1/18/2007(C) Copyright Sean Wilson. 2007.1 Check Sound Check Mike.

(C) Copyright Sean Wilson. 2007. 11/18/2007

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Today’s Lecture:

FDR, the Second Republic and the Modern Presidency


Today’s Lecture:

1. Concluding Thoughts About FDR and the Modern Presidency

2. The Origins and Philosophical Significance of the Electoral College

3. Jefferson, the Partisan Model, and the Alteration of the College

1/18/2007 (C) Copyright Sean Wilson. 2007. 4

The aims of the lecture

To show students why FDR was important to the presidency and to understand what “the modern presidency” is

To provide an historical and philosophic understanding of the electoral college


Lecture Organization:

• Class Announcements

• Conclusions

• The Electoral College

• The Election of Washington

• The Partisan Model Arrives


FDR -- Conclusions

1. Sense of optimism

-- Only gave 31 fireside chats

-- People remember him giving much more because of their effect

-- sense that troubles could be overcome

2. Federal Budget

-- what do you think it is after WW II? -- early views

-- the federal budget swelled from 9 billion in 1940 to 98 billion in 1945. Overall the government spent several hundred billion dollars on the war.

3. The War and the Economy

Economic impact – Wages rose, income distribution improved, unemployment was wiped out, real per capital GNP rose by some 50%. WW2 brought a degree of prosperity to the us that was not even seen in the roaring 20s. It accelerated the growth of a large middle class and it increased the employment of women because men were drafted to fight.

4. Gi Bill of Rights

5. Emergency War Powers

6. First woman cabinet officer

-- Francis Perkins, Secretary of Labor

-- No significant civil rights agenda

(Fair Employment Practices Commission)

Helping Hand

Congress passed the GI bill of rights which gave soldiers a lot of benefits: health care, education, housing, and job training. Instead of passing this universally, it was passed just for soldiers, which tended to have a bias in favor of males primarily, but also whites secondarily.

Uncle Same Takes Control

FDR had to rely on several large bureaucratic structures to administer the war effort. As with World War I, private production was turned to military purposes, federal agencies curtailed the output of civilian goods, creating rationing and shortages. They converted plants to military production. They rationed raw materials and controlled prices. They financed investments in new plants and equipment and set wage scales, and arbitrated labor-management disputes. But there was no crackdown on free speech (like WWI). [mention the internment].


How New Deal Ideology Changed the Presidency

1. The President at the policy leader

-- 80% of the laws that Congress pass are submitted by the President

-- The early views of Madison versus Hamilton

-- goes from being separate of the legislative process to being its leader

-- the presidency now drives the legislative process

“Chief Legislative Officer” of the government


2. The President as Policy Leader

-- Uncle Sam must act! (examples:)

• the economy going bad under Jackson

• disease in the 1800s

• Hurricane?

• Poor?

• Can’t afford health insurance



3. What the New Deal represented ideologically

A “new deal” (literally)

A New Republic

Agrarian constitutional order was flawed

The federal organ will now lead (through its president)

• drug wars

• beating the soviets in Space

• curing cancer

• ending poverty

“out in front”



5. Transformation in political ideology

-- The old American hegemony dies:

-- Agrarian Ideology had become second place in the aftermath of the industrial revolution (Laissez Faire)

-- Now Laissez Faire was out in the aftermath of the New Deal

-- even conservative politicians exist in a post-Roosevelt world”

• Eisenhower, Goldwater, Nixon

• Reagan

• Bush I and II

-- conservatism is more a reaction against great society liberalism than FDR progressivism



6. How does the government wield this new power?

-- it builds new institutions and structures

-- the construction of the administrative state

-- “The Second Government”

-- Large bureaus

• IRS, FBI, FDA,

• Federal Reserve, EPA,

• OSHA, SSA, OMB,

• The National Security complex (Defense, CIA, etc.)



7. What kind of power does the president have in the new system?

-- Circumstantial or conditional?

-- was Jimmy Carter powerful?

-- why not?

-- Was Lyndon Johnson powerful (why, why not?)

-- Is George Bush powerful? (why/why not?)

