Explaining the differences
Experts, such as academics, rank presidents such as John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson higher than the public for their accomplishments in domestic policy. There is also a political bias among academics. Academics tend to be more liberal than the general populace, so they tend to rate liberal presidents higher than the public does.
The public doesn’t have this ideological bias. The public considers Ronald Reagan one of the top ten presidents. They remember Reagan fondly, and they really don’t care about the Iran-Contra scandal, which academics hold against him. The public also ranks George Bush and Richard Nixon higher than academics do.
It is interesting to observe that Richard Nixon doesn’t make the five worst presidents anymore. Right after the Watergate scandal, he was considered one of the worst presidents in U.S. history. But he was able to regain some of his stature in the last two decades of his life, mostly due to his foreign policy accomplishments. (See Chapter 21 for coverage of President Nixon.)
Changing rankings over time
Presidential rankings change over time. This fluctuation especially affects recent presidents. It takes time to evaluate a presidency and to see the long-term impact of a president’s accomplishments or failures. Actions that may have been considered a big mistake at the time can turn out to be a stroke of genius decades later. At the same time, a courageous move may turn into a disastrous mistake when viewed with the benefit of hindsight. So, you can expect the more recent presidents to move up and down the rankings ladder in years to come. Most of the earlier presidents, on the other hand, are unlikely to improve or worsen in the standings.
Moving up the ladder: Truman
When Harry Truman left office, many considered his presidency a failure. Contemporaneous observers believed that he was one of the worst presidents in U.S. history. He wasn’t able to win the war in Korea, and his civil rights and social programs were stalled in Congress.
Decades later, the perception of Truman changed. People looked at Truman’s foreign policy and recognized what he accomplished. Truman implemented the policy of containing communism, not allowing any more European countries to go communist: The Truman Doctrine, providing aid to countries fighting communist uprisings, saved Greece and Turkey from communism, and the Marshall Plan, providing economic aid to Europe, restored European economies and prevented communist parties from coming to power in Europe after World War II.
Truman also faced the toughest decision a person could make: Should he drop nuclear bombs on Japan? Truman did what he thought was best for the country. He wanted to end World War II as quickly as possible to save U.S. lives. He did this by having U.S. bombers drop atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Truman also integrated the armed forces by executive order. He could have accomplished even more if he hadn’t faced a hostile Congress.
Today Truman is considered a great president, consistently ranking in the top ten. (For in-depth coverage of Truman, turn to Chapter 17.)
Reevaluating Eisenhower
When Eisenhower left office, his presidency was considered boring and bland. People thought he hadn’t done much. Decades later, people looked at his presidency differently — not doing much might be a good thing.
Eisenhower ended the war in Korea and kept peace around the world. As Eisenhower proudly proclaimed, communism didn’t gain an inch of territory during his tenure, and he accomplished this without shedding any U.S. blood. Not bad for a quiet, boring president.
At home, the economy was booming. Eisenhower built the U.S. interstate system and sponsored civil rights legislation. He stood up to the southern states and enforced the Supreme Court’s decision to integrate U.S. public schools. Eisenhower proved that you don’t have to be a flamboyant, controversial individual to be a great president. Chapter 18 gives you more reasons to like Ike.
Moving down the ladder: Andrew Johnson
Many, especially in the South, admired Andrew Johnson when he left office. He stood up to a Republican Congress that was trying to punish the former Confederate states. People thought that he was a true believer in states’ rights. They also believed that he adhered to the Constitution during his short-lived presidency.
Today, Johnson is considered a horrible human being whose presidency was a massive failure. Johnson was a stubborn individual, unwilling to compromise on any issue. He tried to circumvent Congress and bring the Southern states back into the Union by himself. He was a blatant racist who didn’t care at all about former slaves. He even vetoed the 13th Amendment, which made former slaves U.S. citizens. Had it been up to him, African Americans would have never had any political rights.
Johnson truly deserves to be listed among the worst presidents in U.S. history, but it took time to recognize this.
Part II
Starting with Known Quantities: Washington to John Quincy Adams
In this part . . .
You see how George Washington became our first and one of our best presidents. I look at his administration and the important precedents he set for generations to come. Despite his objections to political parties, Washington could not prevent the establishment of the first political party system, and by the time he retired two parties battled for the presidency.
Next, I look at the presidency of John Adams and his attempt to curtail basic freedoms, such as freedom of speech. Fortunately, his successor proved to be a great president. Not only did Thomas Jefferson double the size of the country with the Louisiana Purchase, but he proved to be a president of the people restoring many rights taken away by Adams.
