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John Jay: Founding Father

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While one cannot seriously dent the opinion of the public on who contributed the most to the founding of our republic: and thus the auras of Washington, Adams, Hamilton, and Jefferson reign supreme, one cannot seriously dismiss John Jay. Jay served in all but one of the branches of our early federal government and secured the final treaty which ended the Revolutionary War. Tne boundary issue with English owned Canada was also settled through his diplomacy. Tne borders of Maine and Minnesota being points of contention.

Jay was a statesman and a great writer. His contributions to the Federalist Papers, albeit they are limited, served as a guidance to future government. He served at the state level as governor of New York and helped to create political parties, although he struggled with his aversion to factionalism. As a member of the Constitutional Congress, Jay maintained vital relationships with friends in England whom he needed to make the American experiment work.

During his era, the right to navigate the Mississippi was an important issue in America and especially to the commerce driven economy created by Hamilton. Like Jefferson, Jay envisioned a larger America. He wanted us to expand and evolve. Therefore he wasted no effort in taking the Mississippi away from Spain, France, and England. Jay clearly viewed the United States in terms of an opportunity for expansion.

As a man, Jay was a committed Christian. He founded many churches and lived out his life in Christian fellowship. His wife was clearly the greatest of the founding mothers. The letters between Jay and his wife were full of love and undying admiration, but also full of ideas. Unlike Abigail Adams, she was not a prude, a story-teller or a whiner. She worked very hard to see her vision of America come true. Alas she died early at age 45. There should be statues put up for her!

Jay was simply the best America can produce. His mind was better than Washington's, his vision equal to Jefferson, and his love for his country unequalled. Stahr captured all of this in an easily readable book. I look forward to his next project and hope he may tackle some lesser lights in our nation's founding. What a wonderful opportunity for all of us to learn about someone deserving of much applause, but who biographers seem to have passed by. If you get a chance, please get to New York and do a tour of his home.

I truly loved this one and if you want to know who did the tough work on our founding here he is in all of his glory. A great man and a great book.

Stahr's book on John Jay is absolutely first-rate. Surprisingly, Stahr mentions that it has been almost 70 years since someone has done a full biography on Jay. This makes the book all that more appreciated.

In short, although Jay was not as important and revered and talked about as Washington, Jefferson, and Hamilton, he clearly played a major part in launching this nation for over 25 years, so much so, that one wonders how he slipped under the radar screen. Here goes....He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1774 and 1775, and was President of it in 1779. He lead the peace negotiation in 1782-3 at Paris which resulted in a very favorable treay for the US. From 1784 till 1790 he was Secretary of Foreign Affairs for the Confederacy, but more importantly, during this most fragile period in our history when most of the members failed to attend and rotated out after one year, he gave continuity and competency to the new national government. He was the most important figure in getting a very reluctant New York State to approve the new Constitution. He was the nation's first Supreme Court Chief Justice. He was governor of New York State for two terms. There's more.

Furthermore, everyone in his times and now agrees that he handled all these tasks with competency to a fault, being admired by friends and opponents alike. Like Hamilton, he was a person who got things done, but, unlike Hamilton, he seemed to get along with everyone.

The writing and research are great. One gets not only a feeling for who Jay was as a person, but also what his place in history is. It's not a profound book or a book that comes to new conclusions and insights, but a book that exposes Jay's life for what he did and what he was worth. It brings together Jay's lifelong multitude of accomplishments. From the cover jacket, the author appears to be a lawyer/novice at writing books. Great first effort!

I'd have to say that this is probably a book for people who already know something about the beginnings of the United States and are looking to fill in the gaps. Jay was clearly a team player, and this book focuses on Jay and not the overall picture.

Lastly, several years ago I visited the Jay homestead in Rye, New York. It's a beautiful piece of land by the water. Apparently the building itself just barely escaped the wrecking ball, hard to believe. I'd recommend a visit.