-- WAS George Bush powerful (why/why not)

(Power is not that of a king or tyrant; it is a power contingent upon political capital or resources)

-- sometimes, the president runs out of gas



8. What is the president’s source of power [“gas” (fuel?)]

-- Popularity

-- Economy

-- Party in Power (mandates, coattails)

-- Crises

-- Policy success or failure

9. What are the things that hurt the president?

-- election cycle

-- lame duck



Electoral College

1. method of selecting the president was a difficult problem

-- the “most perplexing problem” (according to James Wilson, a delegate).

-- debated it over and over again

-- wasn’t resolved until 11 days before adjournment

-- the basic dispute … popularly elected or appointed?

2. note the philosophy inherent in this debate:

-- Kings would never be selected by the least-common denominator

-- the House of Lords (aristocratic chamber) were also above the common and pedestrian segments

The central debate

Gouverneur Morris of Pa argued that the president should be elected. George Mason, who usually supported the people's rights on other issues, disagreed: he felt that the people did not have the ability to pick a proper chief magistrate. Only Morris's home state of Pennsylvania backed his proposal


-- Only the House of Commons used this method of selection

-- American society in 1787 still believes in social elites, just not ones by birth (meritocracy over aristocracy).

-- Hence, the Constitution has the upper house (Senate) appointed rather than elected

-- Question: what about the president?

-- at the same time, however, they fear monarchy

-- history had taught them that monarchy would be the likely end

Electoral College


3. There are also other concerns

A. independence

-- some want the president to be sufficiently independent of Congress

-- Hence, the parliamentary system is out (Virginia Plan)

B. the vast country

-- some thought it was too large to have an lection

-- people would vote for someone within their own state or region (failure of nationhood)

-- therefore, no one would receive a majority

Electoral College


-- small states feared that big states would have an advantage in a national election (more people)

-- the South feared that the north would have an advantage (more people)

4. compromise

-- Committee of Eleven

-- It’s solution: selection by electors, whose selection is determined by the States, ties broken by the Senate

-- The convention changed the last part: ties broken by the House, with members voting as single states [explained later].

Electoral College


5. Note how interesting the compromise is

-- it is flexible: those wanting a popular election can have people vote for electors; those wanting an oligarchic structure can have electors appointed

-- president remains independent (Congress doesn’t select)

-- Large States: the number of electors is a function of population

-- Small states: The House votes as states

-- Parliamentary advocates: thought no one would get a majority; hence, the “House of Commons” would select anyway.

Electoral College

The College as a Nominating Body? --

Interestingly, many founders thought that the selection process would ultimately work like this: the country was too large and factious for any one candidate to get a majority vote; hence, all that the electors were doing was nominating the top 5 candidates in the nation, with the House ultimately deciding.


6. Hamilton’s defense in #68

-- ingenious invention

-- it protects against tyranny (recurring election)

-- but it accommodates the refined

-- selection is by a “college” (think about that)

-- basic idea: the people or their agents (in state government) pick wise, intelligent statesmen who, together, make up a “college”

-- you are not choosing a president; you are choosing the statesmen who are wise enough to make this choice

Question:

What is the central flaw in the design of this

system?

Two Key Assumptions were wrong:

1. No one would get a majority

2. The election would never be partisan (no parties).Big

Mistake!

3. There would be no “campaigns”

Question:

What other kinds elections can you think of where there are neither parties or campaigns?

1. Hall of Fame

2. Academy Awards

3. Pope

Pro Bowl

Compare:

Popularity contest?The people’s choice

Does anyone even care what the people think is the best art?

Elites know better?

Electoral CollegeTime


The Election of Washington

1. 5 of the 13 colonies allowed for some kind of direct election

2. no campaign.

• no public speeches

• no policy promises!

• no agenda to advertise

3. virtue dislikes a politician

-- imagine if someone tried to campaign for a merit award (teaching award, etc.)

-- would be considered scandalous and corrupt

-- promising policy in exchange for “the award” would be a kind of “prostitution” in this world



-- to be fit for the office, you had to pretend that you didn’t want it

-- control of ambition was a prerequisite

(an America Caesar)

4. “Your henchmen do the work”

-- behind the scenes, talk you up

-- use of social network

5. An election based upon your “character”

-- for this generation, “character” meant your revolutionary credentials

-- what you did for the revolution

Washington and Virtue --

Notion: if you say you want the office (presidency), it was bad. The forthright expression of political ambition was a sign that you lacked the ability to control your passions. Anyone who actively campaigned for office was showing himself to be inherently unworthy of the office. There was a stuffy, “aristocratic” assumption that any explicit projection of self interest in the political arena suggested a lack of control over one’s own passions. Washington carried this ethos to an extreme. He would not publicly acknowledge that he wanted an interest in the office – demonstrating that he was in control of his ambitions – but he was, in fact, privately preparing to serve.

