The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly of American Presidents: Part 2

All too often, American presidents are generalized. This one was good, this one was bad, or all of them were bad before or after this point. In reality, each President has positive or negative aspects that may be frequently overlooked. Sometimes what seemed good at the time is not so good in retrospect, or what was controversial would be accepted today. In this series, we'll look at the highlights of each President from the founding of America to today.

In Part 1, we looked at the presidencies of the first two Presidents, George Washington and John Adams. We now continue with two more of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

3. Thomas Jefferson (in office March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809 )

A skilled writer, inventor, and attorney, Jefferson co-wrote the Declaration of Independence with John Adams. He was the nation's first Secretary of State under George Washington, and then served as Vice President under President John Adams. While a member of Washington's cabinet, he founded the Democratic-Republican Party, in opposition to Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Party. He was a staunch proponent of democracy and opposed Hamilton's proposed banking system, which he thought would damage the country and be harmful to farmers, the poor, and the working class.

During the Revolutionary War, Jefferson was an outspoken proponent of freedom of thought, speech, and religion, inspiring many of those in the revolution. He was elected Governor of Virginia, represented Virginia in the Continental Congress, and was appointed as U.S. Minister to France, a key position with America's staunchest ally at the time.

The song "Yankee Doodle Dandy" is about Jefferson in his return from France. The line in the song about macaroni refers to Jefferson, a cooking enthusiast, bringing recipes for various foods back to the United States and popularizing them, notably macaroni and cheese.

Achievements as President

Jefferson was able to successfully defend American trade ships against the problem of pirates, which had been growing since before his term.

He more than doubled the size of the U.S. by negotiating the Louisiana Purchase with France. Afterward, he sent explorers Lewis and Clark to map the new American territories, and as much of the North American continent as possible, resulting in much deeper georgraphical knowledge than ever before.

He was able to save funds by decreasing the size of the military due to improved relations with France.

By signing the Embargo Act, Jefferson stimulated American trade and effectively created the American manufacturing industry.

Faced with a national debt of $83 million, Jefferson and his Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin composed a plan to eliminate the debt in 16 years by cutting unnecessary government offices and spending. He also eliminated the unpopular whiskey excise. By the end of his second term, the debt had already reduced to $57 million.

Seeing the need for a national military university, he founded the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Failures

Due to election rules at the time, Jefferson's runner-up rival in the 1800 election, Aaron Burr, became his vice president. Jefferson never trusted Burr, and not only kept him apart from any decisions, but refused to include him on the ticket when he ran for reelection in 1804. Due to other controversies and alleged misconduct, Jefferson charged Burr with treason. Burr was brought to trial and acquitted. The Burr treason trial put Jefferson in direct conflict with the Chief Justice, and he questioned the power, authority, and reach of the Supreme Court.

After successfully making the Louisiana Purchase from France, Jefferson tried to buy Florida from Spain at a price of two million dollars. While the two million dollars was given to France in an effort to annex the territory from Spain, this effort ultimately failed, the funds were lost, and Jefferson's reputation was damaged.

British ships continued to harass American trade ships, and American sailors, when captured, were drafted into British service. Jefferson was unable to entirely control or prevent this practice, and American trade and the economy suffered. Due to frustration over this, Jefferson retreated to his home, Monticello, for much of the last year of his tenure, ceding most operations to his vice president and secretary of state. He chose not to run for a third term, and like Washington and Adams before him, saw the end of his presidency as a relief calling it an "unshackeling of chains."

Controversies

Jefferson was a slave owner who thought slavery was harmful to everyone involved, and he was critical of Britain's King George III for allowing it in the colonies. Despite his negative view of slavery, he was dependent upon their labor to keep his plantation and related businesses operational. While he didn't free many his slaves, he did work to promote bettering the lives of slaves, and enabling their masters to free them should they choose.

Jefferson reportedly had sexual relations with his slaves, particularly one, Sally Hemmings, who at the age of 16 joined Jefferson in France while he was serving as an American Diplomat to France. According to Hemmings' brother, she became pregnant by Jefferson, who sent her back to Virginia with the promise to free her children after they were born.

As vice president, Jefferson frequently worked to undermine President Adams, particularly when he and James Madison wrote what came to be known as the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, claiming the Alien and Sedition Act was unconstitutional. What was said in those statements was so alarming, former president George Washington said they could lead to the dissolution of the union. As a result of this divide, and conflicts dating to when Jefferson was Washington's Secretary of State, Jefferson didn't attend Washington's funeral.

In the 1800 presidential election in which Jefferson ran against incumbent John Adams, because the electoral vote resulted in a tie between Jefferson and fellow challenger Aaron Burr, the election had to be determined by votes in Congress. After multiple rounds of voting, all resulting in a tie, Jefferson leaked how he would rule on key issues should they be presented as legislation. This, and a letter-writing campaign by Alexander Hamilton, in which he told members of Congress that while Jefferson had questionable morals, Burr had no morals at all, led to Jefferson finally winning the vote and the election. Because of this hotly contested election, election rules were changed with the passage of the 12th Amendment.