John Jay [1745-1829] has long deserved a full-length scholarly biography and here he receives one that does honor to subject and author alike. First-time author Walter Stahr, a practicing attorney specializing in international law, has done prodigious work in the original sources and the scholarly literature and presents his findings capably and responsibly. He blends rigorous scholarship with clear and direct prose. His work deserves a wide and grateful audience. I have one caveat. Having worked on John Jay myself, I respectfully dissent from Mr. Stahr's argument that historians have neglected Jay because of his religious and political conservatism. I think, rather, that there are three major reasons for the previous neglect of Jay. First, until the great body of his papers found a home at Columbia University, thanks to the labors of Richard B. Morris, the sources needed for a fuller understanding of Jay and his career were not readily available, and the availability of sources often shapes the kinds and varieties of scholarship that historians and biographers can undertake. Second, by one of those unfortunate historical accidents, Jay was not a signer of either the Declaration of Independence [indeed, he was a reluctant revolutionary until 4 July 1776] or the Constitution of the United States. Signers and Framers tend to get more attention from later writers than those who were neither signers nor framers. Third, not only Jay but all members of the early [pre-1801] Supreme Court have been eclipsed by the titanic figure of John Marshall. In any event, Stahr's biography should spark a reconsideration of Jay's life and career and a re-evaluation of his place in the establishment of the United States.

When you hear or read about the Founding Fathers, the same names pop up time and again: Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Franklin, Hamilton and Madison. In sports terms, this was the starting lineup for the Revolutionary Era. You can't win, however, without a good bench, and among the 18th century second-stringers, John Jay was an important player.

What did Jay do? For starters, he was the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and although he was not spectacular in the role, he did set a few precedents. In addition, after leaving the post to become Governor of New York, he was re-offered the position by John Adams; when Jay declined resuming the post, Adams turned to John Marshall, who wound up being the most important Chief Justice of them all.

Jay also served as a President of the Continental Congress, so in a very limited way, he was the chief executive of the early United States. He also participated in the treaty with Britain that ended the Revolution, served as Secretary of Foreign Affairs in the pre-Constitutional era, and was one of the authors of the Federalist papers. Although not a delegate in the Constitutional Convention, he actively campaigned for ratification and did contribute a couple of big ideas to the document: the Supremacy Clause (acknowledging treaties and the Constitution as the supreme law of the land) and the provision limited the Presidency to natural-born citizens (a topical item considering the drive by some who see Arnold Schwarzenegger as a possible President).

Walter Stahr's competent if unspectacular biography of Jay is quite readable and shines a light on this somewhat obscure political figure. Stahr's main failing (and it is generally a minor one) is that his affection for his subject sometimes affects his objectivity, leading him to explain Jay's actions. This is no hagiography, however, and Stahr does occasionally put Jay under a harsher light.

For most people, John Jay is like Gouverneur Morris, John Hancock or Patrick Henry: a man who is more or less in the background of the stories of other figures without ever really being defined beyond a few scant details. Stahr, however, shows that this particular second-stringer was a most important utility player. Although the book is not perfect, it gets a full five stars for overall quality and the fact that it provides illumination on a generally neglected historical figure.

This is a wonderfully-written biography of one of the Founding Fathers who has been more or less forgotten. Read this book to understand why John Jay deserves a place in the pantheon of America's origins. Walter Stahr writes with passion and understanding and this book compares very well to Chernow's Alexander Hamilton bio and McCullough's John Adams. It's hard to imagine how someone of Jay's immense talent and impact has not been written about before now. This is highly recommended.

Except for the occassional crossword puzzle or question on Jeopardy, John Jay has been largely forgotten. His resume would fit right in with Adams, Jefferson, Hamilton and the others, but he was not president, he was not a signer of the Declaration of Independence. In fact, he did not initially favor independence from Britain. Yet, once the revolution was started, he was an ardent supporter of the new nation.

In 1782 he, along with Adams and Franklin negeotiated the peace treaty with England. When he returned he found that he had been appointed Secretary of State. In 1789 Washington sent Congress a list of appointments to the new Supreme Court, with Jay as the first chief justice.

