The Presidency of John Adams : the collapse of Federalism, 1795-1800
Stephen G. Kurtz (Author)
"In 1795, as George Washington's presidential career drew to a close, there was much speculation about his successor. The young nation was already divided over the question of defining the scope of Federal and state authority, and this led to a bitter partisan struggle between Federalists and Republicans which was to result within a five-year span in the collapse of Federalism and a reorientation of American political life. This volume is not only a record of John Adams administration, but also a detailed history of the first nationwide political battles in the United States. Beginning with the agitation over the Jay Treaty of 1795, Stephen G. Kurtz shows how the Republicans planned a campaign to unseat the Federalists in the first disputed election in American history, that of 1796, when Adams became President by a margin of only three electoral votes. A close study of this election reveals the nature of the two political parties and of the political issues which they thrust before the public. However, the author goes beyond an analysis of political methodology to draw new conclusions that depart from the standard textbook accounts which usually depict John Adams as a man who fell into the vacuum created by Washington's departure and whose only accomplishment was a negative one, that of averting a war with France. While Dr. Kurtz does not attempt to cast Adams in a heroic mold, he offers documentation proving that the Adams record was not as disastrous to the nation or as strong a condemnation of his personal failings as some historians maintain. Indeed, he raises once more to light much good and substantial thought and action during Adams' tenure in office that have too often been sub- merged and lost to view. In addition, he supplies answers to many provocative questions concerning the roles played by such eminent figures as Hamilton and Jefferson during the early years of the Republic. As a study in American political his- tory, The Presidency of John Adams is a work of scrupulous scholarship that re-creates all the drama and turmoil of a young nation's first strides along the road to political maturity."--Publisher
Print Book, English, 1957
University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, Pa., 1957