1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:08,800 Speaker 1: On this episode of News World. Three presidents Jefferson, Madison, 2 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:12,960 Speaker 1: and Monroe are known as the Virginia Dynasty. They served 3 00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:15,440 Speaker 1: as presidents from eighteen o one to eighteen twenty five 4 00:00:15,840 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: and implemented the foreign policy, domestic and constitutional agenda of 5 00:00:20,560 --> 00:00:24,479 Speaker 1: the radical wing of the American Revolution, setting guideposts for 6 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:28,960 Speaker 1: later Americans to follow. The three close political allies were 7 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,880 Speaker 1: tightly related. Jefferson and Madison were the closest of friends, 8 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: and Monroe was Jefferson's former law student. Their achievements were many, 9 00:00:38,360 --> 00:00:41,839 Speaker 1: including the founding of the opposition Republican Party in the 10 00:00:41,920 --> 00:00:46,400 Speaker 1: seventeen nineties, the Louisiana Purchase, and the call upon Congress 11 00:00:46,400 --> 00:00:49,640 Speaker 1: in eighteen o six to use its constitutional power to 12 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:53,920 Speaker 1: ban slave imports beginning on January first, eighteen o eight. 13 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:58,760 Speaker 1: Here to talk about the Virginia Dynasty, I'm really pleased 14 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: to welcome my guest, Kevin Goodsman. His new book, The Jeffersonians, 15 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:09,480 Speaker 1: The Visionary Presidencies of Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe, details the 16 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: time in America when three presidents work toward common goals 17 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,000 Speaker 1: to strengthen the republic. Kevin is a professor of history 18 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,400 Speaker 1: at Western Connecticut State University, and he has his law 19 00:01:20,480 --> 00:01:23,880 Speaker 1: degree from the University of Texas Law School and PhD 20 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 1: in American history from the University of Virginia. His books 21 00:01:27,800 --> 00:01:33,320 Speaker 1: include Thomas Jefferson Revolutionary, James Madison in the Making of America, 22 00:01:33,360 --> 00:01:48,840 Speaker 1: and Virginia's American Revolution, Anne, Who's Killing the Constitution? Kevin, 23 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: Welcome and thank you for joining me on Newts World. 24 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:54,920 Speaker 1: I'm happy to be here. You're welcome. Now. I noticed 25 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: that you became a lawyer and then became a professor. 26 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: What led to that pattern? Well, I would go into 27 00:02:02,760 --> 00:02:06,440 Speaker 1: my very fancy legal office and count the minutes until 28 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 1: lunch when I could go to it at neighborhood restaurant 29 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: and read a history book. And after doing that for 30 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: a while, I decided, why don't I do this history 31 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,239 Speaker 1: thing full time? It does pay substantially less, but I 32 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:21,119 Speaker 1: still like it substantially more so. Here I am as 33 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:23,239 Speaker 1: you look back, just in terms of quality of life. 34 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 1: Was that the right decision? I think it was the 35 00:02:25,840 --> 00:02:28,880 Speaker 1: right decision. One other point to note is that one 36 00:02:28,919 --> 00:02:32,359 Speaker 1: of the members of my PhD orals committee was Walter Sablinsky, 37 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,639 Speaker 1: who I understand was on your PhD Orals committee at Tulane. 38 00:02:36,320 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: He told me that you were the smartest student he 39 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,400 Speaker 1: had ever sat on an orals committee for But I 40 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:44,079 Speaker 1: will hurry to add that he'd said that before he 41 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:46,880 Speaker 1: sat on my orals committee. That's the spirit. So maybe 42 00:02:46,880 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: I was the second smartest. Well, I don't know. I 43 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: didn't ask him. I have great memories of being at 44 00:02:52,480 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: Tulane and going through the process, both with the oral 45 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,280 Speaker 1: defense and then with the writing a dissertation. It was 46 00:02:58,280 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: a good training. It's interesting. And your first book was 47 00:03:01,919 --> 00:03:05,760 Speaker 1: a New York Times bestseller, The Politically Incorrect Guide to 48 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:08,760 Speaker 1: the Constitution, back in two thousand and seven. Why did 49 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:13,120 Speaker 1: you write The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Constitution. Well, because, 50 00:03:13,720 --> 00:03:19,040 Speaker 1: in general, if one studies constitutional history in high school, 51 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:21,959 Speaker 1: in college, in law school, what he's going to get 52 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,720 Speaker 1: is John Marshall's side of the story. And I thought 53 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: there needed to be a conservative, state centered federal government 54 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 1: side that is opposed to a national government side of 55 00:03:32,960 --> 00:03:35,119 Speaker 1: the story. And so that's what my book is. It's 56 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:39,920 Speaker 1: the only Jeffersonian account of American constitutional history in print, actually, 57 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 1: and it was a New York Times bestseller. You sided 58 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: with the Jeffersonians, who actually were very anti judge. Well, 59 00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: actually they weren't anti judge, And in fact, part of 60 00:03:51,520 --> 00:03:55,720 Speaker 1: Jefferson's argument with Madison to the effect that there should 61 00:03:55,800 --> 00:03:59,040 Speaker 1: be a Bill of Rights was that he thought that 62 00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:02,840 Speaker 1: good judges, the three outstanding judges in Virginia at the time, 63 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:05,640 Speaker 1: could make good use of the Bill of Rights. Their 64 00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: complaint about John Marshall was that he wanted to collapse 65 00:04:09,520 --> 00:04:12,960 Speaker 1: the sovereignty in the United States into the federal government. 66 00:04:13,040 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: And Jefferson's chief political principle after Republicanism, which of course 67 00:04:18,440 --> 00:04:21,800 Speaker 1: is a given, was that the government was decentralized, that 68 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:24,480 Speaker 1: most authority had been retained by the states. So that's 69 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:26,520 Speaker 1: what the book is about. And it seems me in 70 00:04:26,560 --> 00:04:30,080 Speaker 1: that sense that there was a remarkably sharp divide which 71 00:04:30,080 --> 00:04:35,479 Speaker 1: we almost always ignore, between the Alexander Hamilton John Marshall 72 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:40,360 Speaker 1: notion of a strong central government and the Jeffersonian belief 73 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,279 Speaker 1: that freedom was best protected by the states, and that 74 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,880 Speaker 1: in fact he wanted to be very cautious about putting 75 00:04:46,880 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: too much power in the federal government. That's exactly right, 76 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:51,919 Speaker 1: and that's one of the main themes of my new book. 77 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: It's that Jefferson, Madison, Monroe actually implemented this theory in 78 00:04:57,240 --> 00:05:00,200 Speaker 1: the first quarter of the nineteenth century. The reason why 79 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:03,840 Speaker 1: Jefferson favored it, of course, was that he thought it 80 