for political revenge against a President that did not find a position for his loyal newspaper publisher in his adminstration. Callendar, now writing for a Federalist newspaper, "outed" Jefferson in terms of his illicit relationship with one of his African slaves, Sally Hemings. In an event that reeked even then of conspiracy, James Callendar was found dead in 1803, having drowned in the James River. While it was true in those days that journalists were often attacked and assaulted, many Americans (especially Federalists) believed that Callendar's death was not an accident.
As Secretary of State, Madison shared two goals with President Jefferson: peace and expansion. They were also in agreement in terms of how they viewed nations in Europe, most importantly France (awesome!) and England (root of all evil!). The main advantage of their relationship was consistency, with the main disadvantage being that their mutual agreement / world view blinded them to difficulties and failures.

In November, 1801, Madison learned of the secret treaty between Spain and Napoleon; America's new neighbor to the west was France, a superpower that wanted to build another empire in North America. In response, Madison (a Francophile) actually threatened France with aligning the United States with Great Britain. The situation was serious enough where Madison sent James Monroe to France to serve as an additional diplomat, under instructions to purchase West Florida and New Orleans (maximum price limit: $10m).
Two events changed France's empire-building west of the Mississippi River: a "Polar Vortex" so severe that all of France's ports on the Atlantic actually froze solid in 1803, and an African slave revolt in the Caribbean sugar cane island of Santo Domingo (led by Toussaint L'Ouverture). The impulsive Napoleon decided that the stars were no longer in alignment for his goals in North America, and he offered the Louisiana Territory to the United States for purchase. Robert Livingston and James Monroe signed the document agreeing to purchase the territory from France, and Jefferson and Madison started to work to get votes in Congress to finalize the transfer of land (ironically, the LA Purchase DID NOT include West Florida or New Orleans; it wasn't until Madison was President in 1810 that the U.S. gained what it most desired in the Gulf region).
In 1804, Jefferson easily won re-election, receiving 162 Electoral Votes, with the Federalist candidate, Charles Pinckney, garnering only 14. The Republicans also gained an astounding 80% of the seats in the House and the Senate. The purchase of the Louisiana Territory and the results of the Election of 1804 went to the heads of Jefferson and Madison. In short, they both believed that they could do no political wrong; they would not be ready for the foreign difficulties that lay ahead in Jefferson's second term as President.

President Jefferson and SecState Madison made efforts to purchase West Florida and New Orleans from Napoleon, but to no avail; the U.S. had the tremendous expanse of the Louisiana Territory, but did not have possession of the port city that would really make the purchase come to its full potential . . . and there was still the unwanted presence of Spain in the extreme southeast.
In 1805, Jefferson's and Madison's relatively idyllic time in office came to a halt, when in July the British Government changed the rules of the game in the Atlantic Ocean. In recent years, the U.S. had been able to trade under what was called "The Broken Voyage" rule, which meant that U.S. ships could sail the expanse of the Atlantic, but had to stop at specified British ports on their way to their final destination. It was a win-win situation for both the U.S. and Britain, but with the threat from Napoleon, Great Britain reinstituted the "Rule of 1756", which in essence put up trade barriers exclusively to Britain's benefit; it was a de facto return to Mercantilism.
Madison published an argument that laid the basis for "Freedom of the Seas" in America's foreign policy, and instructed the U.S. Minister to Britain, James Monroe, to make an issue of impressment. Impressment now became an additional "affront" when combined with the British trade barriers. By late-1806, Britain and France had created a situation where the U.S. couldn't trade with either nation. The main source of revenue (and jobs in cities) was revenue from free trade, and it was in sharp decline; the Jefferson/Madison vision of a totally self-sufficient nation was taking some painful body-blows.
In July of 1807, the British warship Leopard attacked the U.S. frigate Chesapeake, killing three Americans and wounding eighteen more; the British took four sailors, and one was hanged. To the Federalists (and a growing number of Republicans), this situation seemed to epitomize the foreign policy of Jefferson / Madison . . . it seemed to be "Wussyville."
The Embargo Act of 1807 showed the "I'm too good for this world" streak in Jefferson's character. His mountaintop mansion (Monticello), his extreme dislike of face-to-face arguments, and his small invitation-only dinner parties also confirmed that aspect of his character (as would his ultimate reaction to the failure of the Embargo of 1807). While Jefferson supported the embargo by signing it into law, the embargo was actually Madison's brainchild - he (and Jefferson) believed in the power of commercial warfare. SecTreas Gallatin objected to the embargo; he understood that the U.S. was not truly self-sufficient, and was not in a position of power to benefit from the trade barrier. He also (correctly) pointed out that enforcing the embargo would in-and-of-itself be a nightmare. But, Gallatin was loyal to his President and his party, and he publicly supported the Embargo of 1807.

As a result of the embargo, by 1808 exports had declined by 80%, and imports by 60%; yet Jefferson and Madison stood fast by their trade barrier. In enforcing the Embargo of 1807, the Republicans were acting just as irrationally and badly as the Federalists had with the Sedition Act in the late-1790s. Madison and Jefferson never saw that correlation - they valued and understood free speech, not free trade. Jefferson became physically sick when his popularity plummeted (e.g. severe migraines); again, his "I'm too good for this world" streak manifested itself when he decided to end his presidency as a spectator, mentally if not physically resigning as President. Both Jefferson and Madison were stunned that they had fallen so far and so fast - it must have seemed like the early-1790s to them all over again.
Before the Presidential Election of 1808, Madison had to defeat James Monroe within his party without burning any political bridges in the process. Dolley Madison's skill as a hostess-extraordinaire helped her husband the most, since he needed as many Republicans in Congress to support him as possible to get the nomination. In addition, Madison was able to secure the nomination during the caucuses in that he had the support of SecTreas Gallatin, and the effects of the embargo hadn't become a reality (or political liability) yet. When the full negative impact of the embargo came to fruition, the Republican delegates were already committed to Madison. In the Electoral College, Madison easily won re-election with 122 votes to Charles Pinckney's 47 as the Federalist candidate.
The Embargo of 1807 did not end until the Republicans and Federalists in Congress acted in concert on their own (it took that political and economic disaster to get both parties to work together); both Houses voted to end the embargo on 4 March, 1809 (Jefferson's last day in office). Jefferson signed the bill into law, ending the embargo, attended Madison's Inauguration, and then retired to Monticello for good.

By 1809, James Madison had reached yet another political peak by climbing out of a deep valley (at least somewhat of his own making) becoming the nation's fourth President. However, James Madison inherited a small-but-angry opposition in the Federalists, and a divided Republican party (many were vocal in their preference for Gallatin). As President, Madison would climb out of one more deep valley to reach yet another political peak. He would initially fail as a War-Time President before rallying to lead his nation to what was perceived (and packaged) as a victory against Great Britain in the War of 1812.
(Below: The Presidency of Thomas Jefferson, from the History Channel's "The Presidents")

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James Madison, The Father of Politics, Part 2 (1789 - 1799)

7/17/2014

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Source: Richard Brookhiser. James Madison (2011)

James Madison was on top of the world in 1789. The Constitution was ratified due in no small part to his efforts, there would be no question that George Washington, a man firmly in his corner, would be the first President, and Madison was the leader of the new House of Representatives. Although Madison knew there would be challenges concerning the new federal system of government, in 1789 he did not (and could not) envision the development of political parties. Political parties developed largely due to events in Europe and the battle over how to interpret (and who should interpret) the Constitution. In leading the opposition to Hamilton's Economic Plan, and supporting (at least in spirit) the French Revolution, Madison became the "Father of Politics." Madison, who skillfully used politics to extend the sphere of influence of the national government by 1789, used politics in the 1790s to contain the influence of the Federalists, the Anglophiles, and even the federal government that he helped create. As a result, by 1800 Madison's and Jefferson's political party, the Republicans, were poised to capture the Presidency and the majority of both houses in Congress.

While there was no doubt that Washington would be the first President and John Adams the first Vice-President under the Constitution, all other elective offices were up for grabs. Washington wanted James Madison to be one of Virginia's U.S. Senators, but Patrick Henry was out for political revenge from losing the battle for Ratification. Henry had the state legislature appoint two anti-Constitution Virginians to the Senate (before the 17th Amendment, state senators selected U.S. Senators), and he also redrew district lines in the state for the House of Representatives. By doing so, Henry made it very difficult for Madison to win an election from his district to the House; and (Henry must have really despised Madison) he made sure that Madison's opponent would be James Monroe, a young politician that Thomas Jefferson had also brought into his orbit.
Madison learned from his defeat from the first time he ran for elective office, and campaigned for votes. He made it very clear that he supported a Bill of Rights, and opposed a new Constitutional Convention, which he believed would be the "End of Days," so-to-speak. Madison garnered 1,308 votes to Monroe's 972; Baptists and Lutherans rallied to Madison's side, due to his stance on free exercise of religion, but also for his support of a Bill of Rights. On 30 April, 1789, George Washington took the Oath of Office as the first President, and soon thereafter Madison was sworn in as a member of the House of Representatives. Once sworn in, Madison wanted to get the Bill of Rights added to the Constitution as soon as possible.

