Monday, June 28, 2004
Periodic Presidents 5: Expansive Presidents
Yesterday I talked about Column 4 of my Periodic Table of the Presidents, the Gap Presidents. I found it difficult to talk about them because they did not have that much in common, but what they had in common is that they filled a gap between the Golden Age Presidents (Column 3) and the next column.
Today I shall talk about Column 5 (no, not the fifth column!) of the table. These are the Expansive Presidents, and these Presidents did have something in common. They wanted to expand the region of extent of America somehow. They are Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon. The first thing to notice about these is that they are not in sequence! The Periodic Table does not explain everything about Presidents, any more than the Periodic Table of the Elements explain everything about chemistry. For example, elements 6, 7, 8, and 9; in other words, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and fluorine, are a crumbly black substance (or a beautifully clear gem), a somewhat inert gas, a reactive gas, and a highly reactive gas. They form a sequence in order. But look what happens when we combine these with hydrogen. We get methane, ammonia, water, and hydrogen fluoride. Water is really out of place here, a liquid amongst gases. Goes to show that simple tables like these can't explain everything.
And neither can my Presidents table. They are out of order. These presidents really resemble each other, and our nation is huge and powerful in part because of them. These Presidents are the characteristic Presidents of a Second Turning. Here are their descriptions:
Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) right away took an activist stand when he became President. He brought in the merit system as opposed to the spoils system, and he expanded our land by ways which I would not approve of now. Sharpknife (as he was known to Native Americans) first supported the Cherokees againsta the Choctaws, then he forced the entire tribe out of Echotaland (parts of Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina) into Oklahoma in the "Trail of Tears", causing the death of a large number along the way. He also centralized the government in many ways, doing away with many Era of Good Feelings features.
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889 and 1893-1897) was the only President in our history to serve two non-consecutive terms. He was an exceptionally strong President, favoring huge tariffs on foreign goods to support US industry, especially in the South. The South responded with huge, in some places 80-20%, majorities in his favor in the 1888 Presidential election against Benjamin Harrison, giving him a popular majority. However, he lost several northern states by slim margins, giving Harrison the electoral majority. But he came back against Harrison in 1892 and this time took both the electoral and popular vote, helped by the addition of six new states during Harrison's term. He was the original Veto President, sort of like the Veto Monster (Bill Clinton), hitting 300 bills with his veto.
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1908) continued in Cleveland's tradition, speaking softly while carrying a big stick. He sought to expand US influence in the world by the threat of intervention whenever troublemakers surfaced in the world. He expanded the role of US President in the world and also expanded US influence as well.
Richard Nixon (1969-1974) started out in the same tradition. He imposed wage and price controls, and dealt with overseas enemies by making things "perfectly clear". He expanded US influence by opening up Communist China to the world. China was later to become one of the places where the Dot Com boom of the 1990s was led. However, he ruined it all by ordering the bugging of Democratic Headquarters at Watergate, and then lying about it and stopping investigations into it. The resulting scandal forced him to resign in 1974. This negated his otherwise good record in the world, which also included bringing the Vietnam War to a close, albeit too slowly.
Tomorrow: Column 6, the Supportive Presidents.
Today I shall talk about Column 5 (no, not the fifth column!) of the table. These are the Expansive Presidents, and these Presidents did have something in common. They wanted to expand the region of extent of America somehow. They are Andrew Jackson, Grover Cleveland, Theodore Roosevelt, and Richard Nixon. The first thing to notice about these is that they are not in sequence! The Periodic Table does not explain everything about Presidents, any more than the Periodic Table of the Elements explain everything about chemistry. For example, elements 6, 7, 8, and 9; in other words, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and fluorine, are a crumbly black substance (or a beautifully clear gem), a somewhat inert gas, a reactive gas, and a highly reactive gas. They form a sequence in order. But look what happens when we combine these with hydrogen. We get methane, ammonia, water, and hydrogen fluoride. Water is really out of place here, a liquid amongst gases. Goes to show that simple tables like these can't explain everything.
And neither can my Presidents table. They are out of order. These presidents really resemble each other, and our nation is huge and powerful in part because of them. These Presidents are the characteristic Presidents of a Second Turning. Here are their descriptions:
Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) right away took an activist stand when he became President. He brought in the merit system as opposed to the spoils system, and he expanded our land by ways which I would not approve of now. Sharpknife (as he was known to Native Americans) first supported the Cherokees againsta the Choctaws, then he forced the entire tribe out of Echotaland (parts of Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina) into Oklahoma in the "Trail of Tears", causing the death of a large number along the way. He also centralized the government in many ways, doing away with many Era of Good Feelings features.
Grover Cleveland (1885-1889 and 1893-1897) was the only President in our history to serve two non-consecutive terms. He was an exceptionally strong President, favoring huge tariffs on foreign goods to support US industry, especially in the South. The South responded with huge, in some places 80-20%, majorities in his favor in the 1888 Presidential election against Benjamin Harrison, giving him a popular majority. However, he lost several northern states by slim margins, giving Harrison the electoral majority. But he came back against Harrison in 1892 and this time took both the electoral and popular vote, helped by the addition of six new states during Harrison's term. He was the original Veto President, sort of like the Veto Monster (Bill Clinton), hitting 300 bills with his veto.
Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1908) continued in Cleveland's tradition, speaking softly while carrying a big stick. He sought to expand US influence in the world by the threat of intervention whenever troublemakers surfaced in the world. He expanded the role of US President in the world and also expanded US influence as well.
Richard Nixon (1969-1974) started out in the same tradition. He imposed wage and price controls, and dealt with overseas enemies by making things "perfectly clear". He expanded US influence by opening up Communist China to the world. China was later to become one of the places where the Dot Com boom of the 1990s was led. However, he ruined it all by ordering the bugging of Democratic Headquarters at Watergate, and then lying about it and stopping investigations into it. The resulting scandal forced him to resign in 1974. This negated his otherwise good record in the world, which also included bringing the Vietnam War to a close, albeit too slowly.
Tomorrow: Column 6, the Supportive Presidents.