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:05,680 Speaker 1: was going to be only a very few people who 81 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,760 Speaker 1: like him could be president, vice president, secretary of state, 82 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,400 Speaker 1: governor of their home states. But on the other hand, 83 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:15,720 Speaker 1: if government power were decentralized, the average person could be 84 00:05:16,600 --> 00:05:19,320 Speaker 1: highly involved in making the important governmental decisions that we're 85 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 1: going to affect him. So federalism seemed to him to 86 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,839 Speaker 1: be one of the main principles that the American Revolution 87 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,720 Speaker 1: it stood for. In fact, in one famous letter, he 88 00:05:28,800 --> 00:05:31,200 Speaker 1: said that the reason the French Revolution had failed was 89 00:05:31,240 --> 00:05:33,599 Speaker 1: that the French had adopted the policy of he said 90 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: Haney and dvz Blow, which is say, one indivisible. And 91 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:41,560 Speaker 1: he thought this was a mistake. He thought that the 92 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:43,719 Speaker 1: least in the United States, we had gotten it right. 93 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: That yes, there needed to be a central government with 94 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: some few powers, but those powers were only the ones 95 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,920 Speaker 1: that the states could not exercise competently for themselves, so 96 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 1: they were few. Since you did your dissertation at the 97 00:05:57,760 --> 00:06:00,799 Speaker 1: University of Virginia in Charlottesville, how much do you think 98 00:06:01,440 --> 00:06:04,760 Speaker 1: walking those grounds and being around Jefferson's home and all that. 99 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:08,040 Speaker 1: How much do you think that attracted you to the 100 00:06:08,040 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 1: three Jeffersonian presidents. That's an interesting question. The fellow who 101 00:06:13,080 --> 00:06:17,240 Speaker 1: was my dissertation advisor, Peter Onnoff, who probably in his 102 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: generation was the leading expert on Jefferson, always said he 103 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:24,720 Speaker 1: had a conflicted relationship with Jefferson. That is, he was 104 00:06:24,760 --> 00:06:26,800 Speaker 1: not what you would call a full on fan, but 105 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:30,159 Speaker 1: he was not the kind of statue toppler that is 106 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:34,560 Speaker 1: so common today. And so I think it wasn't that 107 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: I was being pushed into this by my surroundings. It 108 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: was I had learned in college and in law school, 109 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:45,840 Speaker 1: and in doing my own reading about the constitutional history 110 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: of the country, that this federal principle had been of 111 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:51,720 Speaker 1: significant importance to the people who made the revolution. And 112 00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 1: it did seem to me that by the time I 113 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: was in law school, which was in the late nineteen eighties, 114 00:06:56,600 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: the principle of federalism had more or less been erased 115 00:06:59,040 --> 00:07:01,880 Speaker 1: from American concert social law. In fact, when I took 116 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: the bar review course that lawyers have to take on 117 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:08,320 Speaker 1: route to taking the bar exam, I remember when the 118 00:07:08,320 --> 00:07:11,160 Speaker 1: constructor was talking about the multi state exam which is 119 00:07:11,160 --> 00:07:14,440 Speaker 1: a multiple choice exam. She said, if the tenth Amendment 120 00:07:14,520 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 1: is one of the answers offered, you, you know that's wrong. 121 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:20,600 Speaker 1: That's never right. And I thought, how can that be 122 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,440 Speaker 1: never right? It's part of the Constitution. So I realized 123 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:26,320 Speaker 1: at that point I wanted to know more about this 124 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:30,120 Speaker 1: general subject, and to some extent, each of my books 125 00:07:30,160 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: has had a focus on this topic. It's not been 126 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: the sole focus of any of them, of course, but 127 00:07:36,760 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: it's one that I've come back to over and over 128 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: again because it was of preeminent importance to many of 129 00:07:41,640 --> 00:07:43,720 Speaker 1: the people who made the revolution, to many of people 130 00:07:43,800 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 1: even who are involved in making the Constitution. I've always 131 00:07:47,400 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: been very shruck that Jefferson was, in fact an extraordinarily 132 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:57,000 Speaker 1: good politician, that he had some knack of attracting and 133 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: organizing and arousing people. Do you have that same sense that, 134 00:08:01,320 --> 00:08:05,760 Speaker 1: in fact, there's a strange subtlety to Jefferson meeting both 135 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,480 Speaker 1: very intellectual and aloof and at the same time meeting 136 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:14,760 Speaker 1: somehow very attractive to the everyday rural farmer. Well, I 137 00:08:14,760 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: think that's true, but I think actually it goes beyond Jefferson. 138 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: It really reflects the status of people of his class 139 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:25,840 Speaker 1: in Virginia society. So at the time of the revolution, 140 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:29,120 Speaker 1: of course, people were sent off without having been elected 141 00:08:29,120 --> 00:08:33,280 Speaker 1: by the general electorate to be congressmen from the various states. 142 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:36,559 Speaker 1: And we have a lot of evidence from newspaper accounts 143 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:40,199 Speaker 1: and from correspondence at the time that the common folk 144 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 1: in Virginia were actually proud of their political leadership, even 145 00:08:44,320 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: though virtually all of them were from the same class 146 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:49,880 Speaker 1: as Jefferson. So they were generally moneyed men, you had 147 00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:52,840 Speaker 1: to be at a time when having political office didn't 148 00:08:52,840 --> 00:08:56,679 Speaker 1: come with a salary. Actually, when the General Assembly in 149 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,439 Speaker 1: Virginia was sitting was harvest time. It was hard to 150 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: be away from one's farm for more than a week 151 00:09:03,000 --> 00:09:07,120 Speaker 1: or two. And so this idea that there was a 152 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,880 Speaker 1: ruling elite was one that we don't find a lot 153 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,079 Speaker 1: of resistance too in colonial or early Republican Virginia. That's 154 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:16,719 Speaker 1: a point I often make to my undergraduates. You'd think 155 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,160 Speaker 1: today that if you had only people who were highly 156 00:09:20,280 --> 00:09:26,640 Speaker 1: moneyed and independently wealthy in some states congressional delegation, their 157 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:30,840 Speaker 1: opposition would make that point. But in early Republican Virginia 158 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:32,439 Speaker 1: that doesn't seem to have been a point that came 159 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:35,680 Speaker 1: to mind. People really weren't unhappy with it. The