The Birth of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828 (Pivotal Moments in American History) [Hardcover]

Lynn Hudson Parsons (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0195312872 | ISBN-13: 978-0195312874 | Edition: 1

The 1828 presidential election, which pitted Major General Andrew Jackson against incumbent John Quincy Adams, has long been hailed as a watershed moment in American political history. It was the contest in which an unlettered, hot-tempered southwestern frontiersman, trumpeted by his supporters as a genuine man of the people, soundly defeated a New England "aristocrat" whose education and political résumé were as impressive as any ever seen in American public life. It was, many historians have argued, the country's first truly democratic presidential election. It was also the election that opened a Pandora's box of campaign tactics, including coordinated media, get-out-the-vote efforts, fund-raising, organized rallies, opinion polling, campaign paraphernalia, ethnic voting blocs, "opposition research," and smear tactics.

In The Birth of Modern Politics, Parsons shows that the Adams-Jackson contest also began a national debate that is eerily contemporary, pitting those whose cultural, social, and economic values were rooted in community action for the common good against those who believed the common good was best served by giving individuals as much freedom as possible to promote their own interests. The book offers fresh and illuminating portraits of both Adams and Jackson and reveals how, despite their vastly different backgrounds, they had started out with many of the same values, admired one another, and had often been allies in common causes. But by 1828, caught up in a shifting political landscape, they were plunged into a competition that separated them decisively from the Founding Fathers' era and ushered in a style of politics that is still with us today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"'The Birth of Modern Politics'" is short, smart, well-written and well-researched. Lynn Hudson Parsons is clearly a fair- minded and scrupulous historian. So it feels a bit churlish to point out that his fine new book is not about the birth of modern politics."--Washington Post

"The author pulls no punches as he tells the real story of the fighting man's world that was the 1820s, an unheralded decade in textbooks that well deserves the full treatment it gets here... When you can read crisply written history from a trained historian with something profound on his mind, why go with popularizers and pundits? The Birth of Modern Politics is both the anatomy of a campaign and a clever dissection of partisanship. It engages with competing interpretations and ably recovers the spirit of a usable past."--Baton Rouge Advocate

"Sharply focused introduction to an election that fundamentally changed the landscape of American politics."--Kirkus Reviews

"Engaging and accessible account... This worthy addition to the excellent Pivotal Moments in American History series will appeal to general readers in public libraries and to historians who might want to consider it for courses."--ForeWord magazine

"The election of 1828 modernized American politics. A two-party mass democracy replaced the patrician republic created by the Founders. In 1828, the Jacksonians skillfully burnished their candidate's image, while the followers of Adams emphasized their program for nationwide economic development. Lynn Hudson Parsons respects Adams, but Jackson engages his sympathies."--Daniel Walker Howe, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848

"The Birth of Modern Politics will become the indispensable work on the formation of the antebellum political system. Scholars of early America have long awaited a modern study of the election of 1828, and this volume will delight and inform specialists and general readers alike. Each page contains deft assessments, crisp writing, and provocative analysis. Together with John Quincy Adams, this elegantly crafted study establishes Parsons as the leading authority on the 1820s."--Douglas R. Egerton, author of Death or Liberty: African Americans and Revolutionary America

"Lynn Parsons' Birth of Modern Politics is much more than a marvelously entertaining and balanced account of the modernity of the 1828 election between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. In brilliantly contrasting the divergent paths the two political leaders took to that contest, he offers valuable insights into major issues in United States political history from the Revolution to the 1830s. He deftly highlights both change and continuity. In showing that 1828 was a 'tectonic shift' in the bedrock that underlay the nation's social, economic, and political landscape, Parsons also points in timely fashion--highlighted by recent presidential outcomes and candidates--to the birth of the long tradition of anti-intellectualism in American politics."--Ron Formisano, Professor of History, University of Kentucky

"...[A] valuable resource...few other accounts present the story as thoughtfully." --Journal of Southern History

"A lively, deeply-informed and fast paced look at a presidential election that changed America and American politics." -- Karl Rove

About the Author

Lynn Hudson Parsons is Professor of History Emeritus at the State University of New York College at Brockport. He is the author of John Quincy Adams and coeditor, with Kenneth Paul O'Brien, of The Home-Front War: World War II and American Society.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1 edition (May 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195312872
• ISBN-13: 978-0195312874
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1 x 9.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #873,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating look at politics in the early 19th century March 21, 2012

By Jeff K

Format:Kindle Edition

I loved getting a "behind the scenes" look at the epic battle between Jackson and Adams, which was arguably one of the most interesting and important elections in US history. This book does a great job laying the groundwork of what led up to the bitter rivalry between these men, including what transpired during Adams' first term and how it was used against him, and how Jackson won the support of various organizations who ultimately championed him all the way into the White House. The fact that this was all on the heels of the collapse of the first party system made it even more interesting reading. If you'd like to know more about this watershed milestone in the evolution of modern politics, then read this book.

As a note, I also really enjoyed The Know Your Bill of Rights Book: Don't Lose Your Constitutional Rights--Learn Them!, as it gave me a better understanding of the Bill of Rights than ever before. I like that the author took care to reveal the ORIGINAL meanings of the rights, not the perverted lies that many pundits and politicians are pushing on us today...

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars An Epic Presidential Election April 15, 2009

By Eric Mayforth

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

"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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Useful Overview of the Election of Andrew Jackson December 27, 2009

By Roger D. Launius VINE™ VOICE

Format: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.