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tv   [untitled]    April 1, 2012 8:00pm-8:30pm EDT

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washington. a wise people behaves like a shovel full of dirt or a spritz of water tamping down the partisan. of course thus american politics becomes a less than candid competition to appear above politics. having made explicit his theme of public opinion, washington declares that of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion, morality are indispensable supports, calling these the great pillars of human happiness, washington makes a case for political as well as pious attention to them. he concludes the way to foster religion and morality is through
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education. the first positive command or prescription of the address states promote then as an object of primary importance institutions important the general diffusion of knowledge. washington anticipates no conflict between religion, morality, and enlightenment. the next rule of conduct is to cherish public credit. follows signed advice on debt and taxation. although the execution of these maxims belongs to the elected representatives, washington points out that it is necessary that public opinion should cooperate. who abandoned their fiscal responsibilities first i don't know. but we are so far from what
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washington describes that this paragraph makes for very painful reading, particularly his warning against ungenerously. finally, there is a lengthy treatment of foreign policy that begins with the injunction to observe good faith and justice towards all nations. and includes washington's well-known advice to steer clear of permanent alliances or as jefferson more famously put it entangling alliances. before we dismiss this advice as obsolete, suited to a young and vulnerable america rather than a superpower america, it should be said that washington was not recommending isolationism. his message, i think, was a timeless one about the conditions for national people of action and the danger of allowing passions for the hostile or friendly towards other nations to dictate policy. domestically we ought to cultivate bonds of affection. but internationally washington argued it was a mistake to act to basis of sympathy, gratitude,
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or to expect other nations to do so. the more sober formula that washington offers is that we act as our interest, guided by our justice shall council. washington closes the farewell address by anticipating a retreat beyond even his retreat to mt. vernon, namely his journey towards the mansions of rest. the line is said to have brought tears to the eyes of his readers. four decades later, a young abraham lincoln delivered a remarkable speech that revisited washington's theme of the perpetuation of our political institutions, arguing just as washington had that perpetuation depends on a firm foundation in public sentiment and appealing to the nations fixed admiration of washington as a compass point to keep us true to washington's principles. the address closed with a poetic flourish by imagining a sort of
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second coming of washington. lincoln's hopes for that day of judgment can still serve as our own. that we improved to the last that we remained free to the last, that we revered his name to the last, and that during his long sleep, we permitted no hostile foot to pass over or desecrate his resting place. shall be that which to learn the last trump shall awaken power washington. >> thank you. i'm to talk to washington as an exemplary president. i guess one way he was exemplary was he didn't take interns to the white house pool. slaves either.
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but i think he had three achievements. three very important things that he did which i want to talk about. and the first of those is that he did everything for the first time. when he was inaugurated, first inaugurated in april 1789, there were very few precedents to guide there hadn't been many republics in the human history and in almost all of them had been small. they had been city, states, ancient world, renaissance, there were suisse cannons, the one republic that had grown large was rome. but that had become the roman empire. so that example was not very encouraging. washington did have a guideline. he had the constitution. he was very familiar with that because he had been the presiding officer of the
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constitutional convention in 1787. he had attended every session, heard every argument. he following the -- followed the ratification debate very closely. he had the federalist papers reprinted in richmond so it could influence the ratification debate in virginia. so he was about as informed about the constitution as anyone could be. but the constitution has a lot of gaps in it. for instance, it says that the president may negotiate treaties by and with the advice and consent of the senate. now consent is spelled out. means two-thirds vote of the senate. but what is the advice of the senate? how does the president get the senate's advice? constitution does not say. so in washington's first year in office, he's preparing to negotiate a treaty with the
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cherokee indians who then live in western georgia, what's now alabama and mississippi. and this is a powerful, aggressive indian nation. they sided with britain during the revolution. and it was very important to make nice with them. so the senate is meeting where congress is which is where federal hall now is on wall street in new york city. washington comes to the senate with the secretary of war. and handles indian affairs. vice president john adams lets washington occupy his seat. and then adams reads the draft of cherokee treaty to the senate article by article. and asking for their advice and for their approval. now as he is reading one senator interrupts to say there is too much noise on the street and he can't hear what the vice president is saying. could they please close the windows. this is done. then a second senator interrupts
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and says this draft treaty is referring to previous treaties that we have made with other tribes of indians and if we are to give informed advice we ought to have copies of those treaties so that we know what is being referred to. a third senator says that if we have to read all of these previous treaties that will take too much time. we should have appoint ad committee to read the treaties and report to us on what they say. a fourth senator says well, committees take the business of everyone and give it to the hands of the few. we are all responsible for this treaty so, therefore, we should all see the texts of the previous treaties. a fifth senator says that this
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is nonsense. committees are used in every legislative body the world we should form a committee to deal with this situation. now at this point one senator looked at washington and saw him muttering -- this defeats my every purpose of coming here. but then he quieted down and the senate debate went on for the rest of the day. the next day was sunday. everybody had off. none on monday. senate reassembles. washington in attendance. the senate concludes its debate and gives its advice. but as washington leaves the room, the door keeper overhears him say he would be damned before he came there again. no president ever has. some presidents have asked for written advice on treaties from the senate. wise presidents may consult informally with powerful senators. but no president has ever gone himself to the senate to ask for
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their advice. and this is just one example of dozens, dozens of conundrums that faced washington as president and that he had to resolve in some way because it was the first time. and he did it very judiciously. the second thing he did, something that every president has to do, he had to navigate the politics of his administration. which for him is the politics of the early and mid 1790s. they were as savage as american politics has ever been. now, consider his first cabinet. the first secretary of state is thomas jefferson. the first treasury secretary is alexander hamilton. the first secretary of war is henry knox. and the most important off-stage adviser is representative james madison. washington has known all these men for years. they know each other. jefferson and madison are dearest friends. madison and hamilton are federalist papers co-authors. hamilton and knox are fellow war
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veterans. what could go wrong? well, the two things that almost immediately go wrong are arguments over finance and foreign policy. the financial arguments have a lot to do, i think with the backgrounds of the parties involved. hamilton, the treasury secretary, started life as a merchant's clerk in the virgin islands. he knows international business and finance from the inside, from the ground up, and he likes and it it gave him his opportunity in life because it was businessmen and in st. croix who sent him to new york and-to-get a college education and then that's where he joins the army, american revolution. jefferson and madison are virginia planters.