idea 160 00:09:35,720 --> 00:09:37,360 Speaker 1: that they should be unhappy with it, I think is 161 00:09:37,400 --> 00:09:41,720 Speaker 1: a later development. Jefferson, it seems to me really developing 162 00:09:41,760 --> 00:09:47,000 Speaker 1: a party based on principles and ideas, And in that sense, 163 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:51,120 Speaker 1: as you describe it, his first inaugural address is really 164 00:09:51,200 --> 00:09:54,440 Speaker 1: different from both Adams and Washington. Can you sort of 165 00:09:54,480 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: expand on that. Washington's second inaugural Address of memory serves 166 00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:03,319 Speaker 1: as three sentences long, and Washington's first inaugural address essentially 167 00:10:03,840 --> 00:10:05,560 Speaker 1: is a pledge that he will try to live up 168 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: to the duties that are now incumbent upon him. On 169 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:12,680 Speaker 1: the other hand, Jefferson's first inaugural address lays out the 170 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:17,520 Speaker 1: program that these three presidents and their congressional allies are 171 00:10:17,559 --> 00:10:20,040 Speaker 1: going to seek to implement. They don't know it at 172 00:10:20,040 --> 00:10:21,520 Speaker 1: the time, of course, but are going to seek to 173 00:10:21,559 --> 00:10:24,360 Speaker 1: implement over the following twenty four years. And what he 174 00:10:24,400 --> 00:10:27,240 Speaker 1: thinks he's doing is describing the fruit of the revolution. 175 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,160 Speaker 1: He thinks, and of course nowadays we wouldn't agree with 176 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 1: this wholeheartedly, but he thought that the Republican program was 177 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 1: the program of the revolution that it stood for, first 178 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,680 Speaker 1: of all, relying on common men to defend their country 179 00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:45,000 Speaker 1: in case it were threatened. That it stood for having 180 00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:48,320 Speaker 1: lower taxes than the federalists had wanted to have. That 181 00:10:48,400 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: it stood for a fealty to government despite the fact 182 00:10:52,800 --> 00:10:55,960 Speaker 1: that there weren't impressive old families running it, that there 183 00:10:56,040 --> 00:10:58,920 Speaker 1: wasn't a king who had been ordained by God to 184 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:02,000 Speaker 1: be the ruler of the country. In fact, of course, 185 00:11:02,160 --> 00:11:05,360 Speaker 1: he famously said, this is the strength of the country. 186 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,520 Speaker 1: This is why America actually has a stronger government than 187 00:11:08,520 --> 00:11:11,200 Speaker 1: any other government in the world. People respect their government 188 00:11:11,240 --> 00:11:14,040 Speaker 1: because it isn't made up of people to whom they're 189 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: supposed to defer. So the first Inaugural Address is both 190 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:23,840 Speaker 1: a kind of party platform and prospectus and statement of 191 00:11:23,920 --> 00:11:28,800 Speaker 1: Jefferson's own political principles, which of course he doesn't ever 192 00:11:28,920 --> 00:11:32,319 Speaker 1: clearly separate from what he takes to be common American principles. 193 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:35,160 Speaker 1: So one point to note about Jefferson is that he 194 00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: did have quite the ego. He did tend to equate 195 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,560 Speaker 1: the common man's opinion with his own. He did tend 196 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,680 Speaker 1: to equate American principles with his own principles. On the 197 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: other hand, we have to notice that the electorate often 198 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:52,000 Speaker 1: rewarded him and his followers on the basis of exactly 199 00:11:52,000 --> 00:12:14,400 Speaker 1: that claim. Jefferson does build what is an effect on machine, 200 00:12:14,400 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: and basically, over the course of about twelve years, annihilates 201 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:21,160 Speaker 1: the Federalist I mean, the Federalists have been sort of 202 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:25,040 Speaker 1: the dominant party under Washington Adams. Adam's mismanages it and 203 00:12:25,160 --> 00:12:28,400 Speaker 1: ends up in a big fight with Alexander Hamilton and 204 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: splits the party, and then from that point on there's 205 00:12:31,240 --> 00:12:35,040 Speaker 1: just a steady downward slide. One could think that Adams 206 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,280 Speaker 1: split the party, or one could think that Hamilton split 207 00:12:37,320 --> 00:12:40,160 Speaker 1: the party. I guess that depends how one looks at it. 208 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 1: But Jefferson's understanding of what had happened in the seventeen 209 00:12:43,400 --> 00:12:47,840 Speaker 1: nineties was that Washington was everybody's hero. He was Jefferson's hero, 210 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:52,400 Speaker 1: he was Madison's. Madison died with statues of Washington and 211 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:59,520 Speaker 1: paintings of Washington all over his house, and Hamilton, Jefferson thought, 212 00:12:59,520 --> 00:13:03,960 Speaker 1: had ensued nuated himself into Washington's good graces and then 213 00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:07,319 Speaker 1: used Washington's name and prestige to get Congress and the 214 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,080 Speaker 1: people to agree to a program that they otherwise wouldn't 215 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,040 Speaker 1: have agreed to. And of course I'm not saying I 216 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:14,520 Speaker 1: agree with this, but that was the way that Jefferson 217 00:13:14,600 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: understood what had happened. And he thought, now this was over. 218 00:13:18,360 --> 00:13:21,560 Speaker 1: Now Washington was gone and Hamilton was gone, and the 219 00:13:21,600 --> 00:13:25,240 Speaker 1: people were going to see since he famously said to 220 00:13:25,800 --> 00:13:29,240 Speaker 1: one of his closest political allies, John Taylor of Caroline, 221 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,960 Speaker 1: that once doctor tax Man showed up at the door, 222 00:13:33,040 --> 00:13:38,319 Speaker 1: the fever would break, that this temporary phantasm would pass, 223 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,520 Speaker 1: and the American people would become themselves again. And then, 224 00:13:41,720 --> 00:13:44,920 Speaker 1: of course he thought that the political tide of the 225 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:46,679 Speaker 1: rest of his life proved that he had been right 226 00:13:46,720 --> 00:13:49,800 Speaker 1: about that, that the Revolution of eighteen hundred had been 227 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,880 Speaker 1: as real revolution as the Revolution of seventeen seventy six. 228 00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: And in a way it had been. And it was 229 00:13:56,040 --> 00:14:00,880 Speaker 1: a remarkable transfer of power from one group to another 230 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:03,080 Speaker 1: in a way that you really don't see much of 231 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,760 Speaker 1: it peaceful ways up to that point in Western history. 