Very soon in the First Congress, James Madison became the leader of the House of Representatives. Although Pennsylvania's Frederick Muhlenberg was elected Speaker of the House, he (and his successors until Henry Clay in 1811) didn't believe in using the position to pursue his political goals. Madison had no qualms at all about using his position in the House to advance his politics, and he decided to write out the draft of the Bill of Rights. Madison's draft featured twelve rights, drawn from centuries of Anglo-American precedents.
Two of his twelve proposed rights were defeated. The first was a proposal that wanted to force the state governments to honor the rights of citizens; that would eventually become the 14th Amendment. Among the reasons why that proposal was defeated was that many pointed out that it seemed inconsistent with Madison's argument in Federalist Paper No. 45 during the Ratification debate. The other one that was defeated wanted to be sure that members of Congress couldn't vote themselves a raise during their term in office - that proposal would become the 27th Amendment. Members of Congress also made their preference clear that the Bill of Rights should be listed at the end of the Constitution; Madison envisioned that they would be embedded within the appropriate Articles.
There was no magical reason why the Bill of Rights are in the order they are listed; it was merely the order that was in Madison's draft based on how his brain operated. Once the ten Bill of Rights were ratified, Madison became a "Secular Moses" in Congress, and the ratification of the first ten amendments also killed opposition to the Constitution. As Brookhiser stated, the Constitution (with the Bill of Rights) had "A Thousand Fathers", but Madison was it midwife.

Early in Washington's first term, Madison defended the President's dignity and power. Now the clear leader of the House, Madison spearheaded the successful effort to make the official title "Mr. President" (even Washington thought the title should be more grand - his suggestion: "Your Elective Highness"). Madison also garnered support in the House to be sure that Washington had the "Power of Removal" in the Executive Branch (while not really used until Jackson's Presidency, Washington wanted the power to remove nonetheless).
Madison labored hard in pushing Thomas Jefferson to become Washington's SecState, and he initially supported Alexander Hamilton as SecTreas. While Hamilton was flat-out bursting to be the Secretary of the Treasury (no one else was even remotely close to his abilities, and he knew it), Jefferson played hard-to-get. While it was the tradition to be "reluctant" to hold office (the behavior was modeled after Cincinnatus in Rome), Washington became tired of the act, and Madison had to convince Jefferson to basically "get over himself." Finally, in 1790, Jefferson was confirmed as the nation's first Secretary of State, and Washington's first Cabinet was complete (including SecWar Henry Knox, and Attorney General Edmund Randolph).
President Washington's "team" started to fragment early, due to Hamilton's proposed Economic Plan. Hamilton first wanted to repay the foreign and domestic debt incurred from the Revolutionary War. Hamilton knew that the U.S. needed to make good on its foreign debt in order to be able to effectively trade and to have a good credit rating abroad. Hamilton also wanted to repay the domestic debt (calling it "Assumption") by having the federal government "assume" the state debts, which would not only increase the trust in the new government from the citizens, but would also mean that states would become beholden to the national government. This was the moment that Madison aligned himself as an opponent to his former ally, mostly due to his belief that Hamilton's plan extended the sphere of influence of the national government at the expense of the states - it was the genesis of the debate on how to interpret the Constitution.

Although political parties didn't exist in 1790, opposing factions had formed around "Assumption", in particular. Jefferson hosted a very small dinner party; among the very few in attendance were Madison and Hamilton. The task at hand, as directed by President Washington, was to discuss the possibility of relocating the nation's capital to the shores of the Potomac in exchange for enough votes in Congress to pass "Assumption." As a result of the dinner party, the capital would, after another stay in Philadelphia, be permanently located in what was already rumored to be called "Washington's City".
Very soon after that compromise, Hamilton unveiled his plan for a National Bank. Hamilton viewed repaying the foreign and domestic debts as a short-term strategy, but he saw the National Bank as a long-term safeguard for the nation's economic future Hamilton wanted twenty percent of the National Bank start-up capital to come from customs duties and tax receipts, with the remaining eighty percent from investors, who would have a (in)vested interest in the success of the institution. Hamilton's vision of a National Bank that largely controlled the flow of money and the liquidity of assets stirred up a hornet's nest of opposition, with Madison leading the charge.
Hamilton's argument that the bank was authorized due to the "Necessary and Proper" clause in the Constitution did not resonate with Madison (or Jefferson). For political reasons, Madison had become a "Strict Constructionist" in terms of interpreting the Constitution. We can tell that politics (the art of who has the power to make the rules) motivated Madison to oppose Hamilton, because in Federalist #44, authored by Madison, he argued that the "Necessary and Proper" clause was not only valid, it was good government.
In 1791, Congress rejected Madison's claim that the National Bank was unconstitutional, and although Washington signed the National Bank into law, he (behind the scenes) had secured his flank by having Madison write a veto statement, just in case he was of a mind to do so. The "Political Score" so far by 1791: Hamilton, 1.5, and Madison/Jefferson 0.5, with Hamilton securing a clear victory with the National Bank.

European politics also created opposing factions within Washington's Cabinet and Congress, with Hamilton and his followers supporting Great Britain, and Jefferson's and Madison's followers supporting France (it seemed to have the fervor of the World Cup). As early as 1789, Madison tried to convince Congress to trade less with Great Britain, and more with France, using trade barriers if necessary. The House passed the bill, but the Senate killed it (commercial self-interests were far stronger in the Upper House). Madison's bill had no basis in economic reality - it was actually very bad economics, but he viewed the world around him politically, and acted accordingly. Madison's problem at this juncture was simply this: he was only basing his political views on his planter class background - most Americans were not of the same social standing. Soon, though, Madison would revolutionize politics by including many of those Americans that at this point he had ignored . . .
In 1789, the French Revolution started with the Fall of the Bastille, and that conflict started to affect American politics in 1791. Madison & Jefferson believed it was necessary to fully support France; to them it was de facto payback for losing to Alexander Hamilton on the National Bank. Madison and Jefferson had no intention of creating and organizing a political party, yet it happened in 1791. Both disliked factions, but they never admitted to themselves (based on their letters, etc.) that they were in fact partisan politicians.
In 1791, Madison AND Jefferson traveled north in order to recruit Aaron Burr (New York) to their camp - who better to challenge Hamilton in his home state than Burr, who had worked with and opposed Hamilton over the years . . . they seemed to be creating an Anti-Hamilton League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. During their trip north, Madison and Jefferson found political disciples and "worker bees", such as Philip Frenau and his newspaper, The Gazette. Using Frenau's newspaper in 1791, Madison espoused his long-term views of what would secure America's future, in direct opposition to Hamilton. Agrarian over Industrial, and Self-Sufficiency over Markets were the Madison and Jefferson watchwords of the day (only Madison, as President, will see the error of these politics), countering Hamilton's very influential "Report on Manufactures."
Madison introduced something new in political theory in the early-1790s: public opinion and its role in government. Madison came to believe in more than "popular choice" (voting); people should be "partners" in government as well. This was a key development, in that in the not-too-distant future, Madison would prevail against at Hamilton, in part due to Hamilton's rigid belief that only a small talented elite should be involved in the business of government. It was this new political theory that allowed Madison to create a political party that he and Jefferson would call Republicans in 1792, and their party would have far more voters than the opposing party, the Federalists, by the late-1790s.

In 1792, there was a potential catastrophic calamity that was about to hit the new government under the Constitution: President Washington wanted to retire to Mount Vernon. This may have been the only time since 1790 that Madison and Hamilton agreed on anything - both men were key in convincing Washington to continue for a second term. Not long after Washington's "Official Family" convinced him to stay in office, they went back to abusing each other whenever they could. To Hamilton, Jefferson was dangerous, and Madison was devious - both were a threat to the nation. Madison and Jefferson believed that Hamilton would drag America down into the same industrial cesspool as Europe, and both thought that Hamilton was a threat to the nation. For many of the early years of our nation, if anyone disagreed with someone else's politics, it was common and logical to see them as a threat to the nation, and therefore political passions ("Hyper-Passion") ran high, with the two political parties fanning the flames.
In January of 1792 the King of France, Louis XVI, was beheaded, and in February, Great Britain declared war on France. As a leading Francophile and Republican, Madison was thrilled with the events unfolding in France; unfortunately, Madison (and Jefferson) often denied or excused the massacres and atrocities that were common in that revolution. What existed of the French Government sent Charles Genet to America as the chief diplomat in charge of securing American assistance in helping them in their war, using the Treaty of Alliance (1778) from the Revolutionary War as the legal framework. Washington issued his neutrality stance, and Madison saw the policy as Anti-French. Madison's and Jefferson's political party, the Republicans (with Genet's help), used their newspapers to attack not only Washington's policy, but Washington himself. The mistake that Madison, Jefferson, and Genet made was that Washington was far more popular in America than the far-off French Revolution . . . Madison discovered that there were limits to what public opinion could accomplish, especially if he tried to manufacture / inflate public opinion.

In 1793, Jefferson resigned as SecState (it was yet another of his grand gestures that showed he believed he was the center of things), leaving Madison in charge of the Republican party, just as events in Western Pennsylvania started to reach a crescendo. Hamilton's Excise Tax (one of the pillars of his Economic Plan) was viewed by Western Pennsylvanians much the same way that colonists viewed the Stamp Act - a far-off government was oppressing them, they felt, and in the tradition of the day, many picked up their muskets, and tried to change the landscape to their favor. One of the myths surrounding the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794 was that the only way Western Pennsylvanians could ship their grain was by distilling it into whiskey . . . yet there were no ads in Philadelphia's newspapers for people to buy whiskey from that region of the state. Western Pennsylvanians had a ready market for their grain and whiskey: the U.S. Army was in the West, and the Western Pennsylvanians did a good job themselves of consuming their grain and whiskey.
Madison didn't believe that an excise tax was a good enough reason for a revolution. Not only that, but he also believed that the actions of a minority were a threat to the majority - he viewed the rebellion in much the same way as did Washington & Hamilton, but offering his support would not be good politics. It must have galled Madison to no end to see that the Federalists linked the rebellion to the many "Democratic Societies" that had sprouted up in America (groups of Republicans meeting in homes, for example); Madison saw them as using public opinion against his own party. It was the Federalists that scored another huge win against the Republicans when Washington peacefully ended the conflict, in part by offering amnesty to the rebels. All the while, Madison kept looking for any political leverage or advantage to use against the Federalists in 1794 - it must have seemed to Madison that the Federalists still held most of the cards . . .

