Panorama of US presidents: Their strengths and foibles

(Part 1 of a series on US Presidents)

Why write about the American presidency now? With the turnover of the Philippine government to a newly elected president, Noynoy Aquino, a review on how the American nation was born and established is a valuable point of awareness for Filipinos.

President Barack Obama is the 44th US president. For this series, I am using data written by well-known historians and journalists who have authored books on US presidents from the era of the American Revolution, the Civil War, the Emancipation of Slavery, Colonization of the Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico, World War I and II, Vietnam, Korea, the Cold War to the on-going Middle East war.

‘First in war, first in peace, and first in minuet dancing’

George Washington (1789-1797), a reluctant president, was sworn in at the nation’s capital, then located in New York. He was the only US president unanimously elected with every single vote by the Electoral College. He ended his inaugural speech with the phrase “…so help me God”, which all the presidents after him have been using. As to how he would be addressed, whether His Excellency, His Majesty or His Honor, he preferred to be called “Mr. President.”

According to James Rees, Mount Vernon historical director, every time Washington would ride into any town, he would look like a hero, astride his white horse, Nelson.

He was a collector of art, loved dancing the minuet, and was the interior decorator of his house in the vast estate of Mount Vernon. He would have been Calvin Klein of his time.

Much has been written about George Washington led by William Fowler, Massachusetts Historical Society, and Annette Gordon Reed, “An American Controversy”.

He purchased the site of the White House, which was then known as “foggy bottom”. The mansion was completed a year after his death.

For his Council of War, he hired brilliant men with exceptional talent.

Among his many accomplishments, Washington negotiated treaties with Spain and Great Britain and defined the process for choosing Supreme Court justices. Reputed to have a stock of 11,000 gallons of whiskey, he was able to diffuse the Whiskey Rebellion.

After two terms as president, George Washington retired from public life despite urgings from the public that he seek a third term. In his farewell address, he urged Americans to guard against division among themselves, to hold onto their faith, and to be wary of foreign involvements. He retired to Mount Vernon where he passed away two years later.

President J. Adams, ‘Father of the US Navy’

Carol Berkin (“Brilliant Solution”), Marvin Kitman (“The Making of the President”) and Richard Brookheiser (“The Founding Father”) wrote brilliant analysis of both Adams and Jefferson, the signatories of the Declaration of Independence.

President John Adams (1797-1801) was a very ambitious, but erratic man. He was a stubborn, principled man, and was also extremely intelligent and a brilliant lawyer. He did not accept criticisms and approved the Sedition Act, which made criticism of the American government and its officials a crime. The public saw this as an affront of their civil rights.

He is known as the father of the United States Navy, which he established in 1797. Its first ship in the fleet was the 44-gun United States, and followed by the 36-gun Constellation later nicknamed “Old Ironsides.”

The Adamses became the first presidential family to live in the muddy, new capital of Washington, DC, the site of the White House, which was only partly finished at that time.

Jefferson, ‘Father of Independence’

President Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809), one of the greatest presidents, penned the Declaration of Independence in beautiful prose. A well-read man, his collection of several thousand books started the US Library of Congress. In his inaugural speech, he stated, “We are all Republicans. We are all Federalists. If there be any among us who wish to dissolve this Union… let them stand undisturbed as monuments of safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free to combat it…” In other words, he enjoined all Americans to work for the good of the country irregardless of political party.

His interests outside of politics and government included such diverse fields as architecture, botany, animal husbandry, and meteorology. Jefferson designed his home – the elegant Monticello, and he founded the University of Virginia.

He pursued the banking system started by Alexander Hamilton during Washington’s term.

Jefferson made an advantageous bargain with France to buy the rich territory that allowed the United States to almost double in size, expanding from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. This was called the Louisiana Purchase. As a follow up, he commissioned Merriweather Lewis and William Clark to lead an expedition across the Continental Divide.

Re-elected in 1804, he refused to join the war against England and France. Instead, he created a trade embargo with these two countries.

His achievements were unparalleled in his time, changing the powers of the president.

James Madison (1809-1817), Father of the Constitution

President James Madison was more disciplined than Jefferson. With his wife, Dolley, they gave lavish parties.

He was the first and only president who got involved with the war. He reluctantly entered the War of 1812 after the British Navy began harassing US ships, seizing cargoes and kidnapping American sailors. When the British burned the Capitol and the White House, President Madison and his wife, Dolley, fled saving the Declaration of Independence and a portrait of George Washington during their escape. The war came to an end after his military captain Andrew Jackson achieved an American victory at the Battle of New Orleans.

Madison, known as the Father of the Constitution, was chief author of the Bill of Rights. He played a large role in designing the system of checks and balances in the US government, creating the idea of a presidential veto and judicial branch that could override state laws.

John Quincy Adams’ (1825-1829) 4 years of miserable presidency

Son of second US president John Adams, President John Quincy Adams is self-righteous. He endured four years of miserable presidency marked with scandal and bribery.

He was known for his exploration of the West, public school education, building roads and canals across the country. He ran for re-election against military hero Andrew Jackson, who promised to fight the corrupt practices of the Adams governance. Adams, on the other hand, attacked Jackson for being a gambler and for marrying his wife, Rachel, before her divorce was official. The 1828 campaign was considered the dirtiest in American elections. Jackson won.

Adams was the first and only American president, who ran for Congress after ending his term as president. He collapsed of a stroke in the House of Representatives in 1848 and died two days later.

Andrew Jackson (1829-1837), hero of several battles

President Andrew Jackson governed two consecutive presidential terms with a landslide victory. He was the hero of the common man, being the first “common man” to reach the nation’s highest office. Instead of “Mr. President”, he preferred to be called “General”, being the hero of three major battles: Battle of New Orleans, Florida and the American Revolution.

He forgave those who attacked him, but not those who attacked his wife, Rachel, who died before his inauguration.

He had a furious temper and knew how to use it. He regularly hired and fired his kitchen cabinet since he preferred working with political confidante. With lightning speed, he wanted to change America.

To make it clear that he was the supreme leader of the nation, a “hydra-headed monster”, Jackson used his presidential veto liberally to oppose Congress and all else who did not share his vision. The most controversial was the “Bank Bill”, which vetoed the re-charter of the Second Bank of the United States – the Beadle Bank. He fought Nicholas Beadle and wanted his bank shut down because it persisted in printing paper money without gold or silver to back it up. This was the only time that the country was debt-free.

Jackson was a strong and effective president whose confident use of the authority of his office set a precedent for every president to come. He left a legacy that changed the image of the president and forged the future of the nation. He stated “…the coming generation may be proud to be born in the ‘Age of Jackson’.”

Inaugurating an era of good feeling

In his inaugural speech (March 1921), President Warren G. Harding stated: “Mankind needs a world-wide benediction of understanding. It is needed among individuals, among people, among governments and it will inaugurate an era of good feeling…”

(Next week: From Martin Van Buren to Abraham Lincoln, 1837-1861.)