232 00:14:06,760 --> 00:14:09,679 Speaker 1: I mean, it's a remarkable achievement on both sides. That 233 00:14:09,840 --> 00:14:13,400 Speaker 1: is it, Adams in the end is subordinate to the 234 00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,520 Speaker 1: will of the people in a way that say Cromwell 235 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: would not have been. I think that's certainly true. Although 236 00:14:19,600 --> 00:14:21,640 Speaker 1: one thing I discovered in writing his book was that 237 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,480 Speaker 1: in drafting his first inaugural address, in which he doffs 238 00:14:25,480 --> 00:14:29,600 Speaker 1: his cap to Washington, Jefferson in his first draft intended 239 00:14:29,680 --> 00:14:32,920 Speaker 1: to say good things also about Adams. But then Adams 240 00:14:33,040 --> 00:14:35,960 Speaker 1: left town early the day of Jefferson's inauguration, and so 241 00:14:36,000 --> 00:14:40,000 Speaker 1: he scribbled that part out. So you have now no 242 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,880 Speaker 1: mention of Adams. And everybody knows that Adams left town 243 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:47,760 Speaker 1: and very ill humored of orrow somebody else's phrase. And 244 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 1: so the general impression has been, well, the two of 245 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,440 Speaker 1: them weren't getting along, The parties weren't entirely getting along, 246 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:57,400 Speaker 1: and Jefferson didn't intend for that to happen. He thought 247 00:14:57,440 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: he could say that these two men had been greater 248 00:15:01,480 --> 00:15:04,400 Speaker 1: than he. And so he recognized that it was not 249 00:15:04,520 --> 00:15:08,360 Speaker 1: going to be common for anyone to leave the presidency 250 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:10,960 Speaker 1: with his good a reputation as that with which he 251 00:15:11,000 --> 00:15:13,480 Speaker 1: had entered it, and he thought that he would have 252 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,280 Speaker 1: the same fate. So he hoped that people would give 253 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:20,640 Speaker 1: him some slack when it came to their agreeing with 254 00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:25,120 Speaker 1: his policy choices or his administrative choices from time to time, 255 00:15:25,200 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: because anybody was bound to air in this high office. 256 00:15:28,720 --> 00:15:32,440 Speaker 1: Jefferson makes a decision the two terms was enough, which 257 00:15:32,840 --> 00:15:37,280 Speaker 1: Washington had done. Washington actually really wanted one term and 258 00:15:37,480 --> 00:15:40,000 Speaker 1: got talked into that second term. Jefferson was one of 259 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: the ones who talked him into it. Yeah, and then 260 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: of course you've got Adams who'd like to have had 261 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: a second term but was defeated. In your judgment, why 262 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,840 Speaker 1: did Jefferson decide the two terms was enough? Well, there 263 00:15:51,840 --> 00:15:54,560 Speaker 1: are two things here. One is he thought that he 264 00:15:54,640 --> 00:15:57,480 Speaker 1: was following Washington's example, and he thought that it was 265 00:15:57,520 --> 00:16:00,560 Speaker 1: a good example. And the other thing is if you 266 00:16:00,640 --> 00:16:04,640 Speaker 1: look at his thirty thousand plus surviving had written documents 267 00:16:05,400 --> 00:16:08,400 Speaker 1: from starting when he was a teenager that cover his 268 00:16:08,560 --> 00:16:11,760 Speaker 1: entire political life. One theme you see running through them 269 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: is I'd rather not be in politics. I'd rather be 270 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:16,920 Speaker 1: home at Monticello. I think I'm doing my duty here, 271 00:16:16,920 --> 00:16:19,280 Speaker 1: but I'd rather not be. When he was president, he 272 00:16:19,360 --> 00:16:22,160 Speaker 1: spent much of the year at Monticello, and if he 273 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:24,120 Speaker 1: had had his way, he would have been spending he said, 274 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:26,080 Speaker 1: he would have been spending the whole year at Monceello. 275 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:28,960 Speaker 1: So I think one reason why he limited himself to 276 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:31,480 Speaker 1: two terms was he thought it was a good principle. 277 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: And the other reason why he limited himself two terms 278 00:16:34,320 --> 00:16:36,400 Speaker 1: was if he's to be believed in any of these 279 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: many documents in which he said this, over that long 280 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:41,360 Speaker 1: period of time, he didn't want to be away from home. 281 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:44,680 Speaker 1: He thought politics were a duty, he didn't think they 282 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: were that much fun, and he'd rather have gone back 283 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:49,720 Speaker 1: to his farm. In the middle of all this is 284 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,640 Speaker 1: a guy who had, at one level argued per smaller government, 285 00:16:52,680 --> 00:16:56,560 Speaker 1: more limited government, who vetos a federal government building a 286 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,960 Speaker 1: bridge across the Potomac on the grounds that the government 287 00:16:58,960 --> 00:17:02,000 Speaker 1: shouldn't be all these things. He turns around and he 288 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,800 Speaker 1: buys the Louisiana territory, which in a sense is about 289 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 1: as big a decision as any presidents ever made. How 290 00:17:10,240 --> 00:17:12,600 Speaker 1: do you see that having evolved, there was a real 291 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:15,760 Speaker 1: question about whether or not technically the federal government could 292 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,919 Speaker 1: buy an entire territory like that. Well, as far as 293 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:23,320 Speaker 1: I understand, the only significant Republican who had any question 294 00:17:23,359 --> 00:17:27,880 Speaker 1: about this was Jefferson himself. So of course the purchase 295 00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:32,120 Speaker 1: was made by two diplomatic agents of Jefferson and Madison, 296 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:36,720 Speaker 1: who were Republicans prominent Republicans Monroe and Livingston, and they 297 00:17:36,760 --> 00:17:40,440 Speaker 1: sent the treaty home to Secretary of State Madison, who 298 00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:44,040 Speaker 1: was giddy at the idea of purchasing Louisiana, and then 299 00:17:44,119 --> 00:17:46,760 Speaker 1: he forwarded onto the President, who came up with these 300 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:51,919 Speaker 1: constitutional scruples. Madison's answer to him was, well, the Constitution 301 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:54,280 Speaker 1: and Article too says that the president can enter into 302 00:17:54,280 --> 00:17:57,080 Speaker 1: treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate. He said, 303 00:17:57,119 --> 00:17:59,480 Speaker 1: I think a reasonable way to read that is since 304 00:17:59,520 --> 00:18:03,600 Speaker 1: it doesn't specify what kinds of treaties, that includes what 305 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:06,920 Speaker 1: are the common kinds of treaties, That would include treaties 306 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:11,240 Speaker 1: of ward, treaties of peace, treaties of alliance, trade treaties, 307 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:13,760 Speaker 1: and although that's not true now, it was true then 308 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:18,000 Speaker 1: treaties to buy and sell territory. So Madison didn't even 309 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:20,800 Speaker 1: think this was a question. In fact, the two of 310 00:18:20,800 --> 00:18:24,440 Speaker 1: them discussed this question with senators they knew, with other 311 00:18:24,480 --> 00:18:27,600 Speaker 1: people they knew who were prominent Republicans. And again, the 312 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 1: only one I'm aware of who thought it was a 313 00:18:29,359 --> 00:18:35,480 Speaker 1: constitutional problem is Jefferson himself. And finally Jefferson asked Madison, 314 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:40,440 Speaker 1: and he himself drafted constitutional amendments to make it constitutional 315 00:18:40,560 --> 00:18:44,479 Speaker 1: on the assumption it wasn't already constitutional, and Madison persuaded him, 316 00:18:44,520 --> 00:18:47,360 Speaker 1: you know, we don't have time for this. Virtually as 317 00:18:47,359 --> 00:18:50,840 Speaker 1: soon as they had received the communication from Monroe and Livingston, 318 00:18:51,240 --> 00:18:54,640 Speaker 1: they got another communication from Livingston saying, you'd better hurry 319 00:18:54,720 --> 00:18:57,960 Speaker 1: up because Bonaparte is talking about changing his mind. Of course, 320 00:18:58,000 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: we don't know whether he really was thinking of changing 321 00:19:00,040 --> 00:19:03,280 Speaker 1: his mind, but he apparently instantly told Livingston, you know, 322 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:05,840 Speaker 1: I think this was a bad idea. Let's forget about it. 323 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,359 Speaker 1: So the idea that they had better hurry up and 324 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:13,359 Speaker 1: ratify this treaty was one that Jefferson finally bought, and 325 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:16,800 Speaker 1: he said, well, I guess occasionally they're going to be 326 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:20,160 Speaker 1: fugitive instances in which the chief executive is just going 327 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:22,119 Speaker 1: to have to make a decision and then rely on 328 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: the people to express their acceptance of it or their 329 00:19:25,600 --> 00:19:28,240 Speaker 1: rejection of it at the next election. So he says, 330 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:29,800 Speaker 1: I think we're going to have to throw ourselves on 331 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:32,040 Speaker 1: the mercy of the people. But again, I don't think 332 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,440 Speaker 1: there was any other significant Republican who had these qualms. 