Audiobook (abridged)6 hours
A Magnificent Catastrophe: The Tumultuous Election of 1800, America's First Presidential Campaign
Written by Edward J. Larson
Narrated by John Dossett
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
4/5
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About this audiobook
CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title
"They could write like angels and scheme like demons." So begins Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Larson's masterful account of the wild ride that was the 1800 presidential election—an election so convulsive and so momentous to the future of American democracy that Thomas Jefferson would later dub it "America's second revolution."
This was America's first true presidential campaign, giving birth to our two-party system and indelibly etching the lines of partisanship that have so profoundly shaped American politics ever since. The contest featured two of our most beloved Founding Fathers, once warm friends, facing off as the heads of their two still-forming parties—the hot-tempered but sharp-minded John Adams, and the eloquent yet enigmatic Thomas Jefferson—flanked by the brilliant tacticians Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, who later settled their own differences in a duel.
The country was descending into turmoil, reeling from the terrors of the French Revolution, and on the brink of war with France. Blistering accusations flew as our young nation was torn apart along party lines: Adams and his elitist Federalists would squelch liberty and impose a British-style monarchy; Jefferson and his radically democratizing Republicans would throw the country into chaos and debase the role of religion in American life. The stakes could not have been higher.
As the competition heated up, other founders joined the fray—James Madison, John Jay, James Monroe, Gouverneur Morris, George Clinton, John Marshall, Horatio Gates, and even George Washington—some of them emerging from retirement to respond to the political crisis gripping the nation and threatening its future.
Drawing on unprecedented, meticulous research of the day-to-day unfolding drama, from diaries and letters of the principal players as well as accounts in the fast-evolving partisan press, Larson vividly re-creates the mounting tension as one state after another voted and the press had the lead passing back and forth. The outcome remained shrouded in doubt long after the voting ended, and as Inauguration Day approached, Congress met in closed session to resolve the crisis. In its first great electoral challenge, our fragile experiment in constitutional democracy hung in the balance.
A Magnificent Catastrophe is history writing at its evocative best: the riveting story of the last great contest of the founding period.
"They could write like angels and scheme like demons." So begins Pulitzer Prize-winner Edward Larson's masterful account of the wild ride that was the 1800 presidential election—an election so convulsive and so momentous to the future of American democracy that Thomas Jefferson would later dub it "America's second revolution."
This was America's first true presidential campaign, giving birth to our two-party system and indelibly etching the lines of partisanship that have so profoundly shaped American politics ever since. The contest featured two of our most beloved Founding Fathers, once warm friends, facing off as the heads of their two still-forming parties—the hot-tempered but sharp-minded John Adams, and the eloquent yet enigmatic Thomas Jefferson—flanked by the brilliant tacticians Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, who later settled their own differences in a duel.
The country was descending into turmoil, reeling from the terrors of the French Revolution, and on the brink of war with France. Blistering accusations flew as our young nation was torn apart along party lines: Adams and his elitist Federalists would squelch liberty and impose a British-style monarchy; Jefferson and his radically democratizing Republicans would throw the country into chaos and debase the role of religion in American life. The stakes could not have been higher.
As the competition heated up, other founders joined the fray—James Madison, John Jay, James Monroe, Gouverneur Morris, George Clinton, John Marshall, Horatio Gates, and even George Washington—some of them emerging from retirement to respond to the political crisis gripping the nation and threatening its future.
Drawing on unprecedented, meticulous research of the day-to-day unfolding drama, from diaries and letters of the principal players as well as accounts in the fast-evolving partisan press, Larson vividly re-creates the mounting tension as one state after another voted and the press had the lead passing back and forth. The outcome remained shrouded in doubt long after the voting ended, and as Inauguration Day approached, Congress met in closed session to resolve the crisis. In its first great electoral challenge, our fragile experiment in constitutional democracy hung in the balance.
A Magnificent Catastrophe is history writing at its evocative best: the riveting story of the last great contest of the founding period.
