SECTION II.SECTION II.
THE principle which is professed in the appointment of a chiefmagistrate in the United States is, that his removal is to be aseasy as possible, and effected without disturbing for a momentthe proceedings of governmcut. Under the idea that this last mustbe impossible, some of the patriots of 1789 were opposed to theinstitution of the office of President altogether; and there arenow some who desire that the chief magistrate shouldbe, as nearlyas possible, a cipher; that, for this purpose, his electionshould be annual; and that, if this cannot be, the term shouldcontinue to be four years, but without renewal. Such declare thatthe office was made for the man, Washington, who was wanted, toreconcile all parties They maintain that, though it was, for aconsiderable time, well filled, it must become, sooner or later,dangerous to the public welfare: that it comprehends too muchpower for a citizen of a republic to hold, presents too high astake, occupies too much thought, and employs too much endeavour,to the exclusion of better objects.
Some desire that the office should have a duration of sixyears, without renewal.
No one dreams of an attempt to hold the office for a thirdterm; and there is every prospect that, if any President shouldbe ambitious enough to desire a second re-election, he wouldfail, and descend from his high station with a total loss ofhonour.
Some think so highly of the dignity of the chief magistracy,as to propose that ex-presidents should be debarred from holdinglower offices. This looks too like an approximation to themonarchical principle to be, or to become, a popular way ofviewing the subject. It is a proposition of the high federalists.I was far more gratified than amused at seeing Mr. Adams daily inhis seat in the House of Representatives, while the history ofhis administration was perpetually referred to by those whodiscussed the politics of the country with me. I am aware thattwo interpretations may be put upon the fact of an ex-presidentdesiring a lower office. It may occur from a patriotism whichfinds its own dignity in the welfare of its country, or from arestless ambition to be in the public eye. In either case, itseems to be no matter for a fixed rule. The republican principlesupposes every man to be at all times ready to serve his country,when called upon. The rest must be left to the character of theman, and the views of his constituents.
Others think so much more highly of the dignity of the Senatethan of the executive, as to desire that senators should beineligible for the office of President. The object here istwo-fold: to exalt the Senate; and, by making half a hundredoffices higher in honour than that of President, to drain offsome of the eager ambition which flows in the direction of theexecutive function. But power is more alluring than honour; andexecutive offices will always be objects of choice, in preferenceto legislative, except with a very small class of men. Besides,the Senate is already further removed from the control of thepeople, than consistency with the true republican principleallows: and if the people are to be precluded from choosing theirchief magistrate from among the fifty wisest men (as the senatorsare in theory) that the States can choose for the guardianship oftheir interests, the dignity of both functions would be muchlowered. In theory, the people's range of choice for their chiefmagistrate is to extend from the vice-president's chair to thehumblest abode which nestles in the rocks of their easterncoasts, or overlooks the gulf of Mexico. The honour in which theSenate is held must depend on its preserving the character,which, on the whole, it has hitherto maintained. A noblerlegislative body, for power and principle, has probably neverbeen known. Considering the number of individuals of whom it iscomposed, its char cter has, perhaps, been as remarkable as thatof the noble array of Presidents, of which the United States haveto boast. If, amidst its indirect mode of election, and long termof office, it should prove equally stable in principle, andflexible in its methods of progress, it may yet enjoy a long termof existence, as honourable as could be secured by any exclusionof its members from other offices in the commonwealth.
By far the greatest apprehension connected with thePresitlent's office, relates to the extent of his patronage. Itwas highly alarming, at first, to hear all that was said aboutthe country being ridden with administration-officers, andoffice-expectants. A little arithmetic, however; proved verycheering. The most eminent alarmist I happened to converse with,stated the number of persons directly and indirectly interestedin the bestowment of office by the executive, to be 150,000. Noexact calculation can be made, since no one can do more thanconjecture how many persons at a time are likely to be inexpectation of any one office. But the above may be taken as thewidest exaggeration which an honest alarmist can put forth. Thisclass of interested persons is, after all, but a small section ofthe population. There is every reason to fear that officialcorruption is abundant under all governments; and, for some reasonswhich will be easily apprehended, remarkably so under thegovernment of the United States; but, when it is considered howsmall a proportion of the people is, at any time, interested inoffice, and how many persons in office are to be, in fairness,supposed honest, the evil of executive patronage diminishes tothe imagination so rapidly as to induce a suspicion that many whosay the most about it are throwing a tub to the whale. Thewatchfulness on the executive power thus induced is a benefitwhich will set off against a great amount of alarm. It willassist the people to find the true mean between their allowingthe President too much power over the servants who are totransact their business, and their assuming too much control overthe servants who are to transact his.
