Type of bind: Library Type of bind
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.099
EAN num: 9780865934054
ISBN number: 0865934053
Label: Rourke Publishing
Manufacturer: Rourke Publishing
Quantity: 14
Printing Date: 1997-01
Publishing house: Rourke Publishing
Age index: Young Adult
Sale Popularity Level: 3238649
Studio: Rourke Publishing
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
Since each volume in "The Complete History of the Our Presidents" is 64-pages long, it affords the editors of the series with some interesting options on how to divide up the presidents. Volume One is devoted to just the very first three presidents, which makes sense because we begin with George Washington, the very first president, and end with the third president, Thomas Jefferson, whose election marked a peaceful transition of power from one political party to another. The importance of the 1800 election is underscored by Michael Weber in the chapter devoted to Jefferson, and hopefully young readers will understand that it was Jefferson's election, along with Washington's decision to not run for a third term, that proved the American experiment in republican democracy was going to work.
Obviously you can go pick up juvenile biographies of the individual presidents, but there is still something to be said for the approach here, which is to look at the development of the presidency over the course of several administrations. That is especially true of the very first three presidents, who were essentially making up the rules of the game as they went along. John Adams might be seen as being inconsequential compared to the giants who preceded and followed him, but his "midnight" appointment of John Marshall as the Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court had an enormous impact on American history.
Weber covers the very first three presidents in five chapters. Chapter 1, "The New Nation," sets up how the U.S. Constitution provided for an entirely new and stronger central government than the states =had under the Articles of Confederation. Consequently it was to Washington, Adams and Jefferson that the responsibility for leading a new nation trying to survive, grow, and prosper fell. Chapter 2, "George Washington," emphasizes the precedents that Washington set as the very first president and focuses on how his administration put the nation's finance in order, established relations with other countries, and dealt with the growth of political parties. Washington's "Farewell Address" and retirement are seen as being pivotal as well. Chapter 3, "John Adams," looks at the serious mistake he made by keeping Washington's cabinet, who were more loyal to Alexander Hamilton than to Adams, and the other political problems Adams had, such as the Alien and Sedition Acts.
The chapters devoted to the presidents do touch on their early careers and what happens after they left office, but the focus is on their administrations. Chapter 4, "Thomas Jefferson," covers the major shifts in public policy as the Democratic-Republicans replaced the Federalists, and the decision to double the size of the nation with the Louisiana Purchase, which ran against Jefferson's belief in a strict interpretation of the Constitution. Weber notes that Jefferson's second term was dominated by the same problems that tormented Washington and Adams, underscoring the decision to treat the three together. Chapter 5, "The Impact of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson" provides a concise review of both what they accomplished and the situation that is set up for the subsequent trio of presidents in Volume 2 (James Madison, James Monroe and John Quincy Adams).
The book includes detailed sidebars on the First Ladies and key events, such as decision as to where the new nation should have its new capital and the Lewis & Clark expedition. In the back of the volume you will find a Glossary that looks not so much as terms as historical aspects from the Alien and Seditions Acts to the Whiskey Rebellion, and a Chronology that begins with Washington's birth in 1732 and ends with the death of both Adams and Jefferson exactly 50 years after the Declaration of Independence. There is also a short list of books for Further Reading, a Timeline of American history from the First Continental Congress in 1774 to a bomb destroying the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, and list of the Presidents of the United States.
Find other books like this one:
