Table of Contents
Introduction: What Did the Founders Have in Mind? xi
Before the Devolution xi
How to Expand the Presidency in Three Easy Steps xv
Chapter 1 George Washington, 1789-1797 1
A Man Who Didn't Need the Job 2
A Christian Believer and a Whig President 4
Creating the Nation's First Cabinet 6
In for a Penny 9
More Precedents 12
Rejecting America's First Business Bailout 13
"First in War…" 15
A Fight between Our Friends 18
"Damn John Jay and Damn John Jay's Treaty" 22
America's First Reelection 24
Farewell 26
The Indispensable Man 29
Washington and the Constitution 30
Chapter 2 John Adams, 1797-1801 33
Crowning Achievement 34
The Quasi-War with France 36
The Alien and Sedition Acts 40
Adams's Place in Presidential History 42
Chapter 3 Thomas Jefferson, 1801-1809 45
The Most Critical of All American Elections 47
Green Acres 49
The Biggest of Big Government Projects 50
Deal of the Century 52
America's First War on Terror 55
The Clock Strikes Midnight on the Midnight Judges 57
No Free Lunch 58
The Wolf by the Ear 59
Grading Jefferson on His Faithfulness to the Constitution 60
Chapter 4 James Madison, 1809-1817 63
Father of the Constitution 64
An Awkward Situation 67
Not a Shining Leader 69
"We Fired Our Guns and the British Kept A-Comin'" 70
"The Public Good May Require Them" 75
Madison's Constitutional Grade 77
Chapter 5 James Monroe, 1817-1825 81
Panic and Depression 86
"A Question So Menacing to the Tranquility…of Our Union" 90
The Monroe Doctrine 93
James Monroe, Constitutionalist 95
Chapter 6 John Quincy Adams, 1821-1825 97
"The American System" 98
The Handwriting on the Wall 100
The "Slave Power" 100
Grading John Quincy Adams 102
Chapter 7 Andrew Jackson, 1829-1837 105
"Stealing from the Many to the Few" 107
"I Will Kill It" 117
Grading Old Hickory on a Constitutional Scale 120
Chapter 8 Martin Van Buren, 1837-1841 123
Martin Van Buren, Constitutionalist with an Asterisk 128
Chapter 9 William Henry Harrison, March 1841-April 1841 129
Tickin' Away 130
Not Grading Harrison 131
Chapter 10 John Tyler, April 1841-1844 133
Grading Tyler's Constitutional. Scorecard 141
Chapter 11 James K. Polk, 1845-1849 143
Grading President Polk 149
Chapter 12 Zachary Taylor, 1849-July 9, 1850 151
The California Compromise 154
Taylor: Barely Avoiding the Incomplete 158
Chapter 13 Millard Fillmore, July 1850-1853 161
Millard Fillmore and the Constitution 165
Chapter 14 Franklin Pierce, 1853-1857 167
Bleeding Kansas, Bleeding Congress 175
Assessing Pierce 175
Chapter 15 James Buchanan, 1857-1861 177
Buchanan's Sorry Record 183
Chapter 16 Abraham Lincoln, 1861-April 15, 1865 185
Rotation in Officers 191
Expanding the Government on the "Homefront" 197
Lincoln, a President for All Seasons 199
Chapter 17 Andrew Johnson, April 15, 1865-1869 201
The Failed Presidential Reconstruction 204
On to Impeachment! 208
Andrew Johnson, R.I.P. 209
Chapter 18 Ulysses S. Grant, 1869-1877 211
Reforming the Reformers 220
Grant's Constitutionalism 225
Chapter 19 Rutherford B. Hayes, 1877-1881 227
His Fraudulency 232
Hayes's Legacy 235
Chapter 20 James A. Garfield, March 1881-September 19, 1881 237
The Verdict of History 241
Chapter 21 Chester A. Arthur, September 19, 1881-1885 243
A, B, C, D, Can You Build a Ship for Me? 248
Chester Arthur's Solid Term 249
Chapter 22 Grover Cleveland, 1885-1889, 1893-1897 251
The Union Label 256
Hard Money 258
Cleveland's Legacy 262
Chapter 23 Benjamin Harrison, 1889-1893 263
Harrison's Legacy 265
Chapter 24 William McKinley, 1897-September 14, 1901 267
An Empire? No Thanks 270
Grading McKinley 275
Chapter 25 Theodore Roosevelt Jr., September 19, 1901-1909 277
The Trustbuster 279
Who Was Teddy Roosevelt? 283
Chapter 26 William Howard Taft, 1909-1913 285
Taft's Legacy 289
Conclusion: The First Twenty-Six 291
Selected Bibliography 295
Index 299