Difficult as it is to resist impressions on the spot, from allthat is said about the power of the executive, and the characterof the President of the time, the worst alarms are derided by theevent. It does not appear as if the President could work anypermanent effect upon the mind and destiny of the nation. It isof great consequence to the morals and prosperity of the season,that the chief magistrate should be a man of principle, ratherthan expediency; a frank friend of the people, rather than theircunning flatterer; a man of sense and temper, rather than anangry higot; a man of business, rather than a blunderer. But theterm of an unworthy or incapable President is pretty sure to bethe shortest; and, if permitted to serve his eight years, he cando little unless he acts, on the whole, in accordance with themind of the people. If he has any power, it is because the peopleare with him: in which case, he cannot be very destructive totheir interests. If he does not proceed in accordance with publicsentiment, he has no power. A brief review of the course of theAmerican Presidents seems to show that their influence subsidesinto something very weak and transitory; always excepting thatimmeasurable and incalculable influence which is breathed forththrough the remotest generations, by the personal character ofconspicuous individuals.
Washington's influence is a topic which no one is ever hardyenough to approach, in the way of measurement or specification.Within the compass of his name lies more than other words cantell of his power over men. When the British officers werepassing up the Potomac, in the last war, to perpetrate asdastardly a deed of spoliation at the capital as ever it was thecruel fate of soldiers to be ordered to do, they desired to betold when they were passing the burial place of Washington, andstood uncovered on deck as long as they were within sight ofMount Vernon. Any in England who happen to know how deeplydisgraced their country was by the actors in this expedition,will feel what the power must have been which, breathing fromthat shore, humanised for the hour the cowardly plunderers asthey floated by. But it was Washington, the man, not thePresident, who moved them to uncover their heads. It isWashington, the man, not the President, whose name is lovinglyspoken, whose picture smiles benignly in every inhabited nook ofhis own congregation of republics. It is even Washington, theman, not the President, whose name is sacred above all others, tomen of all political parties. It was Washington, the man, whounited the votes of all parties in his presidentship, since, sofar from pretending to agree with all, he took and loft, withoutfear or favour, what convictions he could or could not adopt fromeach. Tlle one impression which remains of his presidentship isits accordance with himself. Had it been, in any respect, a lowerself, there would have been little left of Washington in thepeople now.
Adams came in by the strength of the federal party. Supportedby the slave States, and all the federalism of the north, he hadthe means, if any President ever had, of leaving a strong andpermanent impression on the face of affairs. He filled up hisoffices with federalists. Everything during his term of officefavoured the influence of the federalists. The nation was almostbeside itself with panic at the political convulsions of Europe.Yet, notwithstanding all this, and Mr. Adams's great weight ofcharacter, giving influence to his partialities, the peoplerevealed themselves, in the choice of his successor, staunchlyrepublican.
