Because Ideas Matter...
The faculty and staff of Butler University's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences presents
Recommended Readings
A Magnificent Catastrophe, The Tumultuous
Election of 1800
by Edward J. Larson, Free Press, 2007
Reviewed by George Geib
Bitterly contested Presidential elections
are almost as old as the American republic. Edward Larson builds a
strong case that the John Adams -Thomas Jefferson contest of 1800
introduced many of the features that we now take for granted in
national campaigns. The contestants were two leading members of the
political elite, each possessed of an impressive resume. Once close
friends, they had fallen out over the constitutional meaning of the
federal balance, over such economic issues as banks and taxes, and
over the best policies to protect a vulnerable America from the
great powers of their time. Underlying the struggle were deep
social issues reflecting the differing meanings of democracy in
North and South. Internal factional struggles for party control,
especially the maddening attempts of Alexander Hamilton to exploit
an undeclared war with France, add texture and complexity. The
author traces the emergence of a nominating process, shows the rise
of position papers and a highly partisan press, watches party
managers target doubtful electoral votes, and even identifies the
first October surprise. It's all so far back in time, and yet it
all sounds so very modern.
- George Geib is Professor of History at Butler University.