Question:

How does a skilled leader become elected then?

Question:

How is the vice president selected?


6. Vice president is the second highest finisher

7. The mechanics:

• each elector has two votes

• the votes are not weighted! (they are not first and second place votes)

• you cast your votes for the best two, and the first place is the president, the second place is VP

• can’t vote for the same person twice, and one vote has to be outside of your state



-- if we had this system today, Bush would be president and Kerry Vice President

-- Washington received all 69 votes; Adams was second with 34.


Time


1. voting in colonial days

-- Jefferson barbecue

2. Jefferson, Hamilton and political parties

-- already told the story of the dispute between Jefferson and Hamilton

-- already told you the story of how Jefferson organizes slack resources in colonial politics against the federalists

-- the federalist agenda was against what plantation hegemony and agrarian ideology would stand for

-- agrarian ideology would emerge in the 1800s as the king, and would pretty much dominate American politics until the arrival of Lincoln

The Partisan Model Arrives


3. 1796 election

-- “societies” “pre-parties”

-- “Adam’s men” and “Jefferson’s men”

--loose knit organizations without clear party discipline

-- 40% of the electors cast votes against their supposed affiliation [source: John Ferling].

-- Adams barely wins

4. election of 1800

-- class exercise



Hall of Fame Model

illustration

Potential Presidents

Electors

Two votes each

Cast the votes

President

Vice President

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Stick_Figure.png













Partisan Model

illustration

Electors

Two votes each

Casting the votes

President ?

Potential Presidents

Team A

Team B

Question:

Why have the choices narrowed?

Question:

Who do electors cast their second place vote

for?










-- first political realignment in American history

-- first time the party in power surrenders to its enemy

-- Ascendancy of Jefferson

5. What happens?

-- Jefferson and Burr tied

-- Jefferson understood that the electors had a “gentlemen’s agreement to throw away one vote”

-- Burr, the scoundrel that he was, would not relinquish the idea that he was the president

-- Jefferson contacts Adams for help

The “gentlemen’s agreement” --

Vote tally: Jefferson and Burr tied with 73; Adams = 65 and Pinkney = 64. At first, the framing generation thought the problem of ties would not occur because of a gentlemanly agreement: one of the electors in casting their ballots would throw away one of their ballots. Burr had promised Jefferson that one of his delegates would do just that. It wasn’t done; there was a tie.

Burr the Scoundrel --

Burr then starts campaigning with the federalists, saying ‘hey, go with me, not Jefferson -- i don’t really stand for anything’ [Paraphrase!]. He starts gaining steam. Burr’s strategy was to find federalist allies. Some federalists were leaning toward burr because he was considered to be the lesser of two evils because of regionalism. They saw Virginians as hypocrites -- living this gentry lifestyle built upon slave labor, pushing the common man and “liberty.” At least Burr was not a slave owner and was northern.

Jefferson and Adams I --

Jefferson then contacts Adams and asks him to stop this catastrophe. Adams replies, ‘all you have to do is agree to support the navy, remain neutral [between France and England], support the bank, and the presidency is yours.’ Jefferson replies: I can’t agree to be president by capitulation. I have to be free to make my own decisions.’



6. The voting begins

-- 8 states for Jefferson, 6 for Burr, 2 undecided.

-- Hamilton intervenes on behalf of Jefferson!

• Burr is a scoundrel (no character, no virtue)

• Jefferson may be on the wrong side of nearly everything, but at least he is honest and has virtue.

• If you make a deal with Jefferson, he will abide by it; Burr does not have these qualities

(translation: if Burr had an online exam, he would find a way to cheat)

Who is in control? --

When Jefferson and Burr tied, the Republicans did not have a majority in the House. But you have to vote by state, and the Republicans controlled 8 delegations and the Federalists 6, with two states deadlocked. There were 16 states in the union. MD and VT were deadlocked. MD’s eight congressmen consisted of 5 federalists and 3 republicans. 1 of the federalists defected, making it 4-4.