Jefferson's influence was greater than that of any otherPresident, except Washington; and the reason is, that hisconvictions went along with the national mind. If Jefferson, withthe same love of the people, the same earnestness of temper, andgrace of manners, had been in any considerable degree lessdemocratic, he might have gone creditably through his term, andhave been well spoken of now; but he would not have been thehonourable means of two successors of the same principles withhimself, being brought in; nor would he have lain, as he nowdoes, at the very heart of the people. At the outset, hisstate-rights principle secured him the south, and hisphilanthropic, democratic principles, the north. He was popular,almost beyond example. His popularity could scarcely beincreased; but it has never declined. The common charges againsthim, of irreligion, of oppression in the management of hispatronage, of disrespect to his predecessors, are falling intooblivion, while his great acts remain. As to his religion,whatever might be his creed, its errors or deficiencies, theseare still matters of disagreement among the wise and good; and itis certain that Jefferson viewed all the realities that camewithin his ken, with that calm earnestness which is the truereligious spirit. As to the removals from office, which are stillcomplained of, it should be remembered that his predecessor hadfilled as many offices as possible with high federalists,many of whom provoked their own discharge by their activityagainst the government they professed to serve. There is noevidence that Jefferson went beyond his own principle; and aprinciple is no matter of reproach, though it may be ofcontroversy. He says, "Mr. Adams's last appointment, when heknew he was naming counsellors and aids for me and not forhimself, I shall set aside as far as depends on me. Officers whohave been guilty of gross abuses of office, such as marshalspacking juries, &c., I shall now remove, as my predecessorought in justice to have done. The instances will be few, andgoverned by strict rule, and not party passion. The right ofopinion shall suffer no invasion from me." -- "Theremonstrance laments that a change in the administration mustproduce a change in the subordinate officers; in other words,that it should be deemed necessary for all officers to think withtheir principal. But on whom does this imputation bear? On thosewho have excluded from office every shade of opinion which wasnot their's? or on those who have been so excluded? I lamentsincerely that unessential differences of opinion should everhave been deemed sufficient to interdict half the society fromthe rights and blessings of self-government, to proscribe them asunworthy of every trust. It would have been to me a circumstanceof great relief, had I found a moderate participation of officein the hands of the majority. I would gladly have left to timeand accident to raise them to their just share. But their totalexclusion calls for prompter corrections. I shall correct theprocedure: but, that done, return with joy to that state ofthings, when the only questions concerning a candidate shall be,Is he honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the constitution?"*
As to his disrespect to Washington and Adams, it should beremembered what the party heats of the day were; how Washington'scabinet was divided between France, war, and general liberty; andneutrality, peace, and care of the people at home. With such atheme of quarrel, it would have been a wonder if hasty words hadnot been sometimes spoken on all sides. Jefferson's ultimateopinion of Washington, written in confidence to a friend, in1814, has happily come to light. At the close, he says,"These are my opinions of General Washington, which I wouldvouch at the judgment-seat of God, having been formed on anacquaintance of thirty years." One extract is enough:"On the whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect; innothing bad, in few things indifferent; and it may truly be said,that never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to makea man great, and to place him in the same constellation withwhatever worthies have merited from man an everlastingremembrance."** The friendship in old age between himselfand Mr. Adams, and the moral and intellectual beauty of theirclose correspondence, are a spectacle in sight of which all priorparty misunderstandings should be forgotten. There is oneinfallible test by which to try old men who have had much to doin the world. If their power and privilege of admiration survivetheir knowledge of the world, they are true-hearted; and theyoccasion as much admiration as they enjoy. Jefferson stands thistest.
His great acts are much heard of. The reduction of taxes andcorrection of abuses with which he began his administration; hishaving actually done something against slavery; his invariabledecision for advocacy or opposition, in accordance with the truedemocratic principle, are now spoken of more frequently thanthings less wortlly to be remembered. His influence has beengreater than that of any other President since Washington,exactly in proportion to his nearer approach to the national ideaof a chief magistrate.
No great change took place during the administration of histwo successors, Madison and Monroe. They were strong in thestrength of his principles, and of their own characters.Madison's term of office would have been memorable in history, ifhe had not immediately followed his friend Jefferson. Theiridentity of views, put into practice by Madison, with thesimplest honesty and true modesty, caused less observation thanthe same conduct immediately succeeding a federal administrationwould have done. Hence the affectation, practiced by some, ofcalling Madison a tool of Jefferson. Those who really knew Mr.Madison and his public life, will be amused at the idea of hisbeing anybody's tool.
The reason why John Quincy Adams's administration is littlenotorious is somewhat of the same nature. He was a purePresident; a strictly moral man. His good morality was shown inthe devotion of his fine powers to the faithful conduct ofevanescent circumstances. His lot was that of all good Presidentsin the quiet days of the republic. He would not use his smallpower for harm; and possessed no very great power for politicalgood.
