v. 1. Annual message of the President ; Report of the Secretary of the Interior ; Report of the Secretary of War ; Report of the Secretary of the Navy ; Report of the Postmaster-General -- v. 2. Report of the Secretary of War --
Includes bibliographical references (p. [235]-258) and index.
Contents
Introduction: The transformation of presidential commemoration -- Prologue: the words in the Lincoln Memorial -- A shift in commemoration: the Roosevelt Presidential Library -- The rhetoric of the replica: the Truman Library's Oval Office and Benton Mural -- Symbolic power, democratic access, and the imperial presidency: the Johnson Library -- Celebrity and power: the commemoration of first ladies -- Reinventing the presidential library: the new displays at the Truman Museum -- Conclusion: Presidential libraries and the final campaign.
Reason to celebrate -- Young man of Pennsylvania -- A life in politics -- Honors at home and abroad -- A run for the White House -- Conflicts and controversies -- Bleeding Kansas and John Brown -- A nation divided -- Taking the blame -- Glossary -- James Buchanan's life at a glance -- James Buchanan's life and times -- World events -- Understanding James Buchanan and his presidency better.
Summary
A biography of the fifteenth president of the United States, discussing his personal life, education, and political career.
I. The crisis of the new order. -- American democracy in a revolutionary age -- The Republican interest and the self-created democracy -- The making of Jeffersonian democracy -- Jefferson's two presidencies -- Nationalism and the War of 1812 -- II. Democracy ascendant. -- The era of bad feelings -- Slavery, compromise, and democratic politics -- The politics of moral improvement -- The aristocracy and democracy of America -- The Jackson era: uneasy beginnings -- Radical democracies -- 1832: Jackson's crucial year -- Banks, abolitionists, and the equal rights democracy -- "The republic has degenerated into a democracy" -- The politics of hard times -- Whigs, Democrats, and democracy -- III. Slavery and the crisis of American democracy. -- Whig debacle, Democratic confusion -- Antislavery, annexation, and the advent of young Hickory -- The bitter fruits of Manifest Destiny -- War, slavery, and the American 1848 -- Political truce, uneasy consequences -- The truce collapses -- A nightmare broods over society -- The faith that right makes might -- The Iliad of all our woes.
Summary
Political historian Wilentz traces an arc from the earliest days of the Republic to the opening shots of the Civil War, showing how the elitist young American republic became a rough-and-tumble democracy. He brings to life the era after the American Revolution, when the idea of democracy remained contentious, and Jeffersonians and Federalists clashed over the role of ordinary citizens in government of, by, and for the people. The triumph of Andrew Jackson soon defined this role on the national level, while city democrats, Anti-Masons, fugitive slaves, and a host of others hewed their own local definitions. In these definitions Wilentz recovers the beginnings of a discontent--two starkly opposed democracies, one in the North and another in the South--and the wary balance that lasted until the election of Abraham Lincoln sparked its bloody resolution.--From publisher description.
From schoolboy to politician -- The road to the Senate -- Approaching storm -- Moving toward war -- Time line -- Glossary -- The United States government -- Choosing the president -- The White House -- Presidential perks -- Facts.
Immigrant's son -- Love and politics -- To Washington : congressman Buchanan -- Senator Buchanan -- Diplomacy -- The most suitable man for the times -- President Buchanan -- March toward war -- Back to wheatland.
Originally published: London : Pearson Education, 2003.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [327]-360) and index.
Contents
1. Inner power : Lincoln's ambition and political vision, 1809-54 -- Ambition -- Political vision -- Moral crisis : 1854 -- The religious roots of moral power -- 2. The power of opinion : Lincoln : the Illinois public and the new political order, 1854-58 -- Lincoln, democratic politics and public opinion -- Illinois public opinion and the anti-Nebraska fusion movement -- The senatorial campaign of 1858 -- 3. The power of party : winning the presidency, 1858-60 -- Presidential ambition : Lincoln, his party and the road to the Decatur convention -- The Republican presidential nomination -- The 1860 presidential campaign : the power of a righteous party -- 4. Confronting the limits of power : from president-elect to war president, 1860-61 -- In the antechamber to power : holding the party line -- From Springfield to Sumter : building a united front -- Strategies for 'a people's war' -- 'What shall I do? The people are impatient ... ' -- 5. The purposes of power : evolving objectives, 1861-65 -- Reading the public -- 'Every indispensable means' : toward the Emancipation Proclamation -- Faith and purposes -- Faithfulness of purpose : emancipation, reconstruction and black citizenship -- 6. The instruments of power : coercion and voluntary mobilization, 1861-65 -- Coercion, repression and executive power -- Popular mobilization : the 'power of the right word' and the agency of party -- Popular mobilization : churches and philanthropic organizations -- The Union army as a moral force -- The election of 1864 : 'the second birth of our nation' -- 7. Conclusion : power in death -- Chronology of Lincoln's life.
Summary
A portrait of America's sixteenth president follows Lincoln's life and career during his rise to political power and his years in the White House, arguing that he looked beyond the political system to find support in his struggle to end slavery.
"Auction: session one: Friday, April 20, 2007 at 6 PM, session two: Saturday, April 21, 2007 at 10 AM. Exhibition: Wednesday, April 11 - 9 AM to 4 PM ..."
Includes bibliographical references (p. [263]-267) and index.
Summary
From the moment of Lincoln's death on April 15, 1865, until Andrew Johnson, his replacement, formally announced postwar plans on May 29, the fate of the country hung in the balance. War had left the Republic strained almost beyond endurance. Johnson's ascendancy to the presidency seemed the killing stroke, even to the victorious North. A former slave owner from the border state of Tennessee, Johnson had been drunk at his inauguration as vice president; he was hated equally by the South and the North. Some Northerners were even convinced he had been part of the conspiracy behind Lincoln's assassination. Later, he escaped impeachment by a single vote. As Howard Means reveals in this revisionist account of Johnson's first six weeks in office, the new president faced almost insurmountable odds. Yet Johnson not only met but overcame them, preserving the Union for which so many had sacrificed their lives.--From publisher description.
Editor's introduction -- Preface and acknowledgements -- Introduction: Pennsylvania presidential politics -- The Democrats emerge: the 1930s -- The Republicans revitalize: the 1940s -- The transitional decade: the 1950s -- The competitive state: the 1960s -- The split decision: the 1970s -- The new political order: the 1980s -- The Democrats take control: the 1990s -- Elections in the twenty-first century -- Conclusion -- Table: Pennsylvania presidential elections, 1932-2004 -- Notes -- Suggestions for further reading and bibliography.
Summary
Each presidential election year, it has become common to hear Pennsylvania described as a "battleground state." How and why did such competitive politics take shape? When did Pennsylvania become so pivotal in electing the president of the United States? In this volume, one of the state's leading political analysts answers these questions by taking readers behind the scenes of convention dramas and onto the campaign trail as national candidates and favorite sons vie for support. This authoritative, richly detailed history by G. Terry Madonna traces the evolution of presidential politics in Pennsylvania from FDR to the twenty-first century. [from the publisher]
Primary sources : magical moments of insight -- The American Memory website from the Library of Congress -- Finding materials online -- Strategies for teaching history / contributed by Stanlee Brimberg -- It's elementary! / contributed by Gail Petri -- History told firsthand in middle school / contributed by Laura Wakefield -- Focus on the questions in high school / contributed by Michael Federspiel -- Professional development -- Going to the source.