In 1794, James Madison married Dolley Payne (she lost her first husband to Yellow Fever in 1793); Madison now had an extension of his personality, in that Dolley completed him as a public figure.
The Jay Treaty, negotiated in 1794, and ratified in 1795, all in secret, became public in the Summer of 1795. Alexander Hamilton strongly supported the treaty (he was the main reason why it was narrowly ratified), and although the Republicans thought Jay sold-out the United States, Madison was reluctant to engage in a "Word-War" with Alexander Hamilton again. The partisan politics over the Jay Treaty is what finally ended the connection between Madison and Washington (it had been steadily declining since 1792, when the Republican party was established). On 30 April, 1796, the House of Representatives voted 51-48 to appropriate money to put the Jay Treaty in effect. Over twenty Republicans flipped, and voted for the appropriation - it was official, in political terms - James Madison had become damaged goods.

Even before the Election of 1796 occurred, James Madison decided to retire from the House of Representatives at the end of his term that would end in March, 1797. As far as the Election of 1796 went, Jefferson was truly reluctant to run; in essence, he was drafted into service by his party, mostly due to James Madison's downward political spiral. Vice-President John Adams received 71 Electoral Votes, while Jefferson received 68, and under the rules of the day, became Adams' Vice-President (Jefferson is sometimes called the "1-2-3 Man", because he was the first SecState, the second V-P, and the third President).
Jefferson actually wrote a rather nice letter to John Adams after the results of the election were made official, but before he sent it to Adams, he sent it to Madison for some feedback. Madison convinced Jefferson that he should not sent the letter, in that it would be disloyal to his supporters, and the Federalist President John Adams would soon attack Jefferson anyway. In short, Jefferson had tried to reach across party lines, but Madison nixed it. In the same spirit, John Adams actually thought about appointing Madison as the Minister Plenipotentiary to France, and contacted Madison feeling him out in terms of the posting. Madison made it clear to President-Elect Adams that he would not accept the position, doing so for political reasons. To Madison, it seemed counterintuitive and counterproductive for a Republican help a Federalist President.
At about the same time, Hamilton was taken down by the Republican political machinery, but not by Madison; by that time, Albert Gallatin (who would become an absolute historical superstar during the Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe) was the leader of the party. Under Gallatin's leadership, and using the newspaper controlled by James Callendar (the "Pitbull Publisher" of the Republicans), the "Reynolds Affair" was resurrected, and Hamilton lost favor with many Americans, regardless of party, with his out-of-proportion defense of his actions.

France continued to affect American politics; in the Spring of 1798, it was widely believed that the French had insulted America's honor during the "XYZ Affair", and a "Quasi-War" with France ensued in the Atlantic. Then, that summer, both houses of Congress passed, and John Adams signed into law, the Alien and Sedition Acts (the Sedition Act was actually set to expire on 3 March, 1801, the last day of the presidential term in office). Madison and Jefferson responded with the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, with Madison writing the latter - they were basically Republican position papers. In essence, they both argued that the states have the authority to interpret the Constitution, plus Jefferson established "Nullification" as a political tool. Madison wanted the states to supersede the courts, which were in the hands of the Federalists.
The initial reaction to the resolutions was overwhelmingly negative; Madison and Jefferson were way-out on a political limb, but the Federalists broke ranks and over-reacted. The Federalists enforced the Sedition Act to the point where they actually lost political support across the nation. The over-reaching by the Federalists resulted in a political goldmine for the Republicans, and James Madison was able to begin his political comeback, winning election to the Virginia Assembly in 1799, the same year that George Washington died. James Madison claimed that Republicans were the real defenders of liberty (back then, liberty was defined as state's rights), and the Federalists, in their zeal to destroy the opposing party, wound up being the Republicans' best friend.

In many ways, James Madison was a changed man by 1799. In 1789, he was a champion of extending the sphere of influence of the new federal government under the Constitution. But Madison then wrote the Bill of Rights, limiting the power of the federal government that he was instrumental in creating. With the emergence of political parties, which Brookhiser argues was due to the actions and ambitions of Madison, he changed his views on how the Constitution should be interpreted, and who should have the power to interpret the document, all in the name of furthering the influence of the Republican Party at the expense of the Federalists. The "Father of Politics" was just getting started, for he would shortly become Jefferson's Secretary of State, and then the fourth President, and undergo more political transformations, especially during the War of 1812.

NY Times Book Review of Brookhiser's James Madison

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James Madison: The Father of Politics, Part 1 (1774 - 1789)

7/14/2014

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Source: Richard Brookhiser. James Madison (2011)

In Washington, D.C., there are many famous memorials for historically significant figures, such as the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, FDR Memorial, MLK Jr. Memorial, and south of D.C., Mount Vernon. While I was in Washington, D.C. in June, 2014, I wondered why there wasn't a memorial constructed for James Madison; but then, he does have a memorial - the U.S. Constitution. Madison was the only one that played a central role at every level in the creation of the Constitution: the Virginia Declaration of Rights, Annapolis, Philadelphia, Ratification, and the Bill of Rights. In popular history, James Madison is known as the "Father of the Constitution", due in part to the fact that he took laborious notes during the Constitutional Convention (they were published after his death). Richard Brookhiser argued that he should be remembered as "The Father of Politics", in part due to his involvement and leadership in not only crafting the Constitution, but also steering political and public opinion in favor of Ratification.

James Madison graduated from Princeton in 1774, and very soon thereafter became involved in the politics of his time. When Virginia's Anglicans tried to purge the Baptists from the colony, Madison, even when he was young and powerless, became a champion of religious freedom. When the British Gov't closed the Port of Boston (part of the "Intolerable Acts"), he was galvanized to action with the rest of the Virginia Gentry. In April, 1776, Madison was elected to represent Orange County at the Virginia Convention. Once there, he was named to be part of the committee that was chosen to draft the "Declaration of Rights" for Virginia. Madison actually worked on the draft on his own, much to the appreciation of most of the other members. Many of the phrases from his draft were eventually included in the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights. Madison also made sure to include a clause in his draft guaranteeing the "free exercise of religion" in Virginia.
Flush from his success from being an important and valued member of the Virginia Convention, Madison ran for state-level office in the spring of 1777. He lost his first election due to the fact that he was not an effective campaigner . . . he didn't buy enough rounds of drinks in his district to get people to vote for him! Madison learned that too much pride can be detrimental (he thought buying drinks was "beneath him"), and also that losing an election is not the same thing as losing a political argument; those would be important lessons down the road.
From 1777 - 1783, Madison served as a representative to the National Government (basically the Legislature of the Articles of Confederation), and due to his close-up view, Madison was able to analyze the problems inherent of a confederation. Due to term limits, he had to vacate his seat, and was selected as a representative of the "Governor's Council", which was also seated in the nation's capital, until he was able to win another election as a representative from his district. During his involvement in national politics during the Revolutionary War, Madison supported the Treaty of Alliance (1778) with France, so much so that he became an avowed Francophile.

During the Revolutionary War, Madison became connected with many influential and wealthy Virginians (remember, Madison was born in to the Virginia Gentry), including the first Governor of Virginia, Patrick Henry (never a favorite of Madison's). As time went on, James Madison believed that the national government should be armed with coercive powers; for example, the Articles of Confederation could not force the states to pay taxes. That belief in coercive powers at the national government level would eventually connect him with New York's Alexander Hamilton.
In June, 1779, Thomas Jefferson was elected Governor, and unlike Henry, Jefferson recognized and appreciated Madison's talents. If Jefferson and Madison were not working together, they wrote each other. They were bound together by their similarities (e.g. books) as well as their differences (TJ was the visionary, while Madison was the pragmatist). They both benefited tremendously from their personal and political friendship; Jefferson very much needed Madison's practicality to balance his idealism.
James Madison finally met General George Washington in person in the Winter of
1781-1782 in Virginia. Washington decided to bring the talented young up-and-coming Virginian into his circle of advisors, where he appreciated Madison's advice and humor.
Madison met Alexander Hamilton in November, 1782 in the national legislature as a fellow Congressman. They initially drew together over money and reform issues, but they disagreed on the strategies for reform. Both were geniuses, but Madison was far more circumspect, while Hamilton liked to tell anyone and everyone what was on his mind.
After the Revolutionary War, America had won its political independence, but it started life as a as a "deadbeat" nation, not even trying to pay back fractions of the loans from Dutch banks and the government of France. While Alexander Hamilton gravitated towards economic matters and the soon-to-be-proposed executive, Madison had moved to the center of national politics, and was learning how to be a politician . . . something that Hamilton never figured out. In the pitched political battles of the early-1790s, Hamilton understood America's economic reality, while Madison viewed the struggles of the nation through a political lens.

In 1784, Madison was elected to the lower house in the Virginia state legislature; later that same year Jefferson left for Paris. They kept in touch by writing letters; if eight or nine months passed without a response, they assumed that their letter(s) were lost . . . but at least they had time to reflect and think before writing again. Madison wrote Jefferson that the essence of government is "tacit assent", not only with the people to the national government, but also with the majority & minority . . . in these letters, Madison was trying to define freedom in a stronger national government.
Before Jefferson left for Paris, Madison and Jefferson steered a bill into law in Virginia, guaranteeing religious freedom - it was the precedent for the "Separation of Church and State." Later in 1784, Madison teamed up with Washington on what he called the "Potomac Project", trying to link the population of the coastline inland via the river. Madison actually thought that the Mississippi River was more important than the Potomac, but he wanted to get closer to Washington. As a result, Madison was Washington's "Right Hand Man" in the Virginia legislature for the project - he had reached a point of such importance in Washington's life that Madison was invited to Mount Vernon in the Fall of 1785. As time went by, the most common job that Madison performed for Washington was that of Ghost Writer (he wrote Washington's Farewell Speech . . . for 1793, at the end of his first term).
In 1786, a convention in Annapolis was scheduled to discuss commerce concerning the Articles of Confederation - delegates from only five states attended. But, among those delegates were James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, and they pulled a political "fast one." They scheduled another convention to be held in Philadelphia in 1787, and then left town so there couldn't be any debate on the matter. In issuing the call for another convention, Madison made sure that the statement appealed to the ruling political class as well as the general public, something that was anathema to Hamilton. To those around him (e.g. Jefferson), Madison compared the Articles of Confederation to the failed political systems in Europe; he thought that there must be a way to bring order out of chaos . . . legitimate, recognized authority was needed at the national level.