333 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:37,600 Speaker 1: I think all the rest of them thought it was 334 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:42,480 Speaker 1: constitutional and of course, Jefferson then promptly organizes Lewis and 335 00:19:42,520 --> 00:19:44,280 Speaker 1: Clark to go all the way to the Pacific and 336 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,639 Speaker 1: what's one of the great explorations of all time, which 337 00:19:48,720 --> 00:19:51,640 Speaker 1: of course was done for military reasons at least that 338 00:19:51,760 --> 00:19:55,919 Speaker 1: was a kind of constitutional cover for it. But Jefferson 339 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:59,960 Speaker 1: throughout his life had been a trailblazing ethnoistorian. In fact, 340 00:20:00,600 --> 00:20:03,159 Speaker 1: I have a colleague as an archaeologist who tells me 341 00:20:03,280 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: that the techniques Jefferson used in excavating an Indian man 342 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:11,600 Speaker 1: near Monticello were followed for over a century after he 343 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:14,920 Speaker 1: publicized them, so they were the state of the art 344 00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:19,760 Speaker 1: among archaeologists in America until the early twentieth century. And 345 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:22,720 Speaker 1: he was interested in Indians, He was interested in flora 346 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,399 Speaker 1: and fauna. He wanted to know everything there was no 347 00:20:25,920 --> 00:20:28,440 Speaker 1: and in fact, people didn't know much of anything about 348 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,879 Speaker 1: the West. One thing he told Lewis and Clark was 349 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,120 Speaker 1: to bring him back a mastodon. Well, they'd been told 350 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:37,439 Speaker 1: by the Indians their mastodons out there. People forget this, 351 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:40,240 Speaker 1: but when Columbus arrived in the Western hemisphere, there was 352 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:43,000 Speaker 1: no writing. So if you have only oral tradition, you 353 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:46,440 Speaker 1: might think that animals that became extinct ten thousand years 354 00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:50,040 Speaker 1: ago still existed, so he was of course disappointed there 355 00:20:50,080 --> 00:20:54,800 Speaker 1: were no mastodons, but he was just ecstatic with much 356 00:20:54,840 --> 00:20:56,960 Speaker 1: of the other material they sent home to him, and 357 00:20:57,200 --> 00:21:01,119 Speaker 1: in particular, he was very interested in Indian languages. He 358 00:21:01,200 --> 00:21:05,360 Speaker 1: hoped eventually to be able to prove that man's languages 359 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:07,800 Speaker 1: had not originated in the Old World, they had actually 360 00:21:07,800 --> 00:21:10,840 Speaker 1: originated among the Indians, and when he was president he 361 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:13,720 Speaker 1: intended to write a book about this. He took all 362 00:21:13,840 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 1: the lexicons Lewis and Clark had collected to the White House, 363 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:19,560 Speaker 1: and of course he didn't get to it. We've had 364 00:21:19,600 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: other presidents who wrote copiously while president, but Jefferson was 365 00:21:23,560 --> 00:21:27,400 Speaker 1: not among them. So he sent this stuff separately from 366 00:21:27,440 --> 00:21:30,199 Speaker 1: himself back to Monticello. And when it got to the 367 00:21:30,640 --> 00:21:32,159 Speaker 1: I believe it was in the Potomac, it may have 368 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:34,880 Speaker 1: been in the James River. Some guy broke into one 369 00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:37,760 Speaker 1: of these chests and found that there was nothing in 370 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:39,960 Speaker 1: them but paper, and so he threw the paper into 371 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:43,360 Speaker 1: James River. And that was the end of these lexicons, 372 00:21:43,760 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: which were, in several cases the only evidence that we 373 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:51,600 Speaker 1: would have had for the languages of some Indian peoples 374 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,240 Speaker 1: that now no longer are discreet peoples. It's kind of 375 00:21:54,240 --> 00:21:59,160 Speaker 1: a sad story. But Jefferson's mind just spanned all kinds 376 00:21:59,240 --> 00:22:03,040 Speaker 1: of human knowledge. He basically wanted to know everything there 377 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:04,679 Speaker 1: was to know, and he hoped to be able to 378 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:07,879 Speaker 1: prove as I said, that human language had started here. 379 00:22:07,880 --> 00:22:10,560 Speaker 1: He actually earlier had been involved in a long running 380 00:22:10,560 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 1: dispute with the leading biologists in Europe, the Comte de Baufon, 381 00:22:14,960 --> 00:22:21,240 Speaker 1: over the question of whether animals degenerated in the Western Hemisphere. 382 00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 1: This was the state of the art among biologists in Europe, 383 00:22:24,600 --> 00:22:27,719 Speaker 1: the idea that because of the environment of the Western 384 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:31,720 Speaker 1: Hemisphere that the Indians were shorter, they didn't have facial hair, 385 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:34,560 Speaker 1: they didn't have pubic hair, they had fewer children. Per 386 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:37,960 Speaker 1: couple their various reasons. He said, the New World doesn't 387 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:40,040 Speaker 1: have cats as big as the Old world, it doesn't 388 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:42,480 Speaker 1: have mammals of other kinds as big as the old world. 389 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:46,439 Speaker 1: There's something in the environment. It's making everything degenerate. And 390 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:49,320 Speaker 1: of course the implication was, if you migrate to the 391 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:52,760 Speaker 1: New World, you will degenerate. People don't remember this, but 392 00:22:52,840 --> 00:22:56,120 Speaker 1: at the time American politicians were trying to persuade Europeans 393 00:22:56,119 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: to move to the Western hemisphere. So Jefferson and Ben 394 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: Fanklin took up this cause and argued about this with 395 00:23:03,640 --> 00:23:07,480 Speaker 1: European biologists for over a decade and finally persuaded the 396 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:11,080 Speaker 1: world that no, it wasn't true that animals don't degenerate 397 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,080 Speaker 1: in the Western Hemisphere. For this reason and others, a 398 00:23:14,160 --> 00:23:18,080 Speaker 1: defender of American Indians for most of his life, I think, 399 00:23:18,119 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 1: in terms of the range of their interest and the 400 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:24,240 Speaker 1: brilliance in our mind, he and Franklin stand above all 401 00:23:24,280 --> 00:23:28,680 Speaker 1: the other founding fathers. Franklin's astounding. My favorite Franklin story 402 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:32,320 Speaker 1: is I think when he was a very young man, 403 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:35,800 Speaker 1: the first time he went to England, he had the theory. 