At the Constitutional Convention in 1787, the Founders shaped an executive branch,
represented by the president, who would work and balance power with the legislative and
judicial branches in the newly-created system of republican government. They envisioned an
independent president who would moderate the popular will and elevate the public view by
standing apart from partisan passions—a nonpartisan leader. The Founders, however, did not
predict the rise of political parties, which greatly changed the role of the president in the
constitutional system of representation. Because of the development of parties, the early
presidents had to reconstruct the presidency to manage or incorporate the new institution into the
constitutional government. George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson all
faced the challenge of dealing with the rise of parties, which is not accounted for in the
Constitution and each president confronted the problem differently: George Washington
attempted to maintain the nonpartisanship envisioned by the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson
became a party leader as president reluctantly, and Andrew Jackson reveled in integrating the
two-party system in the White House. With the passing of time, the representational role of the
president evolved from the Founders’ original conception of the presidency.
Unlike the expectation for modern-day presidents to be overtly partisan, the Founders
expected the head of the executive branch to be a disinterested republican gentleman who would
unite the different factions of the country. As James Ceaser has described, the Founders created
a president whom they hoped would embody
“nonpartisan” statesmanship. Under this form of leadership, the elevation of
individuals to office should be the result of their having achieved a widespread
reputation based on distinguished service to the state. The winner in such a
process, no matter what his margin of victory, can in a sense legitimately assert
the claim to be president of all the people, since his election would not divide the
populace into strongly antagonistic parts.1
1
James Ceaser, Presidential Selection: Theory and Development (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1979),
58.
1
James Wilson, who attended the Constitutional Convention as a Pennsylvanian delegate,
expressed Founders’ ideal of the disinterested role of the president at the Pennsylvania ratifying
convention: “[The president] will be…THE MAN OF THE PEOPLE; being elected by the
different parts of the United States, he will consider himself as not particularly interested for any
one of them, but will watch over the whole with paternal care affection.”2 The Founders hoped
that the role of the president would be to look out for the public good while balancing the powers
of government.
The Founders’ ideal president was embodied in the presidency of George Washington,
who made an effort to maintain disinterested and nonpartisan. To uphold the vision of the
Founders, Washington asked Congress, in his first inaugural address, to look beyond parties and
interests in considering national policy:
I behold the surest pledges that as on one side no local prejudices or attachments,
no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and
equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and
interests, so, on another, that the foundation of our national policy will be laid in
the pure and immutable principles of private morality.3
Washington did not look fondly upon political parties and as the Federalist party, led by
Alexander Hamilton, and Democratic-Republican party, headed by Thomas Jefferson began to
emerge in his administration, he did not support either of them. Washington’s careful treatment
of the Neutrality Proclamation of 1793, which established that the United States would not give
aid or weapons to the warring countries of Britain and France, was a sign of attempt to placate
both parties. Following the advice of Hamilton, Washington announced the Neutrality
Proclamation; however, he attempted to appease Jefferson by receiving a representative from the
2
Speech by James Wilson at the Pennsylvania Ratifying Convention [1 December 1787], in Founding of the
American Presidency ed. Richard J. Ellis (New York: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers, 1999), 149.
3
First Inaugural Address by George Washington given in New York [30 April 1789] in The Evolving Presidency ed.
Michael Nelson (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1999), 33.
2
new Republic of France4, an action that Hamilton had rejected.5 The political divide between
Hamilton and Jefferson had been caused by their different views on the role of the government,
especially the executive. Jefferson’s presidency allowed him to redefine the role of the
executive, particularly on how to integrate newly formed political parties into the system of
government.
The presidency of Jefferson was marked by an ambivalent increase in partisanship and a
greater incorporation of parties in government. Instead of following Washington’s example of
disinterestedness and serving as an umpire to diverse factions and parties, Jefferson “assumed the
mantle of party leader in an effort to direct the separate branches of American government.”6
Jefferson’s first inaugural address hinted at his reinterpretation of the role of the president as a
party leader; in his address, he proposed clearly Democratic-Republican policies such as “the
support of the State governments in all their rights” and “encouragement of agriculture, and of
commerce as its handmaid.” Despite his establishment of a party platform in his inaugural
address, Jefferson still called for unity and nonpartisanship: “Every difference of opinion is not a
difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle. We
are all republicans, we are all federalists.”7 Even though Jefferson was the first president acting
as party leader, he did not intend for presidents in the future to do so; he hoped that as party
leader, he would be able to destroy the party system by uniting the country under one party.