The Virginia delegation in Philadelphia in 1787 consisted of Madison, Edmund Randolph (now Governor), and the wealthiest Virginian, George Mason (Patrick Henry refused to attend after being asked to do so). But Madison felt that he needed to find a way to get Washington involved in the convention, and he let it be known to members in the national legislature that Washington would ("reluctantly") serve as the President of the Convention, if asked. So, with the exception of Patrick Henry (whose absence Madison did not lament), the "Who's Who" of Virginia was at the Constitutional Convention, with Washington at the helm.
Madison was the primary author of the "Virginia Plan"; Randolph presented the plan to the attending delegates on the third day of the convention. Madison believed in majority rule that featured some coercive, legitimate authority. After Randolph presented the plan (and ruffled a few feathers in the process), Madison led the struggle to gain its passage. The only steady ally that Madison found was James Wilson of Pennsylvania; he continued to support Madison on many issues during the Constitutional Convention. However, William Paterson's "New Jersey Plan" (maintaining the status quo of the A of C) appealed to the smaller-population states.
On 16 July, 1787, the "Great Compromise" was negotiated, which basically combined the major elements of the Virginia and New Jersey Plans. Packaged with that compromise was the "Three-Fifths Compromise", establishing a formula for African slaves in terms of representation in the new (federal) "Lower House." Madison was the most dispirited and disappointed of all the Virginia delegates, but he kept going (and complaining), trying to save something from what he considered a political wreck. Again, he applied the lesson that losing his goal of representation based on population did not mean that he had lost his goal of extending the sphere and influence of a new national government.
Madison's main motivation to take copious notes of what was discussed and done at the Constitutional Convention (he agreed that he would not publish them any time soon) was to use the information from the notes in the future for political purposes, in private . . . the "Father of the Constitution" was already morphing into the "Father of Politics." Madison, Hamilton and Gouverneur Morris of Pennsylvania (one of the few that was respected and admired by virtually all of the other delegates) were tasked with writing the final draft of the Constitution - Morris was responsible for writing the Preamble.
On 17 September, 1787, George Washington gave his seal of approval of the document, albeit by indirect means. While the convention was in session, he was basically unable to directly participate in the floor debates (he participated and influenced much outside the sessions), so he, through a motion on the floor, gave his "indirect" blessing, and the Constitution was signed.

James Madison proposed that the Constitution needed to be ratified as written by only nine of the thirteen states; he knew that if even one amendment was added to the draft, then under the rules of the Articles of Confederation, all thirteen states would be needed for Ratification. Madison also knew that once drafted and proposed, the Constitution entered the world of politics.
Ratification in Virginia was fraught with difficulty from the beginning. George Mason, an original supporter, stated that he would refuse to attend the Ratification assembly, and campaigned against the document. Mason believed that the proposed Executive (President) had too much power at the expense of the Legislative branch, and the states. Edmund Randolph was also against Ratification, but Madison was able to work his political magic (in private), and Randolph was in public support, at least.
In New York, Ratification was more difficult than in Virginia; Governor George Clinton was "all-in" against the proposed Constitution. He wanted New York to continue as a semi-sovereign state, which he believed would be impossible with a more powerful national government. In response, Hamilton wrote his first Federalist Essay, which was the start of a propaganda blitz supporting the Constitution in the nation's newspapers. Hamilton wrote five essays, and John Jay wrote four, but Jay started to suffer from rheumatoid arthritis, and Hamilton asked his political ally, James Madison, to join him. Since Madison and Hamilton lived close to each other in New York City (they were both still representatives), it was easy to collaborate. In his twenty-nine Federalist Essays, Madison consistently argued that the sphere of the national government's influence should be extended. Unlike Hamilton, Madison needed to learn how to be a journalist, writing quality product while meeting deadlines; like he had done, and would continue to do, Madison stepped up and mastered a brand new (academic) skill.

In 1788, Madison was back in Virginia, at least in part due to Washington's request that he needed to organize opposition to George Mason and Patrick Henry in the upcoming Ratification convention. Mason, Henry, et. al. focused their arguments on the lack of a Bill of Rights; even Jefferson (in Paris) made the same argument in letters to Madison. Madison decided to run for a seat for the Virginia Ratification Convention that would be held in June, and easily won. On
2 June, 1788, the Virginia Convention convened; among the delegates were two soon-to-be significant historical figures: John Marshall (for) and James Monroe (against).
Patrick Henry held the floor for approximately one-quarter of the convention, opposing Ratification. Henry's ally, George Mason, made the mistake of making a motion that the delegates should analyze each clause of the Constitution, which then gave the advantage to James Madison (and his giant brain). But, Madison, the politician, could see that the tide for a Bill of Rights was irresistible, so he compromised on that point . . . but which rights to include, and where in the document should they be listed?
Even though New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the Constitution, it would have been a relatively meaningless document without the support of Virginia and New York.
The votes were close in both state's Ratification conventions: in Virginia, the vote to ratify was 89-79, and in New York, it was 30-27.

During the Constitutional Convention, and then Ratification, James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution", became the "Father of Politics." Even before the Constitutional Convention, Madison made meaningful personal and political connections in Virginia (e.g. Jefferson and Washington), and outside the state (e.g. Hamilton). He also learned that losing an election or a vote on an issue wasn't the end of the world, and that he could still, with political skill and adroit strategies, accomplish the vast majority of what he felt was necessary to achieve. What James Madison wanted most was a new national government that, unlike European regimes, had legitimate authority to extend its influence, and by 1789, his goal seemed to be on the verge of becoming a reality.
(Below: Richard Brookhiser narrates a short video on James Madison and the Constitution)

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Lee Marvin: "The Merchant of Menace" (WW II Marine and Hollywood Icon - buried at Arlington National Cemetery)

7/8/2014

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Source: Dwayne Epstein. Lee Marvin: Point Blank (2013)

Lee Marvin is one of two World War II decorated veterans that became Hollywood superstars that are buried at Arlington National Cemetery (the other is the most-decorated soldier in U.S. History, Audie Murphy). As a Marine, Marvin took part in twenty-one assaults on Japanese positions in the Pacific; he was wounded while advancing on an enemy position at Iwo Jima, and was awarded the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross. Acting provided the outlet Marvin needed to release his inner-demons from WW II, first at the Maverick Theater in Woodstock, NY, then in NYC, and then in movies and television in Hollywood. From the mid-1960s to the early-1970s, Lee Marvin was the #1 male film star in America - his screen presence was such that only a Great White Shark in 1975 and a Wookie in 1977 could alter the trajectory of his amazing success and influence in the movies.

Lee Marvin's Great-Uncle Ross Marvin was part of Commander Robert Peary's Arctic expeditions in the early-1900s. He died by falling through thin ice, but in 1926, the two Eskimos that were with him confessed that they killed him. In simple terms, Ross Marvin lost his temper, and the Eskimos acted in self-defense in an area with no jurisdiction. That was the most famous of many, many examples of the men in the Marvin clan losing their temper and resorting to violence; it was in Lee's DNA to resort to violence when under stress. On Lee's mother's side of the family, she had lineage that connected her to not only George Washington, but also Robert E. Lee - Lee Marvin was named after the legendary Confederate General.
Lee fell in love with the movies at an early age; he claimed that the second movie he ever saw was in 1931, "All Quiet on the Western Front"; he identified with the tough-but-fair German sergeant. As far as school went, Lee didn't connect with formal education at all. In the 1930s, there was no way to diagnose his ADD and dyslexia, and as one would expect, he hated school. Although he was a slow reader, he did like literature and history, but he saw nothing else in school that was remotely relevant, so truancy was common in the many public and private schools in which he was enrolled.
Lee Marvin decided to join the Marines in the summer of 1942 (he was 17 when Pearl Harbor was attacked), and finished boot camp in four weeks (it usually took thirteen weeks, but Marines were badly needed in the Pacific). His regiment was sent to the Pacific later in that summer; during his almost two years in the Marines, he saw many horrors of war; he had to kill half-a-dozen Japanese soldiers in a foxhole in order to save the lives of fellow Marines. At Iwo Jima, Lee was shot in the upper-left buttock, but was VERY lucky he wasn't killed or paralyzed; he was very much bothered why he lived and many other Marines died.

Lee was mustered out of the Marines on 24 July, 1945, and he suffered from survivor's guilt; it was later determined that his sciatic wound disabled him by 20%. Lee found work as a plumber's apprentice Woodstock in New York; he actually enjoyed most of the work - he kept his union card even when he became a Hollywood superstar. Lee claimed that when he was working in a bathroom at the Maverick Theater, he heard the director of a play say that he needed someone to portray the Texan (the regular actor was sick) in the production. From that moment on, Lee was an actor; acting provided an outlet for him to release the horrors of WW II (he undoubtedly suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome, called "Battle Fatigue" in WW II - there wasn't really any treatment for veterans like Lee in those days).
The only other actor at the Maverick Theater at that time that went on to stardom was James Doohan ("Scotty" from Star Trek), and they became fairly close friends. It was Doohan that convinced Lee Marvin to move to LA instead of pursuing roles on Broadway in NYC; he told Lee that there were roles waiting for an actor like him in Hollywood.