As chief justice the Jay court established the court as a reasoned and honorable institution that carries forth many of the traditions that he established. After six years he retired from the court, and Washington immediately sent him to England to negeotiate a new treaty clarifying certain points of the 1782 treaty. While he was in England he was elected to be Governor of New York, where he served for two terms.

Considering the quality of leadership he exhibited in New York, perhaps we should consider sending all politicians overseas somewhere while we hold elections.

This is a splended book and well deserves a place alongside the recent spat of books we've had on our founding fathers.

While much has been published about our Founding Fathers, this well-written book offers interesting insights into the nation's first Chief Justice and broadens the entire picture of how our country came into existence. For example, we know of the diplomatic efforts by Franklin, Jefferson and Adams to line up European allies against England during the Revolutionary War, but do many Americans know that Jay and his wife were in Spain and France on similar missions and part of that political team?

Jay was an important presence at many critical moments during the founding of the country, even at times when the spotlight focused on others. His was a conservative voice (many of his friends were Loyalists), but he was a progressive thinker in helping shape our country's philosophy and direction.

I also appreciated how skillfully the author goes beyond the judicial and governmental issues to give us a picture of Jay and his family as real people and not just historical figures. Walter Stahr, a lawyer, is well qualified to write about this famous legal figure, and the book is well researched - the end notes and index provide evidence of the extensive resources he tapped. However, this is not a story told solely for lawyers or historians. It can be read and enjoyed by anyone with an interest in understanding how people in this country rapidly transitioned from British subjects to American citizens - and in doing so, stepped up to the challenges of creating a brand new nation.

John Jay: Founding Father is impressive. Considering that it is Stahr's first book, my regard increases. It has been collecting ether-dust on my "I am reading" shelf for some months. I didn't want to start it until I could give it due attention and other things were taking up my time and energy. Good thing I waited because once I read the first page, I didn't stop until I was done except for 5 hours of sleep and occasional required online activities. Stahr, like his subject, avoids dramatization but somehow manages to convey the person of John Jay. Presented in a factual and time-line structure, the book still conveys the rigors of the time and the complexities of the struggle for independence.

The book is the result of significant research and well-balanced. It has an oddly defensive tone as if Stahr considers Jay's treatment by other biographers and historians to be if not negative, at least unduly dismissive. I do think that Jay is not given his true due for his contributions but, as with our society today, the nation at that time was more fascinated with the "stars" - Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, and to a lesser degree because he suffered the same "lack of sexiness problem", Adams. I suspect that there were many "quiet heroes" during that period who were patiently and continually actually doing the work of the nation rather than just talking about it.

Jay appears to have been an intellectual, quiet, and steady man of firm principles and true devoted Christian belief. He said on one occasion when begged to push back against unfair practices that cost him his first run as New York Governor, "It will be of more importance to me to have governed myself than to have governed the state." He put honor above office. He proved this on many occasions.

A man of some contradictions, he absolutely believed that slavery was wrong but he, himself, owned slaves. He argued against admitting Missouri as a slave state but for existing states wanted slavery to be abolished slowly over time. He was averse to confict and considered the behavior of the French Revolutionaries to be like that of animals but, earlier, when first meeting with officials of Britain during our own Revolutionary War, he refused to start negotiations until he was personally addressed as and the first drafts of the agreements indicated that he was the representative of the Independent United States of American - not of a colony. He was a devoted family man and absolutely faithful husband and yet several of his children were almost completely raised by others. This was not just due to the extensive traveling to which he was subjected and the reasons were never explained.

Very early in his career - well prior to the Revolution, he advocated a separate and independent judiciary and, in fact, forcefully argued for a 3-house government of the state of New York. He followed up with this in his awful time trying to be President of the Continental Congress. He was a man of great dignity and careful attention to detail always striving to not only directly avoid misconduct but even the appearance of it. Yet, he accepted George Washington's plea to be the Envoy Extraordinaire to Britain to forge an agreement - while he was the sitting Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Jay was first to state the premise of the Supremacy Clause - even though that label was applied later. He favored a strong National Government but wanted restraints. "The national government has only to do what is right and, if possible, keep silent." A primary contributor to the Federalist Papers, his words helped convince New York to support the constitution.