404 00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,920 Speaker 1: Somehow he came up with the theory that the oceans 405 00:23:40,119 --> 00:23:43,840 Speaker 1: must have currents that went in different directions depending upon 406 00:23:43,880 --> 00:23:46,880 Speaker 1: the depth at which they were running. And of course 407 00:23:46,920 --> 00:23:49,520 Speaker 1: we now though this is true. But what he did 408 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:53,480 Speaker 1: was on his way to Europe, he mapped the ocean 409 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:57,560 Speaker 1: currents by using empty wine bottles, and he had other 410 00:23:57,600 --> 00:23:59,959 Speaker 1: people who were on the ship with him helping him 411 00:24:00,240 --> 00:24:02,600 Speaker 1: lower these bottles in particular depths. And I don't know 412 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: how exactly they mapped this out. But he was proved 413 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,919 Speaker 1: that this was true, that the ocean was several layers 414 00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 1: of water. It was not just a big soup. Well, 415 00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:33,800 Speaker 1: the two of them are in a different league. But 416 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:37,600 Speaker 1: now Madison, who comes along and succeeds Jefferson and as 417 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:42,560 Speaker 1: his partner in creating the first modern political party. Madison 418 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:46,879 Speaker 1: was brilliant, but it's a very narrowly focused kind of brilliance. 419 00:24:47,600 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: He's very different from Jefferson in that sense, wouldn't you say? 420 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:54,159 Speaker 1: I think he only cared about governments at least if 421 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:56,359 Speaker 1: he cared about anything else, he didn't leave much sign 422 00:24:56,359 --> 00:24:59,879 Speaker 1: of it. So while it was true that Jefferson was 423 00:25:00,520 --> 00:25:04,200 Speaker 1: interested in ethno history and biology, and for more than 424 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:08,199 Speaker 1: thirty years he kept records of the weather at Monticello. 425 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:10,879 Speaker 1: They're the most complete records we have from that time, 426 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:14,240 Speaker 1: he just was interested in everything around him. On the 427 00:25:14,240 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 1: other hand, as far as I could tell, and I 428 00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:18,840 Speaker 1: wrote a book called James Madison in the Making of America, 429 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,320 Speaker 1: it was about Madison and constitution making. The only thing 430 00:25:22,359 --> 00:25:25,400 Speaker 1: Madison really cared about was constitution making. He really only 431 00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:29,960 Speaker 1: cared about government, so he of course became highly schooled 432 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,520 Speaker 1: in government and was far more practical than Jefferson when 433 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:36,359 Speaker 1: it came to government. But it don't know that he 434 00:25:36,440 --> 00:25:39,399 Speaker 1: had any other significant interests. Well maybe Dolly, but he 435 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:43,760 Speaker 1: destroyed his correspondence on that subject, so we're left with government. 436 00:25:44,040 --> 00:25:47,879 Speaker 1: I see him as being remarkably forceful, for example, and 437 00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:51,680 Speaker 1: spent several months with Washington convincing Washington that he has 438 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:54,920 Speaker 1: to go to the Constitutional Convention. He is a key 439 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:59,479 Speaker 1: player in thinking through the Constitution and writing the Federalist papers. 440 00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:03,280 Speaker 1: He's probably the key figure in the first session of 441 00:26:03,359 --> 00:26:07,000 Speaker 1: the US Congress and developing all sorts of things. But 442 00:26:07,119 --> 00:26:11,200 Speaker 1: then when he becomes president. Probably the worst run war 443 00:26:11,320 --> 00:26:14,680 Speaker 1: we have is the War of eighteen twelve, and it's 444 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:17,520 Speaker 1: kind of like when you got to the action phase. 445 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 1: It's just this huge dropoff between Madison the writer and 446 00:26:22,440 --> 00:26:26,320 Speaker 1: Madison the leader of a nation at war. Right, he 447 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:30,320 Speaker 1: was a good advisor. People don't recognize how significant advisor 448 00:26:30,359 --> 00:26:33,560 Speaker 1: he was to Washington in the first term of Washington's administration, 449 00:26:34,320 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 1: but you're right. When it came his time to be 450 00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:41,240 Speaker 1: chief executive, he was at sea. And it's hard to 451 00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,879 Speaker 1: exaggerate the extent to which the War of eighteen twelve 452 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,880 Speaker 1: was a debacle, chiefly because from the top there wasn't 453 00:26:48,000 --> 00:26:52,360 Speaker 1: really organization to it. So the United States went to war. 454 00:26:52,760 --> 00:26:55,480 Speaker 1: They declared war after Madison had given to Congress a 455 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:59,640 Speaker 1: long address explaining the situation in which Americans found themselves, 456 00:26:59,640 --> 00:27:02,600 Speaker 1: and even included by saying, and so the United Kingdom 457 00:27:02,680 --> 00:27:04,919 Speaker 1: is a war with the United States, but the United 458 00:27:04,920 --> 00:27:06,800 Speaker 1: States are not at war with the United Kingdom. You 459 00:27:06,840 --> 00:27:09,919 Speaker 1: should consider what to do about that. That He didn't 460 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:12,880 Speaker 1: think that the President should call on Congress to declare war. 461 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: He was only an executive, so it was for Congress 462 00:27:16,560 --> 00:27:20,320 Speaker 1: to make that decision for itself without any executive coaxing. 463 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,119 Speaker 1: But this war message had given it all kinds of 464 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:26,200 Speaker 1: information that would have led it to say, well, we 465 00:27:26,440 --> 00:27:29,720 Speaker 1: need to arm ourselves. So after the declaration of war 466 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:33,080 Speaker 1: was voted, one member of Congress made a speech in 467 00:27:33,119 --> 00:27:35,159 Speaker 1: which he said, you're going to go to war with 468 00:27:35,200 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: the mightiest power in the world. You have no men, 469 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:40,280 Speaker 1: you have no money, you have no ships. What are 470 00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:43,600 Speaker 1: you thinking? You know? And you'd think, well, the President 471 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:47,800 Speaker 1: would have considered those questions before he gave Congress this message, 472 00:27:47,840 --> 00:27:52,199 Speaker 1: but he didn't. And so after fifteen years or so 473 00:27:52,320 --> 00:27:55,600 Speaker 1: had passed. When the war was long behind, Madison got 474 00:27:55,600 --> 00:27:57,960 Speaker 1: a letter from a younger Virginian, a Virginia of the 475 00:27:58,000 --> 00:28:01,879 Speaker 1: younger generation, saying he was writing about the revolution and 476 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:03,479 Speaker 1: he was going to cover the period all the way 477 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,000 Speaker 1: up through Madison's administration. And two of them went back 478 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,359 Speaker 1: and forth, and then finally the young man, who was 479 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,040 Speaker 1: a member of the Lee family, said, well, of course 480 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:12,959 Speaker 1: there's going to come a point in my book at 481 00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,080 Speaker 1: which I have to say something about your appointments. And 482 00:28:16,160 --> 00:28:18,840 Speaker 1: I don't know what to say about them, because well, 483 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:21,480 Speaker 1: the inplication, of course was they were all so awful. 