By 1952, Lee was in Los Angeles full-time, and found an agent, one of the legends of Hollywood, Meyer Mishkin (he was Lee's agent for 37 years). In the movie "Hangman's Knot" (1952, one of his first movie roles), his scene with Donna Reed terrified her so that she refused to let Lee come anywhere near her off the set.

Lee Marvin appeared in television shows as well in the early-1950s, and Jack Webb so loved Marvin's guest role on "Dragnet" that he issued the guest footage to as many directors as possible. Lee was able to carve a niche in TV and movies as a villain, and he did it exceedingly well. Vincent Canby of the LA Times, who became one of the most famous movie critics, called Lee Marvin "The Merchant of Menace" due to his role in "The Big Heat" (1953). The same year, Lee Marvin co-starred with Marlon Brando in "The Wild One", and in 1954, he had a small but crucial role in "The Caine Mutiny". He followed these critically-acclaimed movies with a role in "Bad Day at Black Rock" with an all-star cast, led by Spencer Tracy.
Lee also worked in television, even though he hated that medium; he compared working in television to wearing a straitjacket. Ironically, television allowed Lee to showcase the full array of his talents (he was a very good comic actor). Mishkin convinced Lee that TV was the stepping-stone to breaking through to stardom in the movies (he was frustrated that many contemporaries, like Marlon Brando, Ernest Borgnine, and Charles Bronson had broken through). He suffered from a common frustration of character-actors - everyone recognized him, but no one could remember his name . . . television was designed to remedy that situation.
Lee Marvin was the lead in "M-Squad", which became a hit, and Lee became a TV star (the show was a mix of Columbo and Dragnet). Although he despised working in television, he would constantly return to the small-screen when movie roles were scarce before he hit the big-time. Lee benefited tremendously from the shift in Hollywood to more character-driven fare in the 1960s - he was never out of work for long.

Lee's first role in what is now considered a classic movie was in "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (1962). The director, John Ford ("Mr. Western"), just turned Lee lose on the set, giving him minimal direction. Lee portrayed a memorable villain (Liberty Valance), and he more than held his own with John Wayne and James Stewart. Ironically, his critically-acclaimed performance didn't lead to additional movie roles, so he went back to television for a while.
At the age of 40, Lee Marvin got a break of which most actors would not have benefited; he was prematurely aged - his hair was steely gray, his face was all craggly-and-such. It was a turning point for Lee - he was at the forefront of a new kind of leading role: the "Leading Heavy." In "The Killers" (one of the first made-for-TV movies, but released in theaters due to the feeling it was too violent for TV after JFK's assassination), Lee Marvin finally became the film star he had envisioned.

1965 was the year Lee Marvin became a movie superstar, in that just months apart two movies were released that not only were critically well-received, but they also performed very well at the box office. First was "Ship of Fools", a melodrama, where Lee stood out among a strong cast. Next was "Cat Ballou", which was a comedy-western. "Cat Ballou" allowed Lee to escape being typecast as a villain/heel/heavy - it was a career-changing role, famous for the "leaning horse" scene.
Lee channeled the angst and violence of the mid-to-late-1960s better than any other actor. Starting in 1965, Lee was in huge demand for interviews, which he never really liked, but saw them as an opportunity to do some more acting. In an upset of sorts, Lee Marvin won Best Actor at the 1966 Oscars, and gave a very brief, memorable, and misunderstood acceptance speech (after all, at the Oscar's, one is expected to thank a very long list of people).

In 1967, Lee Marvin was the lead in "The Dirty Dozen", the year's top-grossing movie (and one of my favorites), and Lee became the #1 male film star in America. Later that year, he
linked up with director John Boorman ("Excalibur") for "Point Blank." That movie wasn't embraced for many years, but it has become a cult favorite (Mel Gibson re-made the movie in 1999 with "Payback").

As with any movie star, sometimes they appear in bombs, and that happened to Lee in 1969 with "Paint Your Wagon", which co-starred Clint Eastwood. Lee earned $1 million for the movie, but far too many chefs stirred the pot, and the movie tried to do too much. Interestingly, Lee Marvin was the lead singer in "Wanderin' Star" (one of the things the movie wanted to be was a musical), which actually replaced a song by The Beatles for the #1 spot in the weekly British music charts.

Next for Lee Marvin was "Monte Walsh" (1970) with Jack Palance. The movie was about old cowboys finding that their way of life is over. Unlike "Paint Your Wagon", "Monte Walsh" was a critical and commercial success. By this point in his career, Lee was able to take time off when he so desired, and it wasn't until 1973 that he starred in two more well-reviewed (now cult favorite) movies. In "The Emperor of the North" , he portrayed a hobo riding the rails in the Great Depression, avoiding-yet-clashing with fellow Oscar-winner Ernest Borgnine (Lee's character was called "A No. 1"). In "The Iceman Cometh", the idea was to make a movie that would be a substitute for a Broadway production. Lee was cast as a salesman in a bar that forced the patrons (one of them a very young Jeff Bridges) to confront their pipe dreams.
The movie industry changed again in 1975 - "Jaws" brought the blockbuster to the forefront in Hollywood, and that was bad news for Lee Marvin. Character-driven movies were now shelved in favor of blockbusters, and all of a sudden, Lee Marvin had difficulty finding worthwhile scripts and receptive audiences. Lee actually took two years off after "Spike's Gang" (1974) and "The Klansman" (also 1974, and generally considered to be his worst performance in his worst movie).
Lee tried to resurrect what was all of a sudden a stalled acting career, and he agreed to star in "The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday" (1976), which was a widely derided as a "Cat Ballou" wannabee. To make matters worse, Lee starred in "Shout at the Devil" (1976), which was an "African Queen" imitation . . . Lee took three more years off from Hollywood. In 1979, he starred in "Avalanche Express", which was viewed as an outdated Cold War spy thriller. It seemed to be official: the kind of movies that Lee Marvin preferred to make were no longer in fashion, not with movie-goers expecting blockbusters like Star Wars (1977) and "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980).

Lee Marvin wasn't done yet, thankfully - he starred in "The Big Red One" in 1980 (which was the nickname of the Army's First Division, and ironically co-starred Mark Hamill) which proved to be his last great role. The movie never received its due during its theatrical run, in part because the studio cut one hour from the movie, making it a basically incomprehensible war movie.

"Death Hunt" (1981) was Lee's next starring vehicle, with Angie Dickinson and Charles Bronson, where he was a Canadian Mountie pursuing a fugitive in the Yukon in the 1930s. Again, pursuing what he loved, character-driven roles, he co-starred with William Hurt in "Gorky Park" (1983), which was a really good movie about US/USSR political intrigue, but proved to be bad box office. In 1986, Lee Marvin made his last movie at the age of 62, starring with Chuck Norris in "Delta Force", which performed up to expectations at the box office.
Lee Marvin died on 29 August, 1987 in Tuscon, Arizona at the age of 63. Smoking 4-5 packs of cigarettes a day plus drinking heavily for decades caused a "perfect storm" of health problems. He was prescribed heavy doses of steroids, which taxed his cardiovascular system to the point where he died of a heart attack. His cremated remains were buried at Arlington National Cemetery on 7 October, 1987; his gravesite is located near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers, as well as some three-and-four star generals.
Two decorated World War II veterans that are buried at Arlington National Cemetery became Hollywood superstars: Audie Murphy, the most decorated soldier in our history, and Lee Marvin, who was awarded the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross. While Audie Murphy was by far the greater war hero, Lee Marvin channeled his experiences from WW II and became one of the greatest actors of his generation, showcasing a range that few actors today can match. If you have never seen "Cat Ballou" or the "The Dirty Dozen", arrange some time to do so, and enjoy (and marvel at) Lee Marvin's screen presence.

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JQA: His Post-Presidency (1829 - 1848)

7/5/2014

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Source: Harlow Giles Unger. John Quincy Adams (2012).

John Quincy Adams had a gift of being able to make meaningful personal connections with European diplomats and heads-of-state, as well as those in high society. That ability served him (and his nation) extremely well at his diplomatic posts in The Netherlands, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain, as well as eight years as President Monroe's Secretary of State. When JQA was elected president in 1824, that gift became a curse - he was unable to connect with the vast majority of the American people, which explained, in large part, his immense unpopularity as the nation's chief executive. After his decisive defeat in the Election of 1828 to Andrew Jackson, JQA returned to Massachusetts in his mid-sixties, assuming he would live the rest of his life in political exile as a disgraced former President. Little did JQA realize that in a little over a year, he would start down a path that would lead to perhaps the most significant and productive Post-Presidency in U.S. History, and that his death would be mourned by millions of Americans.

Not long after JQA returned home, a long-time member of Congress from his district retired, and to JQA's surprise, he was actively recruited to replace him. As always, JQA was upfront, telling his supporters and voters that he would be an independent representative of the district, focusing on their needs, but also issues that were important to him. JQA was in a state of "joyful disbelief" at going back into politics in Washington, D.C., and he was one of the new members sworn in to the 22nd Congress in early-1831.
Back in Quincy, Massachusetts when Congress was in recess, JQA gave a speech on 4 July attacking the principle of Nullification, calling state sovereignty a "hallucination." JQA received news later that day that former President James Monroe had died (he joined J. Adams and Jefferson as former Presidents that died on 4 July). JQA's eulogy of Monroe was published in most newspapers, and was very well received - his reputation was being restored. That fact wasn't lost on the Democratic House leaders, who thought that JQA was making another run at the Presidency. Instead of placing JQA on the Foreign Affairs Committee, he was named the Chairman on the Committee of Manufactures - it was an attempt to isolate JQA, similar to what the Massachusetts state legislature tried to do when the kicked JQA "upstairs" to the U.S. Senate in 1802.
JQA became an expert on the procedures and rules of the House (more so than his colleagues), and he flaunted House tradition and used his right as a committee chairman to read citizen petitions that had nothing to do with industry or manufactures. On the first day the 22nd Congress was in session, JQA read fifteen petitions that attacked slavery - in the early-1830s, Abolitionists had a voice in Congress.