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Reviews for A Magnificent Catastrophe
Rating: 4.071428571428571 out of 5 stars
4/5
42 ratings6 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A nice short selection that gives more attention to the mechanics of the 1800 election than most histories provide; competently written and well read.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fun recount of a major turning point in our country’s political journey.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Larson's book was published in 2007, but it's never seemed more timely.
An election that bitterly divided the American people? That ended in a disputed fashion? One marked by bitter division among party elites that helped to undermine the candidates? One ticket composed of an experienced, ideologically consistent steady hand and a cipher seen as malleable, ambitious and unreliable? Vitriolic personal attacks? Nasty, sometimes factually iffy partisan news articles being shared around the country? Concern that candidates might be beholden to the interests of foreign countries? Predictions that the wrong outcome could destroy the nation? A campaign that seemed to go on forever, starting well more than a year before the final votes were cast in November?
These are just a few of the parallels that leap to mind between what Larson dubs "America's first presidential campaign" and the bizarre 2016 campaign. The two elections aren't one-to-one comparisons, of course, but understanding history can help put the present into much-needed perspective.
It's also striking how modern much of it FEELS, aside from the specific (and often superficial) parallels to a specific election. Despite the major cultural differences between 2016 and 1800, the candidates and political operatives behave recognizably. There are no polls, but newspapers at the time still engaged in political prognostication: predicting which states will go to which candidate (which map colors for Jefferson and Adams?) and how many electors. Operatives plot and scheme. Aaron Burr single-handedly invents political canvassing. Political junkies earnestly follow the latest developments. Pastors fulminate about the decline of America and godless candidates — who genuinely exist. There are debates about whether one side's maneuver is intended as a deliberate provocation and such whether it should be ignored or responded to in kind. People debate to what degree ends justify the means. Many other books about this time period, for good reason, highlight the different mindsets: the affairs of honor, the Roman Republican ideals, limited views on the role and capabilities of women and blacks. But this book does a good job of highlighting the similarities — human nature may change, but slowly.
The book is well-researched and well-written on top of that, a breezy read I finished in two days. The author is generally sympathetic to Jefferson and Adams and not to Hamilton and Burr; Hamilton's faction of "High Federalists" in particular come as close to villains as any in Larson's book. (His decision to label them as "conservatives" seemed an odd, a-historic choice that at best only partially described the Hamiltonian party — but that's a rare quibble in an otherwise enjoyable book.) Certainly anyone lamenting how politics has degenerated from disinterested debates of yesteryear to today's partisan mudslinging should chapters like "Caucuses and Calumny." - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If you believe that we have partisan elections today then you must read this book to see what was happenning at the beginning of this country. It is interesting to read that many issues involved in 1800 are still with us today. There was much more back room dealing than we have today. The partisanship is just as bad and the influence of money and power is similar. This book is a good look at the election and how the electoral college had its flaws and detractors even then.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book is fascinating but...1) It is repetitive, probably since the author believes that the reader will have to be reminded of events and people which have already been described. Probably this is true in many cases, but I found the repetition a bit boring.2) It makes excessive use of cliches.3) It is depressing because it suggests very strongly that presidential elections then were like presidential elections now, driven more by perception than by actuality.However, it is also funny and teaches us that the political parties were just as hostile and likely to engage in personal attacks as they are today. The various churches were always eager to get into the political fray, just as they are today. And the way they went about it was just as ludicrous as it is today.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The first true presidential campaign took place in 1800 when President John Adams running for re-election was opposed by his former friend, and Vice President, Thomas Jefferson. The difficulty of the era was that many of the states still had not determined a permanent method of electing their electoral college members making for tremendous battles behind the scenes.The death of George Washington created additional problems for the Federalist party since many members at the tie were try to draft Washington back into public office.Many future occupants of the White House were drawn into the controversy. (James Madison, James Monroe, as well as Supreme Court Justices John Marshall and John Jay.)The book went to great detail explaining all the issues of the day and how the temporary governmental provisions for the election could result in different results.