Table of Contents
(Note: Each president is preceded by the order of service.)
Notes on the Text vii
Introduction: The Freshman President 1
Chapter 1 The Model Others Failed to Follow 7
1st George Washington-Precedents 7
Chapter 2 Witch Hunters: Sedition and McCarthyism 19
2nd John Adams-Sedition 20
Timeline: XYZ Affair, Sedition Act, Quasi War, and Louisiana Purchase 22
34th Dwight D. Eisenhower-McCarthyism 28
Table: Well-Known Names from the Hollywood Blacklists 36
Chapter 3 The Loners 38
3rd Thomas Jefferson-Louisiana Purchase 39
Map: Louisiana Purchase, Mexican Cession, and Oregon Territory 43
39th Jimmy Carter-Stagflation 47
Chart: Prime Rate 1955-2014 51
44th Barack Obama-Obamacare 52
Chapter 4 Conflicts They Might Have Prevented, Avoided, or Won: 1812, Vietnam, 9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq 57
4th James Madison-The War of 1812 58
36th Lyndon Baines Johnson-The Vietnam War 65
43rd George W. Bush-9/11, Afghanistan, and Iraq 70
Chart. 9/11 Comparative Time Sequence 72
Essay: Is the Vice Presidency the Best Preparation for the Presidency? 75
Chapter 5 America's Original Sin: Slavery 77
Table: The Twelve Slaveholding Presidents 79
5th James Monroe-Missouri Compromise of 1820 79
12th Zachary Taylor and 13th Millard Fillmore-Compromise of 1850 84
14th Franklin Pierce-Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 88
15th James Buchanan-Secession 92
Chart. Slavery, Census, and Secession 95
17th Andrew Johnson-Reconstruction 98
Chapter 6 Professional Generals of the Nineteenth Century: Counterweights of the West 101
7th Andrew Jackson-Trail of Tears 102
9th William Henry Harrison-Health of the President 107
18th Ulysses S. Grant-Trust and Distrust 109
(see also 12th Zachary Taylor, Chapter 5) Essay: None of the Twelve General/Presidents Took the Country into a Major War 114
Chapter 7 Taxation with Representation: Tariffs to Income Taxes 116
6th John Quincy Adams-Tariff of Abominations 118
23rd Benjamin Harrison-1890 McKinley Tarirf and the Panic of 1893 123
27th William Howard Taft-Income Tax and Suffrage 125
40th Ronald Reagan-Flat Tax 127
Chart. Income Tax as a Percentage of Gross Income 1913-2013 132
Essay: Why Social Security Benefits Should Be Paid Out of General Revenue and Not from a Regressive Social Security Tax 134
41st George H. W. Bush-"No New Taxes" 136
Essay: Ex-Presidents 139
Chapter 8 Panic, Laissez Faire, and Depression 141
8th Martin Van Buren-Panic of 1837 142
Essay: Physical Traits and Whether They Matter 144
30th Calvin Coolidge-The Road to Depression 146
31st Herbert Hoover-The Great Depression 149
Table: American Financial Crises 153
Chart: Significant US Tariffs 154
Chapter 9 In Defiance of Party 156
10th John Tyler-The Man without a Party 156
19th Rutherford B. Hayes-The Great Swap 159
43rd William J. Clinton-A President for All Reasons 162
Chart. They Lost the Popular Vote and Won 165
Essay: An Argument for Run-Off Elections 166
Chapter 10 Empire Wars: Mexico and Spain 168
11th James K. Polk-The Mexican-American War 169
25th William McKinley-The Spanish-American War 171
Chapter 11 Invade or Blockade: Fort Sumter, the Bay of Pigs, and the Cuban Missile Crisis 174
16th Abraham Lincoln-Fort Sumter and the Civil War 175
Chart. If the Upper South Had Not Seceded 186
Essay: Secessions 187
35th John F. Kennedy-The Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis 189
Essay: The Case for a National Election Law 194
Chapter 12 Machine Men 196
20th James Garfield-Gender-Biased Suffrage 196
21st Chester A. Arthur-Conkling's Man 199
Chapter 13 Reform Men 202
22nd/24th Grover Cleveland-The Veto President 202
26th Theodore Roosevelt-Panic of 1907 205
Essay: Why We Should Not Rank the Presidents 208
Chapter 14 Unpardonable Scandals: Teapot Dome, Dirty Tricks, and an Unpardonable Pardon 209
29th Warren G. Harding-Teapot Dome 210
37th Richard M. Nixon-Dirty Tricks 212
38th Gerald R. Ford Jr.-Pardoning the Unpardonable 216
Chapter 15 An Absence of Deterrence: World War I and World War II 220
28th Woodrow Wilson-World War I 221
32nd Franklin Delano Roosevelt-World War II 228
Chart Blame Keynes-US vs. German Military Spending 1932-1945 235
33rd Harry S. Truman-The Bomb and Japan; Korea and China 236
Essay: Are Governorships the Best Preparation for the Presidency? 245
The Freshman President's Epilogue: The World's Most Exclusive University 246
Appendix A Details for Income Tax as a Percentage of Gross Income 1913-2013 248
Appendix B The Anaconda Plan 251
Appendix C The Lincoln-Greeley Letter 253
Appendix D The Nixon Pardon 255
Acknowledgments 257
Endnotes 259
Selected Bibliography 279
Index 289