It was not a great time to be an Abolitionist in 1831; most Americans, even in the North, viewed them as extremists that threatened the social order. 1831 was also the year that the Nat Turner Revolt occurred (the largest and worst of the African slave revolts in the South), which resulted in very restrictive slave codes being enacted throughout the South. It was in this volatile atmosphere that JQA packaged himself as a representative of the whole nation, not just his district. JQA took his job as a member of the House very seriously - from 1831 to his death in 1848, he had perfect attendance when the House was in session. With his dogged passion for certain issues, and his expertise of House procedures, he was in effect that era's Ernie Chambers - JQA would not go away, which caused a high level of consternation among his colleagues.
JQA became a student of industry and manufactures, and discovered that the Northern textile industry was addicted to Southern cotton and African slavery. So, as chairman, he broadened his committee's sphere of influence via tariffs; the Tariff of 1832, a compromise of the Tariff of 1828 (the "Tariff of Abominations") was largely JQA's doing. Even though that tariff lessened the burden on Southern states, South Carolina used the tariff as an excuse to threaten to secede from the Union at the height of the Nullification Crisis. In typical JQA fashion, focusing on the issues, he voted yes for President Jackson's Force Bill against South Carolina in 1833, and then opposed Jackson's efforts at eliminating tariffs.

In December of 1835, James Smithson left $500 million to the U.S. Government for the purpose to increase and diffuse knowledge in the U.S. JQA was named the chairman of the committee that was responsible for the disbursement of Smithson's financial windfall, largely because the Democratic leadership in the House didn't really know what to do with the money, and that "Egg-Head" Adams should know what to do with the money. JQA was ridiculed as President for wanting to develop and spread knowledge in America, and in the mid-1830s, JQA must have felt totally vindicated. Ironically, as chairman of the committee responsible for spending Smithson's money, JQA had far more power than he did as President, and he used that power well and wisely. JQA can rightly be called "The Father of the Smithsonian Institution", in that he made sure that the money wasn't siphoned away for other reasons. He also successfully argued that the Constitution did not prohibit a public institution like the Smithsonian, since it was based in the District of Columbia, not in a state. Among the first things JQA made sure the money was spent on was construction of what became known as the Smithsonian Castle.
The 1830s was the decade in which the "Gag Rule" originated, banning the debate of slavery in the House - it started when the Speaker of the House, future President James Knox Polk, refused to recognize JQA during a debate on a resolution restricting free speech against slavery. "Am I gagged, or am I not" was JQA's response after the 95-82 vote in favor of
limiting free speech on the topic of slavery. JQA was an expert on parliamentary procedure, and he kept finding ways around the "Gag Rule"; for example, JQA would read a PRAYER against slavery, reminding his irate colleagues that a prayer was not a petition. JQA made sure he kept his arguments on the right of petition instead of the abolition of slavery, which also skirted much of the "Gag Rule." JQA also pointed out, on the record, that there sure were a lot of mixed-race kids in the South - he was the only one at that point in Congress that spoke out against the hypocrisy of African slavery. JQA kept winning rhetorical battles in debate, and somehow avoided censure - he had earned the nickname "Old Man Eloquent", even by those that despised his politics.

John Quincy Adams continued to be a political meteor in the House, fighting against what he termed "Slaveocracy"; his new focus was to oppose the admission of territories into the Union as slave states. JQA led the fight in the House against the recognition of Texan Independence in 1836; he was able to avoid the "Gag Rule" in talking about the potential expansion of slavery by getting enough representatives to overrule the Speaker. By 1836, JQA had become a national presence, which he never achieved in his single term as President.
In 1836, Jackson's 2nd Vice-President, Martin Van Buren, became the 8th President, and John Quincy Adams renounced party affiliation, officially becoming an Independent. When Congress resumed in 1837, JQA was determined to save his nation from destroying itself from within by opposing the practice of slavery. Desire was one thing, but the political realities were another - the "Three-Fifths Compromise" was still in effect, and by increasing the number of African slaves, Southern states were able to increase their number of representatives in the House by 35%. The increase in Southern representatives meant that JQA faced the real possibility of being expelled from the House of Representatives.
In 1839, the first attempt to expel JQA from the House began; however, stalemate gripped the House in terms of organizing leadership positions and populating committees. So, ironically, JQA was named Speaker Pro-Tem (temporary Speaker) in order to get the House organized - even those that hated his politics viewed him as fair, honest, and impartial, a true patriot. Once the House was organized and the committees established, the "Gag Rule" was put back in place, and efforts continued to censure and expel JQA from the House.

In 1839, an event occurred that focused attention away from the attempted expulsion of JQA from the House: the Amistad Incident (Steven Spielberg directed a movie about the event in 1997). The Amistad was a Spanish slave ship, and a mutiny occurred on board as it was crossing the Atlantic. As a result of a bizarre set of circumstances on board, the ship wound up in Connecticut, and President Martin Van Buren had a political hornet's nest with which to contend. Were the Africans property, or were they people with rights (e.g. habeas corpus)? Did the U.S. Government even have jurisdiction in the matter? Ellis Gray Loring, a friend of JQA, and Roger Sherman Baldwin (grandson of Roger Sherman, a Founding Father), asked JQA to join them pro bono on behalf of the Africans; JQA agreed to do so, at the age of 73.
Once again, JQA argued a case in front of the Supreme Court (among his previous cases were Fletcher v. Peck in 1810) on 24 February, 1841. JQA's arguments on behalf of the Africans from the Amistad lasted four hours, and the Supreme Court justices were transfixed. An associate justice suddenly died after the events of the day, and arguments were postponed for a week. On 1 March, 1841, JQA continued his arguments by using humanistic and spiritual principles. In essence, JQA triple-dog-dared the Court to be the equals of their predecessors (he even named their predecessors). The Supreme Court voted unanimously to free the 30+ Africans, allowing them to return to West Africa. In his mid-70s, JQA decided to continue serving in the House; the Amistad Incident had re-energized him; he also knew that if he quit, he would wither instead of prosper.

William Henry Harrison won the Election of 1840, becoming the first President from the Whig Party; about a month in his term as President, he suddenly died of pneumonia, and his Vice-President, John Tyler, became the 10th President. With Tyler's approval, the House prepared to censure AND expel John Quincy Adams from the House of Representatives.
(JQA had always been fascinated with technology, and in 1843, he became the first President to be photographed; the first photograph was in 1842, but it was lost, and JQA's 1843 daguerreotype became the famous image)
While opposing forces tried to remove JQA, he kept up his fight against slavery. He read a petition that supported dissolving the Union, and then to show the political inconsistency and hypocrisy involved, had the Declaration of Independence read into the record. JQA had now become even more famous and admired across the nation (except in the South, of course). The Prentiss-Adams Act outlawed dueling in the District of Columbia; JQA likened dueling to slavery, in that a better pistol shot could control / blackmail / intimidate an inferior shot.
Letters came pouring in to the House supporting JQA from citizens across the nation, which led to the motion censuring JQA to be tabled. Immediately, JQA introduced 200 petitions against slavery, and then spoke, summarizing the petitions . . . those words became the Constitutional basis for President Lincoln when he issued the Emancipation Proclamation. By the early-1840s, JQA had become even more popular than President John Tyler, and had rejoined a prestigious circle of celebrated (and despised) politicians that included Henry Clay and Daniel Webster.

Few Americans understood President John Quincy Adams, but EVERYONE understood Representative JQA. In the early-1840s, JQA had not only became one of the most sought-after American politicians, he had become one of the most celebrated Americans in the Western World; Charles Dickens even wanted to meet the esteemed Representative from Boston.
Finally, in 1844, Congress abolished the "Gag Rule", 105-80; it was the first victory of the North over the South in the battle over slavery. As JQA traveled the nation promoting the sciences (e.g. the study of astronomy at universities), he discovered, ironically enough, that he actually enjoyed campaigning, something he had steadfastly refused to do all his political life.
As Congress voted to go to war with Mexico in 1846, JQA was one of 11 members of the House that voted against the declaration of war. In 1847, JQA suffered a stroke, but he mostly recovered; however, he was markedly weaker than he was before the stroke. When Congress reconvened, JQA received a warm round applause from the House; among those that applauded was a freshmen representative from a district in Illinois - Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln became one of JQA's greatest supporters against the expansion of slavery, and for federal funding for transportation (e.g. railroads). On 11 July, 1847, John Quincy Adams celebrated his 80th birthday.

On 6 December, 1847, Congress resumed, but JQA's strength was ebbing away. Still, JQA never missed a day when Congress was in session - he no longer walked to the Capitol, though. Soon, he became too weak to even write in his diary, something he had faithfully done for about 70 years. On 21 February, 1848, President James Knox Polk sent the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo to the Senate for ratification. In the House, proposed resolutions concerning the treaty were debated, with JQA in opposition to virtually every resolution supporting the recently-concluded war with Mexico. During these debates, JQA suffered a massive stroke on the House floor; he never left the Capitol building, dying two days later in the Office of the Speaker on 23 February, 1848. Before he died, JQA asked to see Henry Clay, who arrived weeping, and left the office inconsolable. Clay wasn't alone: not since the deaths of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington had America experienced as intense a level of collective mourning. As JQA's "Mourning Train" traveled back to Quincy, Massachusetts, thousands of Americans stood by, paying their respects.
As a Representative, JQA connected with the American people, something he was unable to do when he was President. JQA had lived in the shadow of his father, John Adams, one of the most important and accomplished Founding Fathers, the only one that was involved in the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Treaty of Paris, 1783. As President, John Adams had some notable achievements, especially avoiding war with France. But John Quincy Adams was able to achieve something that his legendary father never could - as a result of his time in the House of Representatives battling against slavery, he was truly mourned by the American people when he died (except in the South, of course . . .).
(Below: segments from Steven Spielberg's "Amistad" featuring John Quincy Adams,
portrayed by Oscar-winner Sir Anthony Hopkins)

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JQA: Secretary of State and President (1817 - 1829)

7/4/2014

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Source: Harlow Giles Unger. John Quincy Adams (2012).