484 00:28:22,160 --> 00:28:25,320 Speaker 1: And Madison, of course didn't have to be told what 485 00:28:25,359 --> 00:28:27,960 Speaker 1: he meant, so he answered him by saying, well, you 486 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:30,760 Speaker 1: have to consider the factors that a president has to 487 00:28:30,760 --> 00:28:34,280 Speaker 1: take into account in making appointments. First of all, we 488 00:28:34,320 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 1: have to have geographic diversity. Secondly, we have to have 489 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:42,120 Speaker 1: people who have connections. Thirdly, they have to be able 490 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,520 Speaker 1: to afford to come to the seat of the government 491 00:28:45,520 --> 00:28:49,040 Speaker 1: and serve without being paid very much. And an he 492 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:51,560 Speaker 1: went through all these criteria that he had used in 493 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:53,280 Speaker 1: choosing people, and you just kind of think, well, you 494 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,880 Speaker 1: can understand why John Armstrong ends up being more secretary, 495 00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 1: even though he was the guy who hatched the New 496 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:02,680 Speaker 1: Bird conspira during the Revolution, he ended up being James 497 00:29:02,720 --> 00:29:06,320 Speaker 1: Madison's war secretary, and John Quincy Adams, who was a 498 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:09,200 Speaker 1: senator at the time, said this was the most disgraceful 499 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,920 Speaker 1: appointment in American history. It's just unbelievable. This guy ends 500 00:29:13,000 --> 00:29:15,400 Speaker 1: up being war secretary. And then, of course a show 501 00:29:15,440 --> 00:29:18,960 Speaker 1: in the book, Armstrong was semi competent, mostly because he 502 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:21,360 Speaker 1: didn't want to cooperate with the president. The President would 503 00:29:21,360 --> 00:29:23,120 Speaker 1: tell him to do things and he would say, well, 504 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:25,760 Speaker 1: we don't really need to do that. Madison would say 505 00:29:25,720 --> 00:29:28,120 Speaker 1: we'll do it anyway, and then wait months and then 506 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 1: say have you done this, and Armstrong would say no. 507 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:33,920 Speaker 1: One thing was. He told him to prepare the approaches 508 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:39,080 Speaker 1: from Maryland to Washington, DC, and Armstrong said, well, why 509 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:40,880 Speaker 1: would you do that. If the British were going to 510 00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: go up to Potomac, they'd be heading to Baltimore. They 511 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: wouldn't come to Washington, d C. There's nothing here. And 512 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: so Madison waited several months and then he said, well, 513 00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: how have you done about appairing the approaches? And Armstrong 514 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,000 Speaker 1: said well, I haven't done anything I told you before. 515 00:29:54,400 --> 00:29:56,920 Speaker 1: If the British were coming up to Chesapeake, they'd be 516 00:29:56,920 --> 00:30:00,560 Speaker 1: heading to Baltimore. So finally the time came the British 517 00:30:00,680 --> 00:30:04,760 Speaker 1: land of force in Maryland. It marches across Maryland, it 518 00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,880 Speaker 1: gets to Bladensburg, they have the famous confrontation between American 519 00:30:08,920 --> 00:30:12,400 Speaker 1: and British forces, which is just a total debacle, and 520 00:30:12,880 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 1: the next day the same British force burns down the Capitol, 521 00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,080 Speaker 1: burns down the White House, and so on and so on. 522 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:23,840 Speaker 1: Right well, Armstrong died thinking this was Madison's fault. Right so, 523 00:30:24,240 --> 00:30:27,160 Speaker 1: And in some sense it was Madison's fault because at 524 00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:29,200 Speaker 1: the second time he asked him if he'd done that yet, 525 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: he should have fired him. But that was not his personality. 526 00:30:32,880 --> 00:30:35,440 Speaker 1: So not only did he not fire him, he didn't 527 00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:37,800 Speaker 1: check on the question whether anybody had done what he'd 528 00:30:37,800 --> 00:30:40,200 Speaker 1: been telling him to do, And that meant the approaches 529 00:30:40,240 --> 00:30:44,040 Speaker 1: weren't prepared, and it's not clear that the American forces 530 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:45,960 Speaker 1: could have held off the British anyway. But that's a 531 00:30:46,040 --> 00:30:51,000 Speaker 1: good illustration of Madison's management style. It really wasn't management style. 532 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:53,400 Speaker 1: I think it was probably a management style he had 533 00:30:53,480 --> 00:30:56,320 Speaker 1: picked up running his plantation. You know, he could tell 534 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 1: people what to do and they did it. I often 535 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,120 Speaker 1: think of the British burning the Capitol because when I 536 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:06,400 Speaker 1: was serving in the Congress, the stone stairway that goes 537 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:10,960 Speaker 1: up from the House chamber to the Speaker's office is 538 00:31:11,000 --> 00:31:14,800 Speaker 1: in fact called the British stairway because it is literally 539 00:31:14,960 --> 00:31:18,480 Speaker 1: the stone stairway. The British ran up with torches to 540 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:20,960 Speaker 1: burn the building down. There's still smoke stains in the 541 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,520 Speaker 1: White House too, And of course it then led us 542 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:26,719 Speaker 1: to one of our first great national heroes in Andrew Jackson, 543 00:31:26,800 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: which was a story of its own. But now, finally 544 00:31:29,720 --> 00:31:33,160 Speaker 1: you get to the last of the three great Virginians 545 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:37,560 Speaker 1: in Monroe, who is the youngest of them, was a 546 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:41,160 Speaker 1: very very junior officer in the Revolutionary War. And this 547 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:45,840 Speaker 1: is quietly persistently involved other than the Monroe Doctrine. When 548 00:31:45,880 --> 00:31:48,160 Speaker 1: you look at it, do you have a sense that 549 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:51,360 Speaker 1: they're gradually losing energy by the time they get to 550 00:31:51,400 --> 00:31:55,479 Speaker 1: their third president. Well, the Monroe administration was responsible not 551 00:31:55,480 --> 00:31:58,360 Speaker 1: only for the Monroe Doctrine, but also for an acting 552 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:03,320 Speaker 1: bolt of the Florida and for the Transcontinental Treaty by 553 00:32:03,360 --> 00:32:06,880 Speaker 1: the time Monroe left office, the United States was going 554 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: to be one of the world's great powers. It was unavoidable, 555 00:32:09,920 --> 00:32:13,040 Speaker 1: and people thought so. And not only that, but during 556 00:32:13,080 --> 00:32:15,760 Speaker 1: them in road administration. In fact, it was the same 557 00:32:15,840 --> 00:32:20,240 Speaker 1: day that John Quincy Adams signed the Transcontinental Treaty with 558 00:32:20,360 --> 00:32:23,840 Speaker 1: his Spanish interlocutor in Washington. He went home to his 559 00:32:24,400 --> 00:32:27,600 Speaker 1: mess house and he found that three, i think three 560 00:32:27,600 --> 00:32:29,479 Speaker 1: of the other guys who lived there had spent their 561 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:34,320 Speaker 1: day arguing McCullock versus Maryland. So these happened on the 562 00:32:34,360 --> 00:32:38,200 Speaker 1: same day. It's just kind of astounding. But Monroe had 563 00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 1: followed Washington's example in taking tours of the United States, 564 00:32:41,880 --> 00:32:43,520 Speaker 1: and that's where we get the term the era of 565 00:32:43,560 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 1: good Feelings. When he got to the great federalist centers 566 00:32:47,280 --> 00:32:50,640 Speaker 1: of New York and Boston, people fed at him. The 567 00:32:50,760 --> 00:32:53,800 Speaker 1: great