Party On
James Monroe was the last President to run unopposed. He was almost unanimously elected in 1820 in the "era of good feelings". This was partly because, following the War of 1812, the Federalists were politically decimated, and Monroe's performance under pressure during the war put him at the front of the line when it came to his party's nomination. According to his correspondence, Monroe was a proponent of doing away with the party system. According to historian H. W. Brands in his book Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times, Monroe stated his case for doing away with the party system in a letter he wrote to Jackson, who was then the commanding general of the southern division of the army. Monroe wrote:
"The chief magistrate of the country ought not to be the head of a party, but the head of a nation. We have heretofore been divided into two great parties. That some of the leaders of the Federal[ist] Party entertained principles unfriendly to our system of government. I have been thoroughly convinced."
Brands writes (at page 317):
Monroe noted that certain theorists contended that any administration required a healthy opposition, that free government couldn't exist without parties. He disagreed. Republicanism rested not on a balance of vices as in other systems, but in the encouragement of virtue. Parties played to vice, not virtue, and therefore hindered good government. Monroe avowed his intention to "exterminate all party divisions in our country, and give new strength and stability to our government." He conceded that this was a large and difficult task. "I am nevertheless decidedly of the opinion it may be done."
Monroe's vision - of a one-party system of Republican saints - struck Jackson as naive and unworkable. Jackson's abiding sense that life was a struggle caused him to believe that rascals would always exist and would probably organize to effect their aims. Parties were unavoidable in a free society. Moreover, his own experience in politics revealed that Republicans were hardly all saints. Most of the rascals Jackson had known were Republicans... Firmer evidence that the Republicans didn't have a monopoly on virtue was hard for him to imagine."
I'm curious to know if you think the political party system is a necessary evil or if you think a system without political parties would work, and work better. I welcome your comments.
"The chief magistrate of the country ought not to be the head of a party, but the head of a nation. We have heretofore been divided into two great parties. That some of the leaders of the Federal[ist] Party entertained principles unfriendly to our system of government. I have been thoroughly convinced."
Brands writes (at page 317):
Monroe noted that certain theorists contended that any administration required a healthy opposition, that free government couldn't exist without parties. He disagreed. Republicanism rested not on a balance of vices as in other systems, but in the encouragement of virtue. Parties played to vice, not virtue, and therefore hindered good government. Monroe avowed his intention to "exterminate all party divisions in our country, and give new strength and stability to our government." He conceded that this was a large and difficult task. "I am nevertheless decidedly of the opinion it may be done."
Monroe's vision - of a one-party system of Republican saints - struck Jackson as naive and unworkable. Jackson's abiding sense that life was a struggle caused him to believe that rascals would always exist and would probably organize to effect their aims. Parties were unavoidable in a free society. Moreover, his own experience in politics revealed that Republicans were hardly all saints. Most of the rascals Jackson had known were Republicans... Firmer evidence that the Republicans didn't have a monopoly on virtue was hard for him to imagine."
I'm curious to know if you think the political party system is a necessary evil or if you think a system without political parties would work, and work better. I welcome your comments.