In many ways, John Quincy Adams was the most qualified person to be President in the short history of the United States. True, JQA didn't have the military background of Washington or Monroe, and he wasn't the only candidate to have been SecState or to have experience abroad, like Jefferson. But JQA had been involved in foreign affairs since he was a teen, and compared to his predecessors, he presided over a far-more complex and influential State Department; for eight years, JQA was the second-most powerful executive in the U.S. Government. So the question is this: how could this eminently qualified person be such an unpopular and ineffective President - so much so that he was unable to have a singular achievement in his four years in office.
JQA brought order out of chaos in the State Department - he established the Bureau of Weights and Measures, providing a uniform system for markets for the first time in U.S. History. On foreign policy, he issued a standing order to follow the "Alternate Protocol" on international agreements (the U.S. needed to be listed first among the nations involved in at least one copy of the negotiated treaty), making sure that the U.S. was an equal partner in global affairs.

In 1818, JQA and Britain negotiated a treaty that extended the U.S./Canadian border
along the 49th Parallel, from the Lake of the Woods all the way to the Rocky Mountains. As far as the Oregon Territory was concerned, both nations agreed that it should remain open to U.S. settlement (de facto dual sovereignty). Both nations wanted to put the boundary issue to rest: the British wanted to focus on events in Europe, while the U.S. wanted to focus on Spain in North America, especially in Spanish Florida.
SecState JQA was the only one in Monroe's Cabinet that supported General Andrew Jackson's invasion of Spanish Florida (the others, like Crawford and Calhoun, were jockeying for position to pursue the Presidency in 1824). JQA argued that Jackson's invasion was justified in that the Spanish were allowing warriors from the Seminole nation to attack Americans in Georgia (Georgia was the homeland of the Seminole Nation). JQA convinced President James Monroe to support Jackson, which was a shrewd maneuver, in that Spain was now worried that Jackson could reek even more havoc on Florida. JQA was now able to negotiate with Spain for the purchase and transfer of Florida from a position of strength.

In 1819, the Adams-Onis Treaty was ratified by the U.S. Senate; Spain renounced all claims to Florida and Oregon (it was also agreed that Texas was still a Spanish possession). The treaty also defined the western limits of the Louisiana Territory - the Adams-Onis Treaty was the real agreement that created the American Empire. Almost immediately, however, a major problem arose: should the expansion west include the expansion of slavery? SecState (and former lawyer) JQA issued a formal statement saying that Congress can only ban slavery where it doesn't exist . . . for many in the U.S. Government, that didn't go far enough. Therefore, on the heels of the Adams-Onis Treaty came the Missouri Compromise, which stayed in effect until the 1850s.
In the Election of 1820, President James Monroe received all of the Electoral Votes except one - JQA was the only other recipient of an Electoral Vote (that voter wanted Washington to be the only unanimous selection as President). After the election, JQA issued a prediction: Monroe's second term would be very fractious, and in that, he was correct. He understood that since there was only one political party (it wasn't a national political party yet, that would happen under the guidance of Martin Van Buren in the 1830s/1840s), and that would naturally lead to more competition and in-fighting within, especially among the various regions in the U.S.
SecState JQA was the author of what became known as the Monroe Doctrine (1823), which in essence stated that European nations were no longer welcome to colonize in the Western Hemisphere. The Doctrine worked because Europe (especially Britain, who actually enforced the Doctrine for a few decades) figured out that it would be far less-costly and far-more profitable to trade with America. With no more worries of foreign invaders, western expansion intensified with the construction of turnpikes and canals (almost entirely funded by and constructed at the state level). Also, with no more worries of foreign invaders, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, William Crawford, and Andrew Jackson were able to focus on the Election of 1824; only JQA stayed loyal, silent, and above the fray during Monroe's second term. JQA refused to actively campaign - he believed that merit and conduct should be the main qualifiers. So, JQA's wife, Louisa, pulled a page from the Dolley Madison playbook, and used levees (receptions) as a de facto political tool for her husband.

Candidates for President in 1824 (and in the years prior) were "Favorite Sons" nominated by state legislatures. The candidates for the Election of 1824 (all from the same party) were: JQA from Massachusetts, Andrew Jackson from Tennessee, Henry Clay from Kentucky, William Crawford from Georgia, and John C. Calhoun (from South Carolina, but he basically nominated himself). Calhoun eventually announced that he would be a candidate for Vice-President for BOTH Jackson and JQA; he gambled that the Vice-Presidency would be a new stepping-stone for the Presidency. William Crawford suffered a stroke in 1823, which effectively ended his campaign. The only major candidates remaining were Clay, Jackson, and JQA, and it was at this point that JQA was forced to come up with a campaign strategy if he truly wanted to become President. JQA invited Jackson to one of Louisa's social receptions, and offered Jackson the Vice-Presidential slot on the ticket (I'm sure that made Calhoun ecstatic). Jackson (politely) refused the offer, and JQA actually abandoned his campaign, since Jackson was the clear front-runner.
The Electoral College results for the Election of 1824 were as follows: Jackson, 99; JQA 84; Crawford, 41; Clay, 37. Since no candidate received a majority, the election would be decided in the House of Representatives (only the top three were eligible). During deliberation in the House, Clay (who was again Speaker) convinced the representatives of Kentucky, Ohio, and Missouri to support JQA. Shortly thereafter, JQA announced that Clay would be his SecState - JQA's victory appalled most Americans, and Jackson took full advantage, calling the result in the House a "Corrupt Bargain." Jackson (and most other politicians in Congress) would spend the next four years making life very difficult for President John Quincy Adams.
JQA's Inaugural Address did not resonate with most Americans - the former diplomat / SecState had spent so much time abroad, and was so well-educated, that he didn't have his finger on the pulse of the nation. JQA advocated federal funding for transportation, which very few Americans supported at that time, and he used many quotes from his classical education, which meant that his address was that of an "Egg Head", so to speak. The Inaugural Ball would be the last joyous moment of his Presidency - no President in our history had such a short honeymoon in office.

The Presidency of John Quincy Adams was notable for the sheer lack of achievement. Perhaps the only notable highwater mark that occurred was that JQA held a formal reception for the Marquis de Lafayette - it was the last time he would be in America. JQA did not believe in patronage (a.k.a. the "Spoils System"); as a consequence, many tried to undermine his Presidency. At the same time, President JQA kept undermining himself with his constant rhetoric favoring the federal government over state governments, which fueled Andrew Jackson's efforts in building a political base for his run for the Presidency in 1828.
JQA's erudition meant that he was constantly misunderstood in his speeches; he even seemed to be against the "Common Man", which Jackson used to his advantage. JQA (far ahead of his time) envisioned an educated, literate America with the federal government providing assistance. The reality of JQA's time was that America was a nation of small land owners and laborers that had big expectations; these citizens wanted their physical needs to be met far more than their intellectual needs. As a result, JQA was roundly ridiculed and rejected, and was not only seen as irrelevant, but also as an obstacle to the progress of the nation. The overall feeling of most Americans was that less government, not more, was preferable. JQA became severely depressed, and he basically stopped working, and became a spectator in his own Presidency.

John Quincy Adams recognized that he would be the first President that contributed nothing to his nation. First Lady Louisa Adams started her levees again, but JQA was unable to even enjoy small-talk at these events. JQA would quote such figures as Tacitus, and he would roll with laughter based on the humor or irony in the passage, but very few understood his references, which increased JQA's level of frustration.
The off-year elections of 1826 added to the Jacksonian majority in both houses, further increasing JQA's malaise. The best-prepared, most experienced person to become President to that point in history was by far the least effective and the least-popular of the first six Presidents. JQA did not understand why he was so reviled - he never quite made the connection that he was a master at relating to the Czar, but that skill-set did not transfer in terms of connecting to the average citizen.
The Election of 1828 was a rematch, and a mismatch - Jackson had 178 Electoral Votes to JQA's 83 . . . for JQA, the results were a mix of humiliation and relief. JQA went back home to Massachusetts, but in 1830, he made a decision that would not only bring him back into national level politics, but would also make him a prominent (and admired/hated) national figure - JQA became the only former President to be elected to the House of Representatives, and the first major political figure that championed the abolition of slavery . . .

