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The Birth of Modern Politics: Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828 (Pivotal Moments in American History) Reprint Edition, Kindle Edition
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.
- ISBN-13978-0199754243
- EditionReprint
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication dateMay 1, 2009
- LanguageEnglish
- File size1911 KB
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Product details
- ASIN : B004PGMH9C
- Publisher : Oxford University Press; Reprint edition (May 1, 2009)
- Publication date : May 1, 2009
- Language : English
- File size : 1911 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 277 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #841,834 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #358 in Campaigns & Elections
- #1,243 in Elections
- #1,317 in Political History (Kindle Store)
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"The two parties whose outlines began to form around Adams and Jackson in 1828 began a dialogue that in many respects continues today."
"The Election of 1828" is based upon the belief that it analyzes the first "modern" U.S. Presidential election, with competing political parties, ad hominem attacks and aggressive campaigning, and fund-raising, campaign rallies, and campaign stops. The two participants -- Northerner Adams, son of the second President and a formidable public servant himself, against southerner Jackson, a plain-spoken rough-and-tumble military hero -- were a complete mismatch, and even though they were both nominally Republicans, had little in common either personally or politically.
By the parlance of today's time, Adams would be considered a big-government progressive who under-utilized his powers of office during his lone term (not completely dissimilar to Barack Obama), while Jackson would be an avowedly small-government conservative who would aggressively expand his powers in office in order to carry out his policies. This certainly has resonance today -- it did when I first read this book back in 2014, and is even more resonant today in 2018. Adams was one of the last of the original Federalists (the party of Alexander Hamilton, and the one implicitly claiming George Washington himself), while Jackson, whose campaign was orchestrated by Martin Van Buren (the Lee Atwater or Karl Rove of his day) ran on anti-Federalist themes that make him a forerunner to the modern Republican party. The terms "Federalist" and "anti-Federalist" have very inverted meanings today, with the current "Federalist Society" and its advocates espousing a strictly anti-Federalist agenda, as Jackson and Van Buren would have understood them in 1828.
Obviously the reader of this book knows the outcome of the election in advance -- Adams loses badly, although he obtains a modicum of revenge by returning to Congress and serving there for another almost two decades; Jackson serves two tumultuous terms, leaving his successor Van Buren with an untenable one-term Presidency, and now has a much-debated historical legacy. The excitement then lies not in the result, but in how well the goings-on in 1828 match up with modern times. The author here milks all this material for a fairly short book, spending half the material on the run-up, and the other half of the book on the campaign, the election results, and the aftermath, but there's still a lot to interest the reader.
While there are longer and more magisterial tomes out there now on both Quincy Adams and on Jackson, "The Election of 1828" is a very good introduction to the two men, and a good overview as to the state of American politics in the first election after the deaths of Adams the first, and Thomas Jefferson. Things are not so different today.
First, I will start with the positive attributes of the book before discussing the negative. This book is obviously not a biography of either man. The role of this book is to break into the story behind the story which led to a ferocious election in 1828. However, Parsons paints a unique picture of both men. She traces the origins and stories of both in a very clear and linear path. While I have learned about Jackson in history class this gave me some more information about his background. His life as a youth is not one that anyone should envy. He was the son of immigrants who endured the loss of literally everyone in his family. His climb to success was of course perilous as everyone knows that Jackson had a volatile temper. Parsons also laid a nice introduction for John Q. He is one that in some ways had a sad life. While he was born into privilege and well-loved, it seems that his life was not really his own and he was being trained for his future during his entire lifetime.
She also did a nice job developing the storyline as it was neither rushed nor drawn out. She traces the steps and the burgeoning friendship of two unlikely friends. The chasm of differences between Jackson and Adams could not be more pronounced and their mutual admiration is an unusual story. The alliance between them was not merely political and it seems that they had developed a genuine respect for one another. It was in fact the election of 1824 that caused a breach between the two of them. Henry Clay throwing his weight to gets Adams elected enraged Jackson and brought about the accusation that the process had been corrupted, hence the name "corrupt bargaining." Of course, Adam's presidency was able to accomplish very little. His educated manner and polished style really made Americans more disconnected from Adams and his policies as well as ideals widened the rift between he and Jackson. The media and the election process severed their friendship and introduced a more pronounced ugliness in politics.
Parsons makes the argument that this was the election that really shaped modern electioneering with the mudslinging, cheap shots and party bases. To a certain extent she has a valid point. However, she failed to elaborate that the election 1800 with Jefferson was charged with political fire and had its own divisive factions. She did bring up but it seems that she played it down a little. While Adam's father stated that parties were negative for America it does not seem that he meant it and while she gives much of the rhetoric of the early fathers she does not always discuss the ways in which they contradicted their own ideas. It is true however that Martin Van Buren "the little magician" really fired up a base for Jackson and helped institute a set of practices that helped foster strong political partisanship.
Overall, the book was well done. It is a short book in comparison but I think it accomplishes the mission that it sets out to do. All things in the book lead up to the year of 1828. The implications of that year do have long lasting effects on the modern process. I agree that political parties create a situation that is good for the party but not always for the community. Communities are often the victims of the political process and this was one the reasons the fathers were against them.... at least in theory. Unfortunately, it is a fact of human nature that people always find reasons to divide and the story of our nations history is no exception.





