Regards, Ivan
Posted on 07/28/2004 12:24:00 PM PDT by MadIvan
It used to be an article of faith that the Democrats were the party of “the common man”. In the excellent but brief biography of James K. Polk, John Seigenthaler described the split between the Democratic-Republicans (precursor to the Democrats) and the Federalists (precursor to the Whigs, and in some ways to the Republicans) in those terms:
“As Polk grew into adulthood, everything he had grasped about the conflict between Federalist and the Republican values seemed to reinforce a basic and logical argument that the country would be better server if national government was the declared servant of all the people…and was barred from acting chiefly as the agent of rich and powerful constituencies.” (James K. Polk, page 11)
In James Polk’s day, the Democrats were primarily worried about the power of an overreaching state: the Second Bank of the United States was regarded as too powerful and taken out of action, first by Jackson’s “pet banks” scheme, then by Polk’s independent Treasury. Tariffs were seen as gifts to rich elites and a burden on the poor: Polk reduced them. “Internal improvements”, in other words, public works, were anathema to Democrat party doctrine. As Seigenthaler notes:
“…the Republican position, grounded in Jefferson’s fear, embraced later by Jacksonian Democrats, that if the president had the authority to grant ‘internal improvements’, it would dangerously empower the administration to reward friends and punish enemies.” (James K. Polk, page 34)
The Democrats still continue in the conceit that indeed they are the “party of the common man”. However if their convention has proven anything conclusively, it is that if James Polk were to arise from the grave, he would see that his world had turned upside down. Not only have the Democrats long stopped being a party that was there to protect the individual from an over-powerful state, and that state being controlled by “rich and powerful constituencies”, rather, it is a party that serves constituencies that are working to make the state even more powerful. It is now a party run by a liberal aristocracy that the Jacksonians would despise.
The Democrat Party in the era of Jackson and Polk was largely run by self-made men. Andrew Jackson made his name as a military officer; James Polk was a country lawyer in Tennessee of humble origins, who worked his way up in politics. Today, John Kerry is by far the wealthiest man in the race, his initial fortune having been bolstered by prudent marriages. John Edwards, like Polk, was a lawyer, but there was hardly anything country or humble about it: Polk handled small cases such as property claims, Edwards went for large, sweeping medical malpractice trials. Polk made just a living, Edwards is a multimillionaire.
But beyond mere raw wealth, an aristocracy is defined by its attitudes, namely, its separate and elite status from the majority. Jeffersonian and Jacksonian principles called for the state as servant. Clintonesque and Kerryesque values see the state as the director.
(Excerpt) Read more at rightgoths.com ...
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
I copied it, thanks.
Excellent article ... it's always nice to find another fan of James Knox Polk. I also read "Democrats are no Fun" on your site; very observant!
I picked up the book on a whim when I was last in America - I wasn't able to put it down, I thought it was highly interesting. One day when I have some money set aside, I'm going to get the other books about him - fascinating man, one of the very few politicians who achieved all the goals he set himself: he acquired Oregon and California, established the Treasury (an arrangement that persisted until 1913) and lowered taxes. Outstanding.
Regards, Ivan
I have bookmarked it for my morning travails.
Please do not disappoint?
I wear all black and I'm proud.
Please do not disappoint?
New material won't appear every day, but I'll do my best. ;)
Regards, Ivan
With the retirment of USS JAMES K. POLK SSBN-645, there is no longer an active ship in the US Navy bearing his name. I think his name would be appropriate on a CVNX-21 class aircraft carrier.
Regards, Ivan
After WWII until the Fall of the Soviet Union, Republicans ran on "Democrats are Soft On Communism" and Democrats ran on "Republicans are Corrupt."
Now Republicans run on "Deomcrats are Soft On Terrorism" and Democrats run on "Republicans are Corrupt."
Et plus ça change et plus c'est la même chose.
The break occured in fits and starts, but I think that the old Democrat party began to die in 1900 - it was a struggle between Grover Cleveland and William Jennings Bryan, an populist. Cleveland endorsed William McKinley rather than have anything to do with Bryan. The last Democrat that Cleveland approved of was Alton Parker, the Democrat candidate in 1904.
Regards, Ivan
Outstanding. A very insightful portrait of todays party - the Dhimmicrats - and its constrast with the Jacksonian-Polk Democrats of old. Every "little guy" who thinks Kerry and Edwards are on his page should read this.
A salute to Tsar Ivan Groznii and the Right Goths!
We leave near President Polk's birthplace (near Pineville, NC) and previously lived near his longtime home in Columbia, TN. Mr. and Mrs. Polk were such normal, gracious people - rather like our current President and the Mrs. - except that Mrs. Polk had the smallest feet I've ever seen on an adult!
The Polk story is kind of a tragedy in some ways - James Polk dropped dead 3 months after leaving office. Such a great man never got to enjoy a retirement.
What is more is that they didn't have children - a primitive operation to remove bladder stones left him sterile at lease.
Regards, Ivan
The house in Columbia contains the furniture that the Polks bought for their retirement home in Nashville. Unfortunately he caught the cholera (or was it typhoid), after being worn out being President. It's nice that the heirs kept the furniture, so people can see how they lived.
I didn't realize he was infertile. Funny that neither the Polks nor the Jacksons had children. In an odd coincidence, we also live near President Jackson's birthplace!
The tale of Polk's operation is related in his biography - he was a sickly child for the most part; the bit about the operation does make one cringe involuntarily. I felt for the man, reading it.
Regards, Ivan
I know you will do your best. I will see you in there.
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