Ceaser expressed the Jefferson’s ambivalence of political parties and his role as party leader:
Jefferson “saw the partisan struggle in terms of winning power with a view of returning the
By receiving the representative from France, the president’s dominant role in foreign affairs was asserted, for
which Hamilton and the Federalists argued.
5
Sidney Milkis and Michael Nelson, The American Presidency: Origins and Development 1776-1998 (Washington,
DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1999), 77-8.
6
Ibid., 99.
7
First Inaugural Address by Thomas Jefferson given in Washington, DC [4 March 1801] in The Evolving
Presidency ed. Michael Nelson (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1999), 47-9.
4
3
regime to nonpartisan competition.”8 The ambivalence on political parties and hope to bring the
country back to nonpartisanship present during Jefferson’s presidency were lacking in Andrew
Jackson’s administration.
President Jackson represented the integration of political parties in the executive.
Through the development of the spoils system and the plan of Martin Van Buren, Jackson’s
sidekick, for a two-party system, Jackson was able to establish the institution of parties into his
presidency. Instrumental to the two-party system was the spoils system, which allowed Jackson
to reward faithful party members. In his first address to Congress, he attempted to convince
Congress that limiting public office appointments to hour years would increase efficiency and
integrity.9 Jackson’s use of the system of rotation in public office was party-oriented, as Milkis
and Nelson notes: “Jackson…removed or sanctioned the removal of thousands of subordinates
for political reasons…. In theory, the ‘spoils system’ expanded the powers of the executive
enormously. The president was now in a position…to enforce conformity to administration
policies within the executive branch.”10 Even more important to the partisan leadership of
Jackson was Van Buren’s methodical plan to institute a two-party system in American
government. To perpetuate the party system, Van Buren realized that a strong party leader was
needed to establish consensus within the party. Ceaser describes the type of party leadership in a
president that Van Buren envisioned:
Van Buren’s ideal leader can be described as a broker or skilled politician, a kind
of leader that is very different from both the elevated statesman envisioned by the
Founders and the principled partisan represented by Jefferson…. By admitting
partisanship in the form of a coalitional party into the selection process, it could
be said the presidency was being pulled down from its pedestal of independence
above the contending factions…. Van Buren himself seemed to have
8
Ceaser, 92.
First Message to Congress by Andrew Jackson given in Washington, DC [8 December 1829] in The Evolving
Presidency ed. Michael Nelson (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1999), 63.
10
Milkis and Nelson, 127.
9
4
acknowledged that a kind of lowering of the tone of presidential leadership was
about to take place.”11
Jackson embodied more of the ideal of Van Buren’s presidential partisan leader than the
disinterested republican president of the Founders. Following Van Buren’s ideal of an executive
party leader and reinforcing the strength of parties through practices such as the spoils system,
Jackson no longer represented the disinterested president who moderated conflicting factions—
the president was now leading a party and instituting his partisan interests in government.
Through the presidencies of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew
Jackson, the role of the president in the constitutional system of representation altered
dramatically. The development of political parties, which the Founders had not anticipated,
required presidents to incorporate the newly formed institution into the government. George
Washington embodied the Founders’ vision of a disinterested, nonpartisan leader; however,
presidents following Washington, such as Jefferson and Jackson, were forced to acknowledge the
existence of parties and mold a place for the executive branch in the parties. Jefferson, with
reluctance, constructed the president as temporary party leader while Jackson integrated the party
system in the executive branch and leadership. With the rise of political parties, Jefferson and
Jackson redefined the role of the president as a party leader that more closely resembles the
modern-day presidency.
11
Ceaser, 158.
5
Works Cited
Ceaser, James W. Presidential Selection: Theory and Development. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 1979.
Ellis, Richard J., ed. Founding of the American Presidency. New York: Rowman and Littlefield
Press, 1999.
Milkis, Sidney M. and Michael Nelson. The American Presidency: Origins and Development
1776-1998. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, 1999.
Nelson, Michael, ed. The Evolving Presidency. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly,
1999.
6
A Partisan Patriot King?
The Development of the President as Party Leader, 1789-1836
Chu Hwang
Professor Milkis
GFAP 331
7 March 2002
7