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positive their deal wings international business and finance are with middle men in england who buy them their luxuries and never seem to pay them enough for their crops. they think that they are probably also unconstitutional. foreign policy becomes an issue because washington is first inaugurated in april 1789. four months later the bastille falls. beginning the french revolution and very soon series of revolutionary wars which then become napoleonic wars that won't end until waterloo. so the early republic exists in the shadow of a world war that is longer than world war's i and ii put together, as violent as either of them and ideological as the cold war. and washington's adviser take sides on in this conflict. early on, hamilton has a conversation with the british agent and tells him we think english -- united states and britain. what he means by that we are
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traditional trading partners and this has been good for both of us. let's try to keep this going despite our former conflicts. jefferson and madison are lifelong friends and stick with the french revolution right through the reign of terror. when jeff are son is secretary of state he writes to the american in paris and says rather than that the revolution should fail i would have seen half the earth devastated. this is how passionate he is about the french revolution. now how serious were these disagreements of opinion? they were serious enough that people killed each other. the founders did not set up guillotines but fought duels. two signers of the constitution were shot and killed in duels. when jefferson becomes president he puts a duellist on the supreme court. a man who is still -- due nell new york. no one objects. when dick cheney shot that guy, it was an accident. and he lived. but the founding fathers shot to kill. so this is the political world
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of the 1790s. washington's achievement is no navigate this and mostly sides with hamilton. but he does tonight such a way not to drive jefferson or madison to despair. they become disaffected and jefferson while he is secretary of state, he puts an anti-administration journalist on his payroll at the state department so that the guy can have access to government documents and cover his expenses. but he stays in the washington administration through the end of 1793. washington is following the principle of keeping your friends close but keep your enemies closer. and it is a great achievement to washington's cunning and to his tact that he was able to keep jefferson as little unhappy as possible. the third thing that washington does is that he goes home. now this has become a matter for
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every president. washington made it a matter of course. and he has been doing it for a long time. as the revolutionary war was ending, george iii had his portrait painted by 2 p benjamin west. and the king asked him what did he think washington would do after the war? and west said well, your majesty, i believe that he will return to his farm. and the king said if he does that, he's the greatest man in the world. washington did it. now he's doing it again in the farewell address. we heard the passages from it and we have heard the discussion of the address itself. the end of the address, there is -- an n the very last paragraph he is talking about
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his own retirement. and he says that he expects to enjoy good laws under a free government which will be the happy reward of our mutual cares, labors and dangers. it is our mutual cares, atlanta brave source and dangers. he is stressing at the end of the address that it hasn't just been him. it has been all of us. after he goes it will be left to all of us. that was the assignment he gave america in 1796 and the assignment that we still carry. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> thank you, ladies and gentlemen. i come to you from harvard. now known as the lincubator of great basketball. and many bad puns of which i hope this is the worst.
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my task is to describe the office that george washington assumed for the first time. george washington was the first president and first republic that had a strong executive. it is something we take for granted today but at that time it was new. strong executive smacks of monarchy and it is against the genius of republican government. which says that power is safest when it is in the hands of many. and as opposed to one or a few. the republican tradition have been dominated by the republican genius that the -- which was very hostile to any sign of one
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man rule. so the demagogues of the ancient republics, modern republics in holland and britain, especially britain, the example of oliver cromwell, was considered very disgraceful for republics. and the modern thinkers of republicanism would take the side of the republic's in the 17th century english civil war to decide republics in -- as opposed to the moderate monarchy of great britain and people like james harrington and sidney. they were all against a strong president. with us, the idea of a strong president came rather late in the constitutional convention of 1787.