Despite his many successes, Jefferson was frequently out of money, spending a fortune on books, clothing, and furniture. To offset his living expenses, he sold many of his books to the government, greatly expanding the Library of Congress.

While he didn't believe Native Americans were inferior to other Americans, Jefferson did work to move the Cherokee and some other Indians from their ancestral areas to the newly-expanded territory west of the Mississippi River if they were unable or unwilling to assimilate.

James Wilkinson, a commanding general who predated Jefferson's term in office and who remained in his position, was made governor of the Louisiana Territory by Jefferson. Soon, allegations arose that Wilkinson was on the payroll of the Spanish in exchange for information on American operations. While Jefferson took no action and he was exonerated of the charges after being investigated, evidence found among Spanish records in the 20th century confirmed that Wilkinson was receiving funds from Spain.

4. James Madison (in office March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817)

Known as the "Father of the Constitution", Madison was pivotal in drafting the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights and in organizing the Constitutional Convention.

He was a member of the Continental Congress and the Virginia House of Delegates before and after the Revolutionary War. He was a key advisor to President Washington, and with John Jay and Alexander Hamilton wrote the Federalist Papers, which continue to be key references in interpreting the Constitution.

Madison cofounded the Democratic-Republican Party with Thomas Jefferson in direct opposition to Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Party. Specifically, Jefferson and Madison opposed centralization of power and the economic programs installed by Washington and Adams, designed by Hamilton.

Madison served as Secretary of State under President Thomas Jefferson, aiding him in the Louisiana Purchase.

Madison helped convince Washington to run for a second term as President, for the good of the country, and was the de facto head of the Democratic-Republican Party at the end of Jefferson's term.

Achievements as President

Madison was nominated for a second term without opposition.

Despite initial disasters with ground forces in the war, the U.S. Navy had remarkable success against British forces in the War of 1812.

Madison accepted Russia's offer to negotiate peace with Great Britain. He sent Gallatin and John Quincy Adams to Europe to work through the peace process, resulting in a treaty in 1814. Though there were several defeats before the treaty was achieved, there was a devastating American victory, led by Andrew Jackson, at the Battle of New Orleans, which helped boost public opinion of Madison.

Following the treaty with Great Britain, the remainder of Madison's term was referred to as "The Era of Good Feelings", bolstered by the decisive victory in the Battle of New Orleans. This was a period of national unity that saw the decline of the Federalists, the return of the national bank, increased spending on national defense, and the first investment of federal funds on projects such as roads and canals.

Unlike his three predecessors, Madison left office highly popular and successful, seen as conducting and winning "a second war for independence" in less time and less cost of life, than the first.

Failures

Facing opposition from within his own party in ways President Jefferson did not, Madison was challenged in the formation of his cabinet, especially with his first choice of Secretary of State, Robert Smith. Madison himself had to perform Smith's duties for two years due to incompetence, and finally replaced him with James Monroe.

Because he cabinet was full of people Madison didn't trust, he rarely called cabinet meetings and instead relied on the private advise of Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin.

Congress allowed the charter of the First Bank of the United States to collapse because Madison was ambivalent about it, despite former president Jefferson's promise to pay off the national debt.

Unable to stop attacks by both the British and French on American ships that had been continuing for years, Madison asked Congress to declare war on Great Britain, despite the fact that his reduction of the military had left no army, only a poorly trained militia. Because Britain was itself mostly engaged with fighting France, Madison expected the war with Britain to end quickly by attacking Britain's territory of Canada. These attacks failed, due to a lack of military leadership and regional cooperation, and Madison was left to fight a war without an Army or funds.

During the war, the British burned the city of Buffalo, NY, then, with Canadian forces, invaded and took the city of Washington, D.C., burning many buildings, including the White House. Madison and his wife were barely able to escape with their lives.

The war was very unpopular in the Northeast, where Federalists were already in opposition to the Louisiana Purchase and other actions taken during the preceding Jefferson presidency. As a result, New England states sent to delegates to meet in the Hartford Convention, which resulted in requests for several constitutional amendments, and possible discussion of the New England states seceding from the union to create their own country.

Controversies

Madison was a slave owner, born into a prominent slave-owning family in Virginia.

As Secretary of State, Madison refused to deliver a number of court appointments made by former president John Adams in the last two days of his presidency, because Adams made so many they could not be processed, and current President Jefferson and Madison disagreed with the appointments. This refusal led to the case of Marbury vs. Madison, which resulted in the Constitution being recognized as a law unto itself, and in the process known as judicial review.

It was long alleged that Monroe fathered a child with his enslaved half-sister, but to date there has been no DNA evidence gathered to support the claim.

While he worked to help Native Americans assimilate with mainstream Americans and protected their lands, Madison agreed to the Treaty of Fort Wayne, in which vast swaths of Native American land were purchased for a flat fee as well as recurring compensation. This treaty angered many Native Americans, most notably Shawnee leader Tecumseh, whose anger led him and his forces to ally with the British in the War of 1812. After the conclusion of that war, armed conflicts with Native American tribes continued.

Next: James Monroe and John Quincy Adams