(Below: A segment from a History Channel documentary on the American Presidents, focusing
on the Election of 1824, the Presidency of JQA, and the Election of 1828)

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John Quincy Adams: Before 1817, Part 2

7/3/2014

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Source: Harlow Giles Unger. John Quincy Adams (2012).
(Below from the John Adams HBO Miniseries: VP John Adams insists that JQA should begin to practice law - this conversation occurred before the year 1794, when President Washington sent JQA to Holland)

When the Democratic-Republican candidate Thomas Jefferson won the Election of 1800, the Federalist John Quincy Adams' days as the American Minister in Prussia were over (actually, JQA's father, John Adams, recalled him before leaving office to save his son political embarrassment). But by 1817, President James Monroe, one of Jefferson's main proteges, named JQA as his SecState. What follows is an account of how JQA came back from a political abyss, and became one of a very small group of men that could be elected as the next President after James Monroe left office.
In 1802, JQA won election to the Massachusetts state senate, and immediately went on the attack against corruption, both in the chamber, and in the state, which rankled his colleagues to no end. His fellow Federalists decided to send JQA to the U.S. Senate, which was designed to be a de facto political exile without upsetting his father, John Adams (for many decades in our early history, serving in a state legislature was more prestigious and important than being a U.S. Senator - that changed with the ratification of the
17th Amendment).
In 1803, Northern and Western Europe experienced a once-in-a 500 year Arctic blast; the French harbors on the Atlantic actually froze; it was this arctic blast that started Napoleon down the path of selling the Louisiana Territory to the U.S. JQA was alone among the Federalists in the Senate that was in favor of what became known as the Louisiana Purchase. JQA made a motion to include the phrase "with the assent of the French Government" added to the document of purchase, which then, in effect, made the document a treaty. JQA's maneuver provided Jefferson a "political out", since he was able to then argue that the President's power to negotiate a treaty made the purchase Constitutional. More immediately, JQA's ploy meant that Jefferson was able to line up the Democratic-Republican vote to purchase Louisiana.
JQA was attacked by the Federalists in both houses, and became persona non grata within the ranks; JQA even started to attend (via invitation) President Jefferson's dinner parties. Then, in an abrupt turnabout, JQA opposed the Jeffersonians over their program of taxation in the Louisiana Territory - JQA believed it violated self-determination. The taxation program easily passed in the Senate, but JQA showed that he was by no means Jefferson's lackey. In his time as a U.S. Senator, JQA consistently outraged Federalists and Democratic-Republicans alike, and was labeled a malcontent for his efforts. Even his close friend James Madison became upset when JQA blocked his proposed border treaty between the U.S. and Canada; JQA wanted the border to be at the 49th Parallel towards the west. Despite irritating and challenging members of both parties, JQA remained essential in committees, due to his legal background and his almost unmatched expertise on foreign affairs. Also, JQA remained popular with President Jefferson, since they had known each other since JQA was a teen, and his worldliness also appealed to the third President, but TJ always appreciated JQA's efforts at providing him the Constitutional justification to purchase Louisiana from France.

John Quincy Adams' popularity with Jefferson was put to the test towards the end of his first term as President. Jefferson and SecState James Madison were determined to change the makeup of the Supreme Court by replacing Federalists with Democratic-Republicans. Their strategy to change the Supreme Court: Impeachment. The end-game was to remove Chief Justice John Marshall, but in order to establish political and legal precedent, the first (and only) attempt at removing a Supreme Court justice centered on Samuel Chase, who drank and talked too much for his own good . . . therefore, he was the easiest target. JQA led the opposition in the Senate trial to remove Chase from the bench, and in doing so, he kept Jefferson & Madison from criminalizing free speech.
The Federalist "Shunning" of JQA became even more intense in 1807, when JQA sided with Jefferson and Madison in their support of an embargo against Great Britain after their attack on the U.S. frigate Chesapeake. JQA saw the embargo as middle-ground between going to war and doing nothing - he was the only Federalist to support the embargo. JQA, Jefferson, and Madison believed that the U.S. was a self-sufficient economy, but they found out otherwise very quickly. In the ensuing economic collapse due to the Embargo Act of 1807, Massachusetts blamed JQA for their misery, and JQA was removed as U.S. Senator by the state legislature. John Adams thought his son's dream of upward trajectory towards the Presidency was shattered forever.
(Below: a short segment from a documentary tracing the Embargo Act and its
impact from Jefferson's Presidency to that of Madison

In 1808, JQA, despite being one of the foremost experts on foreign relations in the U.S., was once again a lawyer in the private sector. Members of the Democratic-Republican Party kept sending cases JQA's way, and he even argued some cases in the Supreme Court, most famously Fletcher v. Peck (the court ruled that state cannot interfere with the pursuit of life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness, which was then defined as property).
In the Election in 1808, another Democratic-Republican, James Madison, was sent to the White House. Madison asked JQA to be the American Minister to Russia, and JQA quickly agreed (he didn't even consult his wife). JQA viewed the appointment as the only way to re-enter national level politics (his own party, the Federalists, had made it their mission to make life miserable for JQA); he saw going to Russia as a "Honorable Diplomatic Exile", and he arrived in St. Petersburg in 1810. Madison's motive in appointing JQA was to improve relations with Russia by appointing a former President's son, and it worked out wonderfully for America in the years ahead.
By the time JQA arrived in St. Petersburg, the European landscape had changed - Napoleon dominated the continent, even Western Russia. JQA worked hard to develop a personal relationship with Czar Alexander I (the Czar was captivated by the "Cultured Commoner"), and in addition, JQA sent more intelligence back to President Madison than any other foreign minister in Europe, by far. John Quincy Adams convinced Czar Alexander I that it would benefit both nations if he eliminated the existing trade barriers. JQA's stock was again on the rise, and President Madison actually nominated him for an associate justice opening in the Supreme Court, and the Senate confirmed that nomination . . . JQA was a Supreme Court justice! But, JQA turned down the appointment/confirmation (he didn't want his pregnant wife to travel a great distance), and yet again his father thought it was the end of the line for his son.

Eventually JQA regretted turning down the opening in the Supreme Court, but he would soon be a very busy foreign minister. Napoleon's invasion of Russia and America's invasion of Canada (during the War of 1812) occurred concurrently. Madison sent JQA to Ghent, Belgium, to be in charge of American negotiations with Great Britain to try and end the war through diplomacy. Madison made it very clear to JQA what his reward would be if he succeeded: he would be Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain, which was the highest-paid and most prestigious diplomatic position in the American array.
Joining JQA in Ghent were Henry Clay from Kentucky (the current Speaker of the House), Albert Gallatin (Senator from Pennsylvania, and eventually Alexander Hamilton's equal as SecTreas), as well as James Bayard (Senator from Delaware) and Jonathan Russell (Minister to Sweden). This group, with JQA in charge, was a "Diplomatic Dream Team", and proved to be a very cohesive unit, despite Clay's predilection to play cards late into the evening. Negotiations at Ghent ebbed and flowed based on the pattern of the war in the U.S., and impasse was the result. JQA and his British counterpart decided, in late-1814, to negotiate an end to the war, and let others sort out the mess. The Treaty of Ghent ended the war, and it was a stinging result for both sides, in that the treaty was an agreement to return to the status quo before the war began. True to his word, Madison sent JQA to Great Britain - JQA had reached the pinnacle in the World of Diplomacy.

After the War of 1812, America experienced it greatest economic growth in its short history, due mostly to Western Expansion. A "Revolution" took place: a whole new class of property owners emerged due to the expansion west, and the American political landscape changed. Now, the "Common Man" could directly participate in politics instead of being forced to the sidelines by the powerful elite. Also after the war, Americans celebrated their war heroes: Andrew Jackson, William Henry Harrison, James Monroe, and JQA.
Not long after the War of 1812 ended, Napoleon returned to power, and JQA was on one of the last ships that was allowed to leave France. Once back in Britain, JQA was joined by Clay and Gallatin to negotiate a treaty of commerce and maritime law (part of the "sorting out" after Ghent). Stephen Decatur's victory over the Barbary Pirates at Tripoli surprised the British, and JQA was able to negotiate better terms from America's victory in the Mediterranean. Once the treaty was drafted and ready to sign, JQA refused to sign it! JQA insisted that the U.S. appear as "first signatory" in one of the documents (which was the protocol, and the British were trying to minimize America's global stature), and on 3 July, 1815, the treaty was completed to JQA's satisfaction.
JQA developed an effective working relationship with his British counterpart, Robert Stewart, a.k.a. the Viscount Castlereagh. Castlereagh valued JQA's education, and they connected; JQA never equivocated, and was always up-front with what the U.S. Government wanted from Britain. Both JQA and Castlereagh viewed disarmament on the Great Lakes as a key component towards reconciliation between their nations. While Great Britain would not become an ally of America until Grant's Presidency, JQA's talents and efforts did lead to a "detente" between two nations that had recently fought two major wars with each other.

James Monroe won the Election of 1816 without facing any meaningful opposition (one result of the War of 1812 was the demise of the Federalist Party). Monroe named JQA as his SecState (JQA was the 8th Secretary of State), which was not only viewed as the stepping-stone to the Presidency, but also by far the most powerful Cabinet position. The Secretary of State in the early-1800s was today's equivalent of being in charge of the Secret Service, CIA, the Interior, Commerce, Agriculture, and Transportation. Basically, JQA was in an executive position, second only to Monroe, which was also great training for being President.
In addition to JQA as SecState, President Monroe's Cabinet featured William Crawford of Georgia as SecTreas, and John C. Calhoun of South Carolina as SecWar (Henry Clay wanted SecState, and turned down the offer of SecWar, and returned to the House as Speaker). JQA thought the Cabinet might be another "Dream Team", a la Ghent, but his optimism was soon dashed. JQA's fellow Cabinet members promoted themselves and attacked others in their pursuit of the Presidency; they especially attacked JQA, who had become Monroe's most trusted advisor, similar to the relationship that Lincoln and Seward forged. JQA focused on advising Monroe, then supporting whatever decision the President made, unlike most of his predecessors (e.g. Thomas Jefferson).

John Adams must have been very proud of his oldest son by 1817; JQA had achieved the upward political mobility envisioned by his father years ago. JQA served as SecState for both of Monroe's terms in office, and after the dust settled, became President as a result of the controversial Election of 1824. Stunningly, JQA, despite being eminently qualified, was a tremendously ineffective and unpopular President. His years as the sixth President of the United States, 1825 - 1829, proved to be the nadir of his political life . . .
(Below: A Mini-Biography of JQA, reviewing his diplomatic accomplishments, and
previewing his years as SecState, President, and Congressman)

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