The First Ten

Term Paper Title	The First Ten
# of Words	2003
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	8.01

The First Ten

by Alfred Steinberg

     I read 411 pages in The First Ten:  The Founding Presidents and Their Administrations by Alfred
Steinberg.  This book gives an in-depth look at the first ten presidents of the United States of America.
Because William Henry Harrison first became president in the election of 1840, I read only up to that point.
The first eight presidents of the United States were among the best and brightest minds and political
strategists in the early history of the United States, and they set the precedents for all those who followed.

     George Washington became the first president of the United States of America in the spring of
1789, and at the age of fifty-seven he was a distinguished man.  He was given the responsibility for
establishing and maintaining both a functioning government and a working national policy.  George
Washington set the precedents for every other president to follow.  He was the man who had to interpret
what the Constitution meant when it was dealing with the office of the presidency.  (Steinberg 1-27)
     The office of the presidency would be as strong or as weak as George Washington was inclined to
make it.  Washington was operating under a constant strain, because he was walking on new ground.  There
were no examples for him to follow; he was the first.  Washington created the president's cabinet;  he chose
Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury, Thomas Jefferson as Secretary of State, and Henry Knox
as Secretary of War.  Washington set the precedent for serving two terms in office, and he also negotiated
the first policy conflicts between Hamilton and Jefferson.  The National Bank was charted and succeeded
by a close vote.  He successfully handled the first major crisis in the U.S., the Whiskey Rebellion.  Under
Washington's administration the first political parties formed:  the Federalists and the Democrat-
Republicans.  Washington also set precedents in the handling of foreign affairs with the French Revolution
and English impressment.  The policy of neutrality a!
lso stemmed from Washington's administration.  (Steinberg 28-55)

     John Adams was the second president of the United States, inaugurated in 1797.  For the most part
of his first term, he made very little of his position.  During the end of his term however, when his political
enemies were criticizing him, he made the most of his office using the Alien and Sedition Acts.  Ironically
this is what caused his downfall and the demise of the Federalist party. (Steinberg 56-70)
     Adams, unlike Jefferson, did not believe in the basic good nature of people.  He believed that
people were so evil by nature that they couldn't be trusted to fun the government wisely, and therefore the
rich and educated should be in charge.  Adams was also a man of principles, principles which he rarely if
ever compromised.  Adams fought and unofficial war with France and eventually signed a peace treaty.  In
the Election of 1800, Adams was not reelected, due to mudslinging and other problems. (Steinberg 71-87)

     Thomas Jefferson, the leader of the Democrat-Republican party, was elected president in the
election of 1800.  Jefferson believed in the ability of the people to run their own government, and was in
favor of most of the power residing at the state level.  He attacked the policy of the Federalists and was
against their packing of the courts which was intended to keep the Federalists in power longer.  (Steinberg
88-100)
     Under Jefferson's administration, the precedent of Judicial Review was established in the case of
Marbury v. Madison.  Judicial Review greatly enhanced the power of the supreme court to deem laws
unconstitutional.  Jefferson also believed in frugality in government.  Taxes actually went down and money
was returned to citizens. (Wouldn't that be nice?)  A foreign policy went into effect which changed the idea
of neutrality to one of no permanent entangling alliances.  Jefferson also used the implied powers of the
constitution to make ...

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