Hamilton the honorable --

James Baird was originally going to go for Burr, but Hamilton intervenes to tell him about Burr’s suspicious character and his lack of virtue. ‘Burr had no virtue and was unprincipled,’ Hamilton said. Hamilton then writes a second letter where he basically says, [paraphrase!] ‘Look, Jefferson is not all that bad; his bark is worse than his bite. He may be despicable for certain reasons, but the point is: he will not disband the power of the federal govt. .. Jefferson will not make the presidency weak or symbolic or only for foreign policy purposes.’ (In fact, that is exactly the way it turned out. J ran a tight ship in the executive -- J had more control over his cabinet and congress than Washington ever did).

[source: Ferling and others]

Hamilton the honorable --

Hamilton also says that there is no chance that Jefferson will be corrupted -- he may be a fanatic or misguided -- but he will at least be honest and act in good faith. Burr has suspicious character. Hamilton assures Baird that Jefferson will maintain the navy, maintain the present system of public credit, and will maintain neutrality. [the big issues]. Hamilton also writes, ‘make any use of this letter as you see fit,’ which means that he should show it to other delegates.




-- James Baird from Delaware (the state’s sole vote)

7. The deal

-- the first attempt

• Federalists propose allowing VT’s Congressman (Louis Morris) to switch sides in favor of Jefferson

• in exchange for (1) neutrality; (2) financial plan; (3) navy; (4) keeping certain federal appointments

-- time begins to run out!

-- Jefferson threatens secession

-- Delaware Baird to the rescue!

-- he makes a last minute try on Saturday night

Time is running out --

When the magical day in February came along, they had 2 days to try and figure it out. They took up 15 different votes, all of them coming out 8 for J, 6 for burr, 2 undecided. They came back and did a night session, casting 4 more ballots, the last one at 3:00 in the morning. The same outcome


Jefferson’s threats --

Jefferson did talk with Adams on Saturday. J was conveying to Adams the view that what was happening in the congress was a Coup d'eta and that they were keeping the rightfully elected person from being the lawful leader, and that VA would secede and PA would go with them. The PA governor said he could arm 20,000 militia men. There was a threat of civil war. There was also the threat that VA and the other states would try to call another constitutional convention to write the document to make it more democratic. That scared the feds. This shook Adams and the others.


Baird’s proposal --

Delaware's congressman Baird is the one who blinked. On Saturday night, he tried to see if he could cut a deal that could switch his allegiance from burr to Jefferson. His terms: that the public credit be supported; that the navy continue to exist; and that no officers in the army would be dismissed merely because of their political alliances




-- Jefferson’s response?

-- classic Jefferson:

(1) I’m too honorable to make deals like this

(2) But lucky for you, those are my policy positions anyway

-- The House had voted 35 times up to this point, with no change

-- On the 36th ballot, Jefferson had won

-- Jefferson would continue to publicly deny that a deal was made

Baird’s proposal --

The word came back from the courier that ‘Mr. Jefferson said that those are in fact his positions and his ideals’ about the proper way to do things.


Jefferson’s Victory --

When Monday rolled around, the House balloted two additional times, but there was no change in the votes. (the 34th and 35th ballots). They adjourned for the day. An hour or so after that, the deadlock resolved. When Tuesday rolled around, everyone knew that the deadlock was broken. On the next ballot, Baird decided to abstain, taking DE from Burr. Additionally, none of the Federalists from MD, SC or VT cast ballots. This made MD and VT go to Jefferson. There were no Republicans in South Carolina’s delegation, and that state decided to abstain. The final tally was Jefferson 10 states, Burr 4 states

[Source: Ferling]

The rest of the story --

Within days of the elections, Burr was notified that J had struck a deal to win the election, even though J himself had denied this [it is actually a semantic debate]. The “courier” republican was named Smith, and both he and Baird corroborated their story in court under oath in a defamation suit that occurred later on. There is also testimony or letters from another congressman confirming it. Once Jefferson took office, he never touched the bank of the US; he appeared to therefore have acquiesced to the Hamilton Financial Plan. He tolerated continued borrowing by the federal government. He also did not remove Federalist officers. Jefferson did seek a reduction of the navy, but within the parameters and limitations proposed by federalist legislators.

[Source: Ferling]

Time

1/18/2007(C) Copyright Sean Wilson. 2007.1 Check Sound Check Mike.

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