Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Epic Presidential Election, April 15, 2009
This review is from: The Birth of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828 (Pivotal Moments in American History) (Hardcover)
"Coordinated media, fund-raising, organized rallies, opinion polling, campaign paraphernalia, ethnic voting blocs, image making, even opposition research, smear tactics, and dirty tricks". Is this a description of a presidential campaign in the television age? No, it the description by Lynn Hudson Parsons of the practices (some in embryonic form) employed by those who campaigned for Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams in the presidential election of 1828, one of the most fascinating and most important elections in our nation's history.
In this volume, Parsons reviews some of the events in the decade leading up to 1828, such as the Panic of 1819 and the establishment of the Monroe Doctrine, and relates how Jackson and Adams each arrived at their historic clash. The book shows that, then as now, candidates made plans to run for president years in advance, and the public speculated about the outcome of elections years in advance. Another parallel between the 1820s and subsequent generations is that Americans have always wondered if the up-and-coming generation of political leadership will be equal to the challenges that it will face.
One can scarcely talk about the election of 1828 without first analyzing the election of 1824, and Parsons does this masterfully. Parsons thoroughly covers Adams's term in office, leading to the big Jackson-Adams showdown in the 1828 election. He vividly recounts the aforementioned campaign tactics, central issues, and aspects such as race and religion that shaped the 1828 campaign. Included is a state-by-state breakdown of how Jackson won his historic victory, and there is a table containing the final popular vote and electoral vote.
The book asserts that the two-party system established in that era has ever since been the arena in which arguments about the size and role of government have been conducted. Parsons ends with a short discussion of the Jackson presidency and how it changed the presidency and American politics.
I looked forward to this book's release for weeks. It turned out to be a thorough, enjoyable, well-written look at the election of 1828--most readers of American political history will likely find, as I did, that the book is all they thought and hoped that it would be.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Useful Overview of the Election of Andrew Jackson, December 27, 2009
This review is from: The Birth of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828 (Pivotal Moments in American History) (Hardcover)
This is an enjoyable and enlightening new book on the election of Andrew Jackson in 1828. It does a good job of discussing the coalition of supporters that put Jackson in the White House. It begins, appropriately with the collapse of the first party system and the election of 1824, which shaped fundamentally the 1828 campaign. The author contends that this election served as a watershed in the American political system. We have known this for a long time, but Parsons's goes further by insisting that the election of 1828 forever separated the politicians and people of the second American party system from the era of the Founders and its genteel, Enlightenment political ideals.
The author deals both with the rise of new styles of campaigning--emphasis on popular rallies, etc.--and on the division of American society into divergent pieces that had to be enticed to support the various organizations that could carry on the job of electing officials and formulating policies that reflected the priorities of its adherents. I'm not sure I would say that this election represented the "birth of modern politics," but it is a thought-provoking way to think about the election and its meaning.
While this is a very fine overview of its subject, clearly the author's primary intent, there is not that much new here for those immersed in the history of the era. The class divisions, the sectional influences, the push and pull of political traditions, the economics of the time, and the culture of the Antebellum U.S. are all present, but I looked hard for a new take on this and failed to find it. Instead it is a useful and succinct synthesis that builds on decades of historiographical contributions from a range of scholars, among them Arthur Schlesinger Jr., Robert Remini, Charles Sellars, Sean Wilentz, and others. I would recommend this book as an accessible survey of the election of Andrew Jackson, appropriate for classroom use, but not a benchmark in historical understanding of a well-studied subject.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Solid book on crucial election, March 17, 2011
This review is from: The Birth of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828 (Pivotal Moments in American History) (Hardcover)
Parsons does a really nice job with this study of the 1828 election, even if the claim of "birth of modern politics" may be a bit of a stretch. She provides all the necessary background on the lives of the two candidates, as well of the issues that were important in that election. It's well researched and well written.
The most interesting part of the book is the second half, focusing on the actual 1828 campaign. JQ Adams almost went out of his way to NOT campaign for the election, while Jackson realized that he could at least allow surrogates to get his message across. Parsons illustrates that an organized party system took shape, and that's her primary basis for her claim that modern politics were born that year -- that and the type of fierce campaigning and popularity-contest type of election that took place. More citizens could vote that year than in previous elections, and it led to a very different type of campaign.
However, there are flaws. It would be many decades before candidates themselves actively campaigned during the months preceding presidential elections. And until the Whig party emerged in opposition to Jackson, this wasn't a typical two-party system; the candidates, in fact, agreed on many issues. The most significant development stemming from this election, to me, was that it essentially signaled the end of intelligence and education as criteria for the presidency. That's not to disparage Jackson, but some of the early presidents were remarkably brilliant men -- both Adamses, Jefferson, Madison -- and since 1828, education been a virtual handicap in presidential elections. Parsons addresses this, but briefly.
In all, there is lots of information here and it's a good read. I recommend it.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