Unfortunately Jefferson’s successors, James Madison and James Monroe, weren’t as successful. James Madison, one of our founding fathers and author of the Bill of Rights, almost destroyed the country he helped to create in the War of 1812. James Monroe was a great foreign policy leader, adding Florida to the United States, but he allowed Congress to run the show on domestic issues.
John Quincy Adams, the only president elected by the House of Representatives, closes out the part. A great human being and superior congressman and diplomat, he suffered one of the worst presidencies to date.
Chapter 3
Starting Well with George Washington
In This Chapter
Building a political career
Getting involved in the fight for independence
Taking on the role of president
Watching political parties emerge
Retiring from the presidency
W ithout question, George Washington is one of the most discussed and admired presidents in the history of the United States. The respect and admiration he holds with both academics and the U.S. public is justified. Not many people can claim to first create a new country and then successfully establish a democratic form of government. It is not just the fact that Washington defeated the British (with a little help from the French) that makes him so unique on the long list of world leaders, but that he rejected all efforts to make him a king. Throughout his life, Washington believed in the ideal of democracy and did his best to make sure that democracy survived after he left office.
George Washington truly deserves the title “founding father.” Without him, there would be no United States, and there would be no democracy on the North American continent.
Washington’s Early Career
George Washington grew up in the Virginia of the early 18th century, when Great Britain controlled the 13 American colonies as a part of a great British Empire that spanned most of the globe. Washington’s great wish was to join the British army as an officer. Young Washington did not have any thoughts of revolution in his mind: He wanted to serve the British Empire. Nobody could have predicted that the loyal British citizen would end up as a revolutionary who created a new country.
Washington trained as a surveyor. The profession gave him a good living but didn’t allow him to become a member of Virginia’s elite, which was required to enter politics. This left Washi
ngton with only one option — a military career. So in 1752, Washington joined the Virginia militia, hoping to become an officer in the British army. His goal was to impress the governor of Virginia and the British king. He soon got his chance.
Growing up a younger son
George Washington was born on February 22, 1732, the son of a well-to-do plantation owner in Virginia. As the youngest son in the family, Washington knew that he could not expect very much (if any) financial assistance from his father because the custom of the time dictated that the eldest son inherit any property.
George’s father died when George was only 11 years old. Most of the family’s plantation went to his half-brother, Lawrence. Lawrence made young George a part of his own family at their family residence in Mount Vernon and raised George like a son. With his brother’s help, George, a natural when it came to mathematics, became a surveyor. His dream was to seek new lands in the American West and develop them for settlement.
By the age of 17, Washington had gained a reputation for being a top-notch surveyor, becoming the official surveyor for Culpeper County in Virginia. Washington made good use of his skills, slowly buying up some of the lands he surveyed. By the time he died, Washington owned more than 56,000 acres of land.
Set for a career in surveying, Washington’s fortunes changed with the abrupt death of his beloved half-brother, Lawrence, in 1752. As his half-brother was dying of tuberculosis, Washington traveled with him to the island of Barbados, which has a good climate for people suffering from the disease, to search for a cure. In Barbados, Washington caught smallpox, which scarred him for life. On a positive note, by surviving smallpox, Washington became immune to the disease that proved to be a more deadly foe to American soldiers than the British during the Revolutionary War.
The deaths of Lawrence’s wife and daughter a few years later brought Washington back to the family plantation.
Proving his prowess in the military
In 1753, the French moved into the Ohio Valley — a move that alarmed the British. Washington left for the Ohio Valley with the order to tell the French to leave. The French refused, and Washington recommended the establishment of a British fort to counter the French settlements. The governor of Virginia agreed, and a fort was built. Before long, the French attacked, starting the French and Indian War.
Washington, who was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, left Virginia with 159 men to defend the fort. En route, he encountered a small French unit and defeated it successfully. When Washington’s exploits were published in a British magazine, his fame grew. By 1754, Washington expected to be named an officer in the British army. But because the British believed that their officers were better than Colonial officers, Washington’s hopes of becoming a British officer were shattered, so he resigned his military commission.
The British decision to ignore the colonists proved costly when the French and their Indian allies defeated the British forces in 1755. The governor of Virginia decided that only Washington could save the day and appointed him commander in chief of all Colonial forces. By 1758, Colonel Washington had defeated the French. He became a national hero and accomplished his goal of joining the Virginia elite.
Turning to politics
One year after his retirement from the military, Washington became a member of the Virginia legislature. By the 1760s, Washington was an outspoken critic of policies imposed by Great Britain. Believing that the British infringed more and more on the rights of the Colonies, Washington began to oppose British policies vocally — especially the taxes imposed on the Colonies to help Britain pay for wars it fought in Europe.