and small turned out see him. Tens of thousands 568 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 1: of people aligned the roads to harrah him on the way. 569 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,920 Speaker 1: And of course he had hoped that eventually there wouldn't 570 00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:04,800 Speaker 1: be parties. That was something that Jefferson had hinted at 571 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:08,000 Speaker 1: in his first inaugural and Monroe did not appoint a 572 00:33:08,080 --> 00:33:11,280 Speaker 1: Virginian to his cabinet. I think because he didn't think 573 00:33:11,280 --> 00:33:14,160 Speaker 1: there should be another Virginian president, and that would have 574 00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:18,360 Speaker 1: qualified somebody for that position. So there are several things 575 00:33:18,360 --> 00:33:21,640 Speaker 1: Monroe did that are of significant importance. One thing we 576 00:33:21,680 --> 00:33:27,040 Speaker 1: haven't mentioned is that Jefferson's treasury secretary and Madison's first 577 00:33:27,080 --> 00:33:32,120 Speaker 1: treasury secretary was Albert Gallaton, who planned to pay off 578 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:34,760 Speaker 1: the federal debt. And you often hear people say, well, 579 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:37,480 Speaker 1: Andrew Jackson's important because he paid off the federal debt 580 00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:39,440 Speaker 1: and he actually paid it off on the date that 581 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:43,840 Speaker 1: Albert Gallaton had planned during jefferson administration. So that was 582 00:33:43,880 --> 00:33:47,800 Speaker 1: another accomplishment of these fellows, right that they put federal 583 00:33:47,880 --> 00:33:50,240 Speaker 1: debt on the road to extinction. They couldn't, of course, 584 00:33:50,280 --> 00:33:52,600 Speaker 1: have imagined what it is today. By the way, I 585 00:33:52,640 --> 00:33:55,400 Speaker 1: always try to point out to people that with Hamilton 586 00:33:55,480 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 1: and Gallaton, our first two great checktors to Treasury were 587 00:33:59,760 --> 00:34:03,840 Speaker 1: both the emigrun Right. Well, I guess it's arguable whether 588 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:06,520 Speaker 1: Hamilton was an immigrant he moved from one British colony 589 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:09,759 Speaker 1: to another, but Gallan was definitely an immigrant. He came 590 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:13,360 Speaker 1: from Switzerland. And it's interesting that he came from Switzerland 591 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:17,600 Speaker 1: because you've heard the expression dukes don't emigrate. But on 592 00:34:17,680 --> 00:34:21,160 Speaker 1: his father's side he was a Galatini, and the Galatini 593 00:34:21,360 --> 00:34:25,839 Speaker 1: family were among the founders of Geneva, and Gallatin's ancestors 594 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:30,440 Speaker 1: included five chief executives of Geneva. His mother's maiden name 595 00:34:30,600 --> 00:34:33,520 Speaker 1: was du Rosie, so he was noble on both sides 596 00:34:33,560 --> 00:34:36,080 Speaker 1: of the family. And at some point, when he was 597 00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:38,280 Speaker 1: in his late teens, he went to his mother and said, 598 00:34:38,560 --> 00:34:40,839 Speaker 1: I'm tired of Geneva. It's just not interesting. I would 599 00:34:40,880 --> 00:34:42,719 Speaker 1: think I want to go to America. And he had 600 00:34:42,719 --> 00:34:44,640 Speaker 1: a best friend from school. The two of them had 601 00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:47,120 Speaker 1: been to the best schools in Switzerland, and the two 602 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:49,040 Speaker 1: of them decided, well, no, we're going to move to America. 603 00:34:49,239 --> 00:34:52,839 Speaker 1: Did they speak English, No, they just came here. So 604 00:34:52,920 --> 00:34:56,839 Speaker 1: Gallant ends up teaching French at Harvard for years, and 605 00:34:56,880 --> 00:35:00,120 Speaker 1: then he decides, a Harvard Boston, this place is boring, 606 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:02,879 Speaker 1: and if you thought someplace was born in the United States, 607 00:35:02,920 --> 00:35:06,839 Speaker 1: where would you move? Well, his answer was Western Pennsylvania, right, 608 00:35:06,880 --> 00:35:09,960 Speaker 1: So he moves to western Pennsylvania just in time to 609 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:12,960 Speaker 1: be in the middle of the Whiskey Rebellion, and people 610 00:35:13,000 --> 00:35:16,720 Speaker 1: from Western Pennsylvania elect him it's a crazy story, Albert 611 00:35:16,719 --> 00:35:19,799 Speaker 1: Gallanton's story. He's a very interesting fellow. I think. First 612 00:35:19,800 --> 00:35:21,359 Speaker 1: they elect him to be in the State, the lower 613 00:35:21,440 --> 00:35:24,040 Speaker 1: house of the state Legislature. Then they elect him to 614 00:35:24,080 --> 00:35:26,560 Speaker 1: be in Congress. Then he becomes a senator. Of course, 615 00:35:26,640 --> 00:35:29,520 Speaker 1: the Federalist in Congress make fun of him for having 616 00:35:29,520 --> 00:35:32,839 Speaker 1: this thick French accent. If anybody ever had a gallic nose, 617 00:35:32,920 --> 00:35:35,239 Speaker 1: Albert Gealton had a golic nose. In fact, there's a 618 00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:38,200 Speaker 1: funny note he writes to some friend of his about 619 00:35:38,239 --> 00:35:41,400 Speaker 1: his new wife. He says, well, she's not that handsome, 620 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:45,720 Speaker 1: but she's sensible, she's got a nice personality, she's got 621 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:50,080 Speaker 1: a good family. And reading it, I'm thinking he's describing himself. 622 00:35:50,120 --> 00:35:53,000 Speaker 1: You know that two of them are just alike, and 623 00:35:53,040 --> 00:35:55,319 Speaker 1: by all accounts they got along great. He lived to 624 00:35:55,320 --> 00:35:57,520 Speaker 1: be a very old man. He lived well into his eighties, 625 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:00,960 Speaker 1: and she was right there with him. He serves all 626 00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:04,600 Speaker 1: three of the Virginians. Yes, he served for over eleven years, 627 00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:08,480 Speaker 1: So he's the longest serving major cabinet member in American history. 628 00:36:08,640 --> 00:36:11,880 Speaker 1: And apparently was a genius. Yes, he was a genius. 629 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:14,400 Speaker 1: He too was interested in Indian languages, and knew a 630 00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:16,640 Speaker 1: lot about them. Kevin, I want to thank you for 631 00:36:16,719 --> 00:36:18,719 Speaker 1: joining me and we're going to have a link to 632 00:36:18,760 --> 00:36:23,480 Speaker 1: your new book, The Jeffersonians, The Visionary Presidencies of Jefferson, 633 00:36:23,560 --> 00:36:26,919 Speaker 1: Madison and Monroe on our showpage at Newtsworld dot com. 634 00:36:26,960 --> 00:36:28,880 Speaker 1: And I want to remind all of our audience that 635 00:36:29,280 --> 00:36:31,799 Speaker 1: this would be a great Christmas gift. But thank you 636 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:37,640 Speaker 1: for joining me on Newtsworld. You're entirely welcome. Thank you 637 00:36:37,680 --> 00:36:40,439 Speaker 1: to my guest Kevin Goodsman. You can get a link 638 00:36:40,480 --> 00:36:44,319 Speaker 1: to buy his new book, The Jeffersonians The Visionary Presidencies 639 00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:48,600 Speaker 1: of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe on our show page at Newtsworld 640 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:51,800 Speaker 1: dot com. News World is produced by Gangwich Sweet sixty 641 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:56,600 Speaker 1: and iHeartMedia. Our executive producer is Garnsey Sloan, our producer 642 00:36:56,640 --> 00:37:00,600 Speaker 1: is Rebecca Howe, and our researcher is Rachel Peterson. Your 643 00:37:00,640 --> 00:37:04,440 Speaker 1: work for the show was created by Steve Penley. Special 644 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:07,200 Speaker 1: thanks to the team at Gingwidge three sixty. If you've 645 00:37:07,239 --> 00:37:10,480 Speaker 1: been enjoying Newtsworld, I hope you'll go to Apple Podcasts 646 00:37:10,719 --> 00:37:13,480 Speaker 1: and both rate us with five stars and give us 647 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,320 Speaker 1: a review so others can learn what it's all about 648 00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:19,399 Speaker 1: right now. Listeners of newts World can sign up from 649 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:23,359 Speaker 1: my three free weekly columns at Gingwidge three sixty dot 650 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:28,080 Speaker 1: com slash newsletter. I'm Newt Gingridge. This is news World