General Jackson was brought into office by an overpoweringmajority, and after a series of strong party excitements. If everthere was a possibility of a President marking his age, for goodor for evil, it would have been done during Jackson'sadministration. He is a man made to impress a very distinct ideaof himself on all minds. He has great personal courage, muchsagacity, though frequently impaired by the strength of hisprejudices, violent passions, an indomitable will, and thatdevotion to public affairs in which no President has ever failed.He had done deeds of war which flattered the pride of the people;and in doing them, he had acquired a knowledge of the people,which has served him instead of much other knowledge in which heis deficient. He has known, however, how to obtain the use,though not the reputation, of the knowledge which he does notpossess. Notwithstanding the strength of his passions, and theawkward positions in which he has placed himself by theindulgence of his private resentments, his sagacity has servedhim well in keeping him a little way a-head of the popularconvictions. No physician in the world ever understood feelingthe pulse, and ordering his practice accordingly, better thanPresident Jackson. Here are all the requisites for success in atyrannical administration. Even in England, we heard rumours in1828, and again in 1832, about the perils of the United States,under the rule of a despotic soldier. The cry revived with everyone of his high-handed deeds; with every exercise of theveto,--which he has used oftener than all the other Presidentsput together, --with every appointment made in defiance of theSenate; with the removal of the deposites; with his messagesof menace to the French government. Yet to what amounts the powernow, at the close of his administration, of this idol of thepeople, this man strong in war, and subtle in council, thissoldier and statesman of indomitable will, of insatiableambition, with the resources of a huge majority at his disposal?The deeds of his administration remain to be justified in as faras they are sound, and undone if they are faulty. Meantime, hehas been able to obtain only the barest majority in the Senate,the great object of his wrath: he has been unable to keep theslavery question out of Congress,--the introduction of which isby far the most remarkable event of his administration. One ofthe most desponding complaints I heard of his administration was,not that he had strengthened the general government--not that hisgovernment had tended to centralisation--not that he had settledany matters to his own satisfaction, and left the people toreconcile themselves to his pleasure as they best might,--butthat every great question is left unsettled; that it is difficultnow to tell any party by its principles; that the principles ofsuch affairs as the currency, land, slavery, internalimprovements, &c. remain to be all argued over again.Doubtless, this will be tiresome to such public men as haveentirely and finally made up their minds on these subjects. Tosuch, nothing can well be more wearisome than discussion andaction, renewed from year to year. But the very fact that theseaffairs remain unsettled, that the people remain unsatisfiedabout them, proves that the people have more to learn, and thatthey mean to learn it. No true friend of his country would wishthat the questions of slavery and currency should remain in anyposition that they have ever yet occupied in the United States;and towards the settlement of the latter of the two, as far aslight depends on collision of opinions, it is certain that no manhas done so much, whether he meant it or not, as PresidentJackson. The occasional breaking up and mingling of parties is anecessary circumstance, whether it be considered an evil or agood. It may be an evil, in as far as it affords a vantage-groundto unprincipled adventurers; it is a good, in as far as it leadsto mutual understanding, and improves the candour of partisans.For the rest, there is no fear but that parties will soon drawasunder, with each a set of distinctive principles as its badge.Meantime, men will have reason to smile at their fears of theformidable personage, who is now descending from the presidentialchair; and their enthusiasm will have cooled down to thetemperature fixed by what the event will prove to have been hismerits. They will discuss him by their firesides with thecalmness with which men speak of things that are past; while theykeep their hopes and fears to be chafed up at public meetings,while the orator points to some rising star, or to some cloud nobigger than a man's hand. Irish emigrants occasionally fight outthe battle of the Boyne in the streets of Philadelpllia; butnative Americans bestow their apprehensions and their wrath uponthings future; and their philosophy upon things past. While theydo this, it will not be in the power of any President to harmthem much or long.
ENDNOTES:
* Jefferson's Correspondence, vol.iii. pp. 467-476.
** Jefferson's Correspondence, vol. iv. p. 236.
From Harriet Martineau, Society in America, VolumeI, Part I, Chapter II, Section II - "The Executive."London: Saunders and Otley, 1837, pp. 69-84.
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