Washington especially criticized the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshed Acts of 1767. By 1770, Washington knew that reconciliation with Britain was impossible, so he advocated the use of force to defend Colonial freedoms. The Stamp Act of 1765 required the Colonies to pay taxes on all types of printed documents, including newspapers, marriage certificates, and all legal documents. The Townshed Act of 1767 was even worse. It imposed taxes on all kind of goods, including paper and tea.
Martha’s role
Washington met Martha Custis, a young and wealthy widow from a prominent Virginia family, and married her in 1759. Not only did the marriage enhance Washington’ wealth, it also enhanced his status within the Virginia elite.
Martha Washington proved to be a loving wife. She joined her husband during the long winter encampments of the Revolutionary War. As first lady, she was a loyal supporter of her husband’s policies and a graceful hostess. After Washington’s death, she continued to receive visitors at Mount Vernon. Her only regret was that she was never able to have any children with Washington. As fate would have it, the founding father of the United States left no heirs.
Criticizing the empire
Chaos broke loose when the British Parliament passed the Tea Act in 1773. This act allowed the British East India Company to take over the American tea business. Disgusted, the colonists responded with the Boston Tea Party, where people disguised as Indians boarded three British ships and dumped 342 crates of tea into the Boston harbor. Parliament responded with the so-called Intolerable Acts, closing Boston harbor and repealing many basic Colonial rights, including the right to local self-government.
Becoming a disloyal citizen
The Intolerable Acts were the last straw for many in the Colonies. Twelve colonies decided to call for a Continental Congress in 1774 to respond to British aggression. During the second Congress in 1775, Washington was nominated as commander in chief of the continental forces. His future vice president, John Adams, nominated him in an attempt to align the southern colonies with the northern colonies. This alliance was necessary because colonists were already fighting the British in Massachusetts.
Fighting for Independence
As commander in chief of the continental forces, Washington took his troops to Massachusetts in June of 1775 to join in the rebellion. After the battle at Bunker Hill, where Massachusetts and Connecticut militia inflicted heavy losses on the British forces, Washington liberated Boston in the spring of 1776.
Washington knew that this victory was only short-lived. He immediately started organizing to defend New York City, the most likely target of the British forces.
In the summer of 1776, 30,000 British troops, commandeered by General Howe, landed on Long Island. With the American troops untrained and ill-equipped, the British forces, supported by German mercenaries, had no problem retaking New York City. By the winter of 1776, Washington had to retreat, and it looked as if the war was over. Washington faced mass desertions and had no financial support from the Continental Congress. He went so far as to pledge his own money to pay his troops and reject any kind of compensation for his services.
On December 25, 1776, Washington saved the disintegrating continental army and kept the war alive with a major victory at Trenton, New Jersey. He defeated a force of German mercenaries after surprising them by crossing the Delaware at night.
By the summer of 1777, the tide turned. After two battles with the British — at Brandywine and Germantown — where Washington barely managed to keep his army together, the battle of Saratoga in 1777 proved to be a major victory for Washington. After his victory there, the French government decided to enter into an alliance with the United States. Washington and his troops spent the winter at Valley Forge in miserable conditions, as shown in Figure 3-1, waiting for the French forces to arrive. Knowing that the French fleet and ground troops were on their way, the British moved the war south and conquered parts of Georgia and South Carolina.
Figure 3-1: General George Washington praying at Valley Forge.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress
Washington implemented a new strategy after realizing that victory was possible by drawing out the war until the British public and parliament were sick of it and refused to continue. With the arrival of French troops in July 1779, Washington was ready to move, but the French told him to wait for the arrival of a second fleet
. Finally, in the summer of 1781, Washington launched a massive counterattack that drove the British out of the United States. In his greatest military triumph, Washington was able to trap the major British force at Yorktown. On October 19, 1781, the British forces, led by General Cornwallis, surrendered. As Washington had hoped, the British parliament, sick and tired of the ongoing war, voted to stop supporting the war despite the objections of King George III.
Finalizing the peace took two more years. Finally, in September 1783, a peace treaty between the United States and Great Britain ended the war. In December of the same year, Washington retired from the military, expecting to spend the rest of his life on his plantation in Mount Vernon. Boy, was he wrong!
Designing the New Country
After the United States achieved independence, it created a new government. Under the Articles of Confederation, the 13 states formed a loose federation, with power vested at the state level (see Chapter 1 for more on the country’s beginnings). Problems soon arose, and by 1785, Washington was very worried. He felt that the new country was in serious trouble and that the Articles of Confederation were not working.
After meeting with his old buddies, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, Washington supported a national meeting in Philadelphia the following year, 1787, to change or revise the Articles. The state of Virginia picked Washington to head its delegation.
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