#13 of 39:
James Madison (4th president)
1809-1817
Democratic-Republican
If we were looking at great Americans and what they contributed to this country in total, then the
Father of the Constitution would be in the high end of the Top 10. But as we are just looking at presidencies, James Madison's term was not his finest hour. But #13 ain't bad. The key to Madison as president is that unlike his predecessor and mentor Thomas Jefferson, he actually practiced what he preached. Jefferson and Madison were one of the great intellectual teams in world history, together developing a vision of an agrarian republic with a small federal government that did not exercise too much power (in opposition to the grandiose visions of Alexander Hamilton; the Jefferson/Madison vs. Hamilton battle is what has shaped our country more than anything else. We would not be who we are without these three men). But Jefferson ended up being a vigorous president who exercised extraordinary power and simply shrugged off his inconsistencies. Madison couldn't do that.
James Madison's term was dominated by the War of 1812 against Great Britain. As Jefferson's Secretary of State, he was key in formulating the disasterous Embargo against the world, and continued down this course as president with the Non-Intercourse Act of 1809 and Macon's Bill No 2. Madison wanted to stay out of the constant wars erupting in Europe at the time, and the U.S. was being harassed and threatened by both Britain and France. Completely overestimating how important our trade was to the rest of the world at that point, Jefferson and Madison incredibly declared a trade embargo against
everyone, thinking that they would mend their ways. They didn't (and a black market thrived anyway...we are a capitalist nation afterall), and our economy went down the tubes. The policy was tweaked to then restrict the embargo just to Britain and France, and then to open trade to all but if one agreed to stop harassing our shipping, then we would
reimpose the embargo on the other...anyway, it was a disaster.
ABOVE: The limeys torch Washington D.C. during the War of 1812
Long story short, the U.S. goes to war woefully unprepared against Great Britain. After a spectacularly inept attempt to invade and take Canada, the U.S. is then humiliated as the British march into Washington D.C. and burn down the Capitol building and the White House, and Madison and his entourage take to the woods in the surrounding area. Lucky for Madison, things turned around as Britain ran out of gas, figuratively speaking, after years of war in Europe. Two weeks
after the treaty was signed, we capped it off with the brilliant victory at the Battle of New Orleans, which catapulted one Gen. Andrew Jackson to national fame.
ABOVE: First Lady Dolly Madison was hot for her day. She also loved to party, and was a wonderful political asset to her husband. Speaking of assets, Madison used to say that he enjoyed dancing with his wife. He was a bit shorter than Dolly, and therefore his head could nestle in her generous ta-tas.
As inglorious as much of the War was, Madison did lead us to victory while remaining true to his beliefs that a too powerful Chief Executive, even in times of war, is dangerous to liberty and our republican experiment. And that early on, it was still very much an experiment. There lies Madison's greatness as president. He gambled and risked ruin by maintaining a less powerful Executive Branch, thereby ensuring that the Republic would endure as constitutionally intended. A time of war early in a Republic is the perfect time for despots to take power and then never let go. Just look at history. Madison did not do that. Also, the consequences of our "victory" were huge. The War of 1812 united this country early on and created a
national identity at a time when people still felt more loyalty to their state or region.
Pros:
* Madison was philosophically consistent in his actions
* He preserved the republican (not the party, but the political philosophy) ideals of our founding when he could have become a despot
Cons:
* the Embargos were a disaster
* The War of 1812, on the whole, was poorly fought and planned (invasion of Canada, sacking of D.C.)
#12 of 39:
William McKinley (25th president)
1897-1901
Republican
ABOVE: William McKinley looks like a hard ass here, but by all accounts he was a friendly guy
McKinley was a president during a crucial transitional period in our history, from the Gilded Age to the Progressive and Imperialist Age, from isolationism to internationalism. Some of this stuff happened to McKinley vs. him actually directing events, but remember that timing is important in these rankings.
First, McKinley won the crucial election of 1896, stemming the dangerous tide of populism, bi-metalism and William Jennings Bryan (our greatest loser). The 1896 election was an economic election over metals. Would our money be based on only gold (McKinley) or both gold and silver (Bryan)? Doesn't sound that exciting, but if Bryan had won the day our economy would have been a disaster. McKinley wasn't all economic genius, though, he was a staunch supporter of high protectionist tariffs.
