Sunday, June 20, 2004
Periodic Presidents 1: Outspoken Presidents
With this blog I begin a new series on the Presidents of the United States. This was sparked by someone telling me that our present President Bush resembles Hoover. I realized that he did. He was the President before a Crisis Period in our history, something called a Fourth Turning by Strauss and Howe. I then realized that there was quite a bit of similarity, and further I could set up similarities among the Presidents throughout our history, coming up with something that looks like a Periodic Table, as though the Presidents were elements. Certain Presidents, such as Hoover and Bush (43), lie in the same column of the Periodic Table, and so are similar to each other. I shall give my impressions of the Presidents in each of the 12 columns of this Periodic Table, and shall at some time exhibit the table as well. This table is based on the Generational Turnings of Strauss and Howe, so that each of the four Turnings has about 3-4 Presidents associated with it in each of the rows of the table, which Strauss and Howe call saecula. Note that four Presidents don't fall into my table because they did not serve long enough: William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and James Garfield.
Today I will start with the First Turning, with Column 1 of the table, the Outspoken Presidents. The three Presidents in this column are John Adams, Andrew Johnson, and Harry Truman.
John Adams was the second President of the United States, from 1797-1801. To me his most memorable artifact was the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were eerily similar to our Patriot Act. They sought to limit the rights of foreigners and others in this country. Fortunately they did not go much of anywhere. I have read that John Adams indeed was outspoken, hard to get along with, and obstinate in his views.
Andrew Johnson was the President that followed Lincoln (1865-1869) and had the job of overseeing the Reconstruction in the South after the Civil War. He was a Democrat with Southern leanings, but wanted to follow Lincoln's plans. The Congress at that time was dominated by radical Republicans, and they insisted on their way, which included passing the 12-14th amendments and making the South ratify these before being readmitted to the Union and having Federal troops being withdrawn. This resulted in fights, which Johnson saw fit to fight rather than strike a deal with the Congress. Eventually this led to his being impeached by Congress (for firing Secretary Staunton after Congress forbade him from doing so), and being acquitted by one vote. His obstinacy impeded progress in readmitting the former Confederate states into the Union.
Harry S. Truman was President from 1945-1953. Like his predecessors, he was outspoken and communicated his desires frankly. For example, when the Soviet Union threatened to invade Iran, he said that if they did that, we will drop the Bomb on them. They retreated. His strong positions on issues of the time led to his being regarded now as one of our better Presidents, although he did let a bit of scandal creep into his Adminstration.
That finishes Column 1, the Outspoken Presidents. Tomorrow, I will cover Column 2, the National Heroes, who were major heroes during the Crisis but not quite as good as Presidents.
Today I will start with the First Turning, with Column 1 of the table, the Outspoken Presidents. The three Presidents in this column are John Adams, Andrew Johnson, and Harry Truman.
John Adams was the second President of the United States, from 1797-1801. To me his most memorable artifact was the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were eerily similar to our Patriot Act. They sought to limit the rights of foreigners and others in this country. Fortunately they did not go much of anywhere. I have read that John Adams indeed was outspoken, hard to get along with, and obstinate in his views.
Andrew Johnson was the President that followed Lincoln (1865-1869) and had the job of overseeing the Reconstruction in the South after the Civil War. He was a Democrat with Southern leanings, but wanted to follow Lincoln's plans. The Congress at that time was dominated by radical Republicans, and they insisted on their way, which included passing the 12-14th amendments and making the South ratify these before being readmitted to the Union and having Federal troops being withdrawn. This resulted in fights, which Johnson saw fit to fight rather than strike a deal with the Congress. Eventually this led to his being impeached by Congress (for firing Secretary Staunton after Congress forbade him from doing so), and being acquitted by one vote. His obstinacy impeded progress in readmitting the former Confederate states into the Union.
Harry S. Truman was President from 1945-1953. Like his predecessors, he was outspoken and communicated his desires frankly. For example, when the Soviet Union threatened to invade Iran, he said that if they did that, we will drop the Bomb on them. They retreated. His strong positions on issues of the time led to his being regarded now as one of our better Presidents, although he did let a bit of scandal creep into his Adminstration.
That finishes Column 1, the Outspoken Presidents. Tomorrow, I will cover Column 2, the National Heroes, who were major heroes during the Crisis but not quite as good as Presidents.