During the Revolutionary War, he was the "master" of an important American spy, Enoch Crosby. In his later years, Jay related most of Crosby's activities to James Fennimore Cooper who used it to write The Spy. A note from Stahr about this extraordinary part of Jay's contribution to the Revolution says, "The CIA recently honored John Jay by naming a conference room after him as America's first counter-intelligence chief." Who'd a thunkit?

The one part of Jay's history that did disturb me was his forceful support of Loyalty oaths and treatment of Tories. I found this very distressing and don't remember seeing much about this in the biographies of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson which I recently read. Was this more an issue in New York than elsewhere or was this topic just not deemed important enough to these other "stars' and their biographers? The other alternative is that I just missed any mention of it although I do clearly remember Flexner saying that Washington required his troops to be careful with Tories and forbade mistreatment of them. Curious.

Jay was always aware of the historically important events of the time. He instructed clerks during the Continental Congress to spend at least an hour each day recording events for posterity. He said, "Americans are the first people whom heaven has favored with an opportunity of deliberating upon and choosing the form of government under which they should live."

The best quote, though, was about the constitution which he personally ensured that New York ratify: "...it is yet to be animated, and till then may indeed excite admiration, but will be of no use. From the people it must receive its spirit, and by them be quickened. Let virtue, honor, the love of liberty and of science be, and remain, the soul of this constitution and it will become the source of great and extensive happiness to this and future generations."

And so it has.

DL

1. Introduction
As John Jay wrote to his son Peter Augustus, the biographies of great men permit us to "enjoy the experience of others without paying the price which it often cost them" (p. 282). At last, Walter Stahr's John Jay offers readers the opportunity to enjoy the experiences of one of America's greatest statesmen in an engaging prose that highlights the character and achievements of an exceptional American.
After reading the book, my first reaction was surprise at the fact that John Jay has not heretofore received the attention that he merits. Jay towers above many of the other founders in learning, virtue, and selfless service, yet rarely do we hear of Jay in history books and in film. Perhaps it is because Jay, the most conservative of the American founders, was an openly religious man who did not hesitate in quoting from the Scriptures and its teachings on man, government, and society in a way that takes many scholars out of their comfort zones. Not so for Walter Stahr, a Virginia-based attorney who has presented to a general readership the first modern biography of a truly remarkable, albeit forgotten, founding father.

2. The Life and Character of John Jay
The book begins with an account of the life of a sedate young Jay starting out his studies at King's College (the predecessor of Columbia University). Stahr colors this history with anecdotes that humanize Jay. When some of the students, while in the dining hall of King's College, began breaking the table, the disturbance caught the attention of President Cooper, who interrogated each of the students one by one. When Cooper reached Jay, Jay chose not to "inform against his compatriots," maintaining that the rules of the college did not require him to do so (p. 14). Jay did not plead ignorance, as some of his colleagues did, and he did not violate his conscience. He nonetheless paid the consequence of an honest act when the university punished him thereafter.
Upon graduating King's College, Jay took up a legal clerkship in New York, and thereafter he undertook a career of nearly three decades of public service. Stahr presents a thorough account of Jay's role as President of the Continental Congress, Minister to Spain, Peace Commissioner, Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and Governor of New York. Throughout his many appointments, it was never power or ambition that motivated Jay's service; rather, it was a sense of duty towards country.
As several obituaries attested to upon his death, Jay's integrity and honor were never degraded by sordid ambition. In fact, Jay was reluctant to accept some of the posts that were offered to him. For example, when his friends tried to persuade him to run for Governor of New York, he "did not consent to the use of his name [on the ballot] until on enquiry he was told that there was no likelihood of an alteration of the present arrangement of the judiciary" (p. 283).
Jay should be remembered not only for his acumen in executing his tasks, but also for his virtue. As his son Peter Augustus had written, Jay was "eminent among those who asserted the liberty and established the independence of his country, which he long served in the most important offices, legislative, executive, judicial and diplomatic, and distinguished in them all by his ability, firmness, patriotism, and integrity. He was in his life and death and example of the virtues, the faith and the hopes of a Christian" (p. 387-88).
These "hopes of a Christian" influenced many of John Jay's political views. He was a leader of the "effort to encourage the gradual end of slavery and to improve the lives of free blacks" (p. xii) who also demonstrated a great care for the poor as well as for widows and orphans. Instead of the "customary scarves and rings" at his funeral, Jay asked that two hundred dollars be given "to any one poor deserving widow or orphan of this town, whom my children shall select" (p. 383).
Perhaps the most marked of Jay's virtues was his manner of putting others before himself. He often sacrificed his love of private life when the nation called upon his service. At the time that he served as Chief Justice, for example, he rode circuit for months at a time, leaving family behind and delivering justice to "every man's door." The only call to public service that he had declined was his second nomination to serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, which he turned down only because failing health made it impossible for him to ride circuit. Jay finally retreated to private life thereafter.

3. Conclusion
Stahr presents a balanced portrait of John Jay that does not eulogize him beyond reality. He discusses not only Jay's virtues, but also his flaws, including the severity Jay would at times show towards his opponents, as well as his lack of emotion under circumstances that would normally evoke strong sentiment. Stahr also treats the scholarship that suggests that Jay did not play as significant a role in the laws that manumitted slaves as other scholars have suggested. He also touches on the fact that although Jay stated he was an abolitionist, he held slaves. Stahr mentions that Jay treated these slaves well and intended to have one of them freed (p. 347), but he does not go as far as other scholars in suggesting that Jay acquired slaves with the intent of having them freed.
Stahr's presentation of these less refined points of Jay's character in contrast to his virtue, compassion, and selfless service have the effect of offering the book a sense of balance and credibility that it would otherwise lack. The author's nearly seventy pages of footnotes support the portrait painted and offer the reader a well researched, systematically organized account of Jay's life, all while demonstrating Stahr's acumen as a biographer and story teller. This is a five-star book.

John Jay - most people know precious little about the man who is rightly considered to be one of the most important of the "second tier" of founding fathers (people like Washington, Adams, Jefferson, & Franklin make up the first tier). Prior to reading this book, I must admit that I also knew precious little about John Jay except that he was the first Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Walter Stahr has done us all a favor by providing us with this portrait of Mr. Jay and explaining why he was such an important man that he deserves to be considered one of the founding fathers.

From his early days as a lawyer in New York through his days as a "resistance leader" then his days as a revolutionary leader, Stahr takes us on an unforgettable journey through Jay's life and the people that he meets while forming his opinions. Once Jay becomes President of the Continental Congress, we really see how much his contributions mean to the cause of American Independence.

During the American Revolution, Jay did not take the road of some of the founders, such as Washington or Edward Rutledge - he did not sign the declaration of Independence, nor was he a soldier. Instead, he became a minister Plenipotentiary to Spain, where he attempted to secure an alliance and funding for the weak American confederation. Despite his lack of success here (some say it was a failure, but he certainly did achieve more than his predecessors), he became an instrumental part of the peace process - working with John Adams, Henry Laurens, and Benjamin Franklin in Paris to build & define the peace treaty with the British. This section of the book is most enjoyable, and Stahr makes Jay's contributions, along with the process of drafting & ratifying the treaty, come to life.

Once back in the states, Jay's important duties to the new nation continue - he becomes the Secretary for Foreign Affairs, and later the first Chief Justice. He later becomes the American representative to Britain, where he negotiates Jay's treaty, which is rightfully considered to be one of Jay's coups as a foreign minister.

Stahr concludes with Jay's years as governor of New York, his retirement from public service, his futhering zeal & interest in religion as he ages, and finally his death.

Stahr relies largely on contemporary sources to write this book; there are a lot of quotations direct from letters to/from Jay, or from diaries or records of the period. This makes the book eminently readable and interesting.

I gave the book only four stars because of the lack of information once Jay became Governor of New York - he served 8 years as Governor, but scarcely a chapter of the book is devoted to this service. Had further information about his success (or lack thereof) during his tenure as Governor been included, this biography could be considered complete.