ABOVE: McKinley's term embarked the U.S. on its imperialst future...Manifest Destiny writ large
McKinley is most notable for fighting the Spanish-American War in 1898 in Cuba against the senile and decayed Spanish Empire. McKinley himself was reluctant to go to war, but the circumstance of the day forced his hand. The consequences of this war were seismic. The U.S. became a world power and entered the imperialist game. The U.S. ceased to be isolationist and became involved in everyone's business, for better and for worse (although at times later we would retreat back into isolationism). We started to build an empire, taking Puerto Rico, Guam and The Philippines from Spain and kicking the Spanish out of Cuba. Of course, our brief rule of the Philippines was a disaster and resulted in the brutal Philippine war for independence. McKinley also sent troops for the international force to fight in the Boxer Rebellion in China, keeping trade open to Westerners. His Open Door policy also boldly announced to the European powers that Chinese trade would remain open to everyone.
Finally, McKinley's last great act was getting assasinated, paving the way for Theodore Roosevelt to take over.
Pros:
* Gold was the basis for our currency and we resisted the bi-metal movement
* We became a modern nation with empire
* Successfully fought the Spanish-American War and gained new territory
* Open Door in China and Boxer Rebellion
Cons:
* Philippine insurrection
* tariffs
#11 of 39:
John Adams (2nd president)
1797-1801
FederalistPoor John Adams. Unappreciated in his time, few Founding Fathers did more for this country, but as the egotistical John Adams was acutely aware, he would never be held in the same esteem as Washington, Franklin or Jefferson. And to have to follow the American Zeus, George Washington? Impossible to live up to that standard. Adams was surrounded by enemies. His own party was split into bitter factions led by Adams and arch-enemy Alexander Hamilton. Due to the way the Constitution was written, his opponent in the election, the leader of the opposition party Thomas Jefferson, was now his vice-president (imagine if John McCain were Barack Obama's VP). His Cabinet was a holdover from Washington's administration and all took their orders from Hamilton, not Adams. So Adams was embattled from all sides.
ABOVE: Adams was a brilliant political thinker and fiercely loyal American, but he was also "insecure, volatile, impulsive, irritable, suspicious, self-pitying, self-righteous, and filled with often combustible rage" -historian James Banner. Adams said of himself, "[I am considered to be] the most vain, conceited, impudent, arrogant Creature in the World." Now there is some self-awareness. But of all of the Founders, he was also considered to be the most passionate, wittiest and had a legendary sense of humor. Complicated man, to say the least.
Adams should be appreciated, though. Against the pressure from war hawks in his own party, he kept us out of a war with either Britain or France, a war that would have been catastrophic and possibly lethal to our still infant nation. As much as he personally hated the French and even suffered the indignity of the XYZ Affair, he still resisted the strong public support for war. His controversial "Midnight Judges" (the Judicuary Act of 1801, where an outgoing Adams apointed lots of Federalist judges) resulted in the appointment of John Marshall, our most influential jurist and a needed conservative bastion against the mass democratic wave to come.
The one dark stain on Adams's term is probably one of the most despotic acts ever passed, the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Sedition Act made it a crime to interfere with the government's ability to do its job, including punishing criticism. The Alien Act gave sweeping power to deport "undesireables," as well as made the naturalization process much more difficult (because most immigrants would join Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party). You have to put these undemocratic acts in the perspective of the times, however, when partisan strife was at its most intense in our history and all sides were seeking ways to create unity.
Adams's greatest act, though, was leaving office. Although he did it in a rather undignified way, bitterly leaving town in the dead of night and not attending the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson, he left peacefully. We take it for granted that we should have a peaceful transition of power, even when one party loses and the other wins election. But this was not the norm of the time. Jefferson's defeat of Adams in the election of 1800 was the first time an opposition party took power. In Europe at the time, more often than not, the entrenched power would have brought out the military to keep power. Adams, believing in this new government that he had such a hand in creating, willingly left office and handed over power to his political rival. Truly revolutionary.
Pros:
* Broke with own party and avoided wars with Britain and France
* Appointed John Marshall Chief Justice
* Created the U.S. Navy
* Peacefully handed over the reigns of power to his rival after the election of 1800
Cons:
* Alien and Sedition Acts
* Undignified leave of Washington D.C. after the election