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there were at that time, you remember, would original plans. the virginia plan and the new jersey plan with which the convention began. and neither of them had a strong executive. the virginia plan, executive that was elected by the legislator would therefore be a creature of the legislator, legislator. the new jersey plan had an executive by committee. so that no single person was responsible and the members of the committee could blame one another if something went wrong. after the constitution was formed or framed, a strong executive was opposed by the anti-federalists who represented the republican tradition. republican genius.
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now the idea of a strong executive was also new. that was an invention of modern political science. traceable who used the word executive. two senses. first executive -- or execution as carrying something out. following it out to its end. and in that sense executive is doing the will of someone else. besides you. so it is a subordinate function. but the second sense of execution is still the same if english is what is -- what's italian is killing. capital punishment. independent exercise of will by the executive.
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to execute a law that's not enough to say please. may meet resistance. you have to overcome the resistance. possibly even execute resistor. the number one meaning of executive means a weak executive in the number two one means a strong one. this is the ambivalence of executive power. it has -- it has -- can represent a strong and independent action but as a number two it can nearly execute with a will of somebody else, say, the will of congress. the will of the courts. the will of people. or the statement of the law. sometimes government can be strong are if it pretends to be weak.
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if it -- pretends to be carrying out the will of someone else beside itself. and not the initiator or the author of the imposition of whatever it is that the executive is doing. now the federalist has a strong executive we use as energy. energy in the executive also has two uses there. the first place, to face an emergency. so to have energy of the executive must be decisive and he must use secrecy so that what
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he does is a surprise. even today when a congressional meeting -- committee meets by itself in secret, that's called executive session. executive goes with secret. this is a short-term task of energy. but also the executive has the opposite function. in the long term, to execute what hamilton -- alexander hamilton called extensive and arduous enterprises. to plan ahead, to carry out a consistent policy over a long time, always thought to be very difficult for republics, and an example would be the bipartisan foreign policy in the united states going from presidents truman to reagan, of the containment of the soviet union. and in the end a success. sum it up -- surprisingly to us. this word energy is a word out of physics that was brought into political science at this time and find it in the very first uses in the federalist. you heard it in leon cass' reading of one of the excerpts of the farewell address from george washington. it is -- a new term to describe the american presidency. now this energy was derived from the -- another word which is to
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be found in the political philosophy of john, the great philosopher of liberalism. understanding liberalism in a generic sense which includes both liberals and conservatives today. philosophy of rights. even a philosophy of rights needs prerogative according to luck. he defines prerogative as doing public good without a rule. beyond the law, even against the law, you have prerogative like this in a -- constitution he set up a distinction between what's constitutional and what's for the public good. the american founders thought that that was not a wise distinction to put about. and it is better to have the public good within the constitution. and, therefore, better to have a
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power within the constitution than king act for the public good without a rule. beyond law or even against the law. you can get the same result as prerogative if you bring the necessity of discretion inside the constitution. then when you exercise discretion you are not disobeying the constitution. when it is necessary to do that. as sometimes it is. energy is needed not only to execute the laws but also to act when laws are in the way. or not applicable.
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it is a check to the legislature, the overbearing character of the legislature. which was the great fear of the framers of the constitution. they thought that republic were governments of the people and governments of the -- governance of the people in governments of the people, the power that was closest to the people, electricity tour, would be always the most powerful. and this was a danger. so the american constitution wisely installed the a separation of powers that contains both rule of law and discretion. and allows them to contest for supremacy in every particular situation. both are necessary. law and discretion. but you can never have one without the possibility of the other. you always need a law and you always need to be able to get around that law. the separation of powers and the american constitution allows both viewpoints to compete for popular favor and success. each branch has a point of view. a bias. the presidency for discretion. congress and the judiciary for the rule of law. no formula exists for a universal solution. this much of one, that much of
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the other. sometimes one is right. sometime it is other. the supreme court presidents are divided. koramatzu in fare of the president and youngstown in favor of the congress against the president. the office can expand and contract. it can be strong and it can be weak. while we would always have george washington, federalist this is my favorite statement in the federalist. enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm. they won't always be. the question arises is it better to follow george washington? like most of our presidents, joined the modest wisdom of knowing that one is not wise or is it better to imitate abraham
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lincoln when we also celebrate. thank you. [ applause ] >> well, it is -- under the assignment to offer some reflections on the modern presidency and how it has departed from the example of washington and from washington's republicanis many, if not cheesy to flack my new book, politically incorrect guide to presidency which is ad modern president starting with wilson. it struck me that if whole foods sold books, they would surely sell harvey's books and richard's books.
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politically incorrect as it turns out do big sales at costco and walmart. and that was useful because what it really is an attempt to use a populist format to argue against presidential pop list many. and i find myself with the hope he would approve of the device but i will settle for professor mansfield's approval instead because it is one of his observations that i think provides the ground for selling the question of when the modern presidency can be said to have begun. now often when you consider when does the modern presidency begin, attempt to recur to henry adams' famous quip from george washington to ulysses grant single-handedly disproved the theory of evolution. but this isn't really right. although you can mark out the evolution of the office and things -- you know, shadings that -- brought to the office by jefferson and jackson, of course, lincoln, and especially
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theodore

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