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Presidential Documents: Words that Shaped a Nation from Washington to Obama book cover

2nd Edition

Presidential Documents Words that Shaped a Nation from Washington to Obama

Edited By Thomas J. McInerney, Fred L. Israel Copyright 2013
    424 Pages
    by Routledge

    420 Pages
    by Routledge

    In this lively, authoritative collection, Thomas J. McInerney presents famous and lesser-known speeches, letters, and other important documents from every U.S. president from George Washington to Barack Obama.

    　

    Whether printed in full or excerpted, these history-making documents are an invaluable resource as well as a fascinating browse. Including familiar documents such as the Emancipation Proclamation, to personal correspondence such as a letter from George H.W. Bush to his children, this collection brings together the famous statements that came to represent each administration with intimate glimpses into the thought processes of various presidential leaders.

    　

    Now in its second edition, Presidential Documents has been re-designed to increase its usefulness in the classroom. Part openers introduce each era of the American presidency with a concise political and historical overview, highlighting the challenges each leader faced, and placing the documents in context. Whether used as a complement to an American history survey text or as a collection of primary documents for courses on the American Presidency, Presidential Documents provides an engrossing look at the work of the leaders of the United States, in all their complexity.

    ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

    PREFACE

    PART ONE THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENCY IS LAUNCHED

    SECTION I THE NEW NATION

    CHAPTER 1 George Washington

      1. The First Inaugural Address

      2. The Pillar of Good Government

      3. Proclamation on the Resistance to the Excise Tax Neutrality

      4. Neutrality

      5. Second Proclamation on the Whiskey Rebellion

      6. The Farewell Address

      7. Postscript to the Farewell Address

    CHAPTER 2 John Adams

      1. Report to Congress on the XYZ Affair

      2. Establishment of Permanent Capitol in Washington City

      3. Commission of John Marshall as Chief Justice

    SECTION II THE EARLY REPUBLIC

    CHAPTER 3 Thomas Jefferson

      1. First Inaugural Address

      2. Tripoli

      3. Importance of New Orleans

      4. Recommendation to End the African Slave Trade

      5. The Embargo Message

      6. A Note on the Non-intercourse Act

    CHAPTER 4 James Madison

      1. Proclamation Resuming Trade with France

      2. War Message to Congress

      3. A National Bank Reconsidered

      4. National Seminary Proposed

    CHAPTER 5 James Monroe

      1. Statehood for Illinois

      2. Comments on the Missouri Compromise

      3. Veto of the Cumberland Road Bill

      4. Monroe Doctrine

    CHAPTER 6 John Quincy Adams

      1. Plan of Internal Improvements

      2. Fifty Years of Independence

    SECTION III NATIONAL SECURITY AND GROWING PAINS

    CHAPTER 7 Andrew Jackson

      1. Inaugural Address

      2. Veto of the Bank Bill

      3. Message on the Removal of the Southern Indians

      4. Proclamation to the People of South Carolina

      5. Constitutional Prohibition of Foreign Gifts

      6. Executive Power is Vested in a President

      7. Tribute to a Friend of Liberty and the Rights of Man

      8. Farewell

    CHAPTER 8 Martin Van Buren

      1. Independent Treasury Message

      2. Border Insecurity

    CHAPTER 9 William Henry Harrison

      1. The Great Dread

    CHAPTER 10 John Tyler

      1. A New Test for the Chief Executive

      2. Request for Ratification of the Webster-Ashburton Treaty

      3. Message Urging Annexation of Texas

    CHAPTER 11 James K. Polk

      1. Inaugural Address Excerpts

      2. First Annual Message

      3. War Message

      4. The Oregon Question

      5. Discovery of Gold in California

    SECTION IV COMPROMISE AND CONFLICT

    CHAPTER 12 Zachary Taylor

      1. Statehood for California

      2. Clayton-Bulwar Treaty

      3. Proclamation of Peace

    CHAPTER 13 Millard Fillmore

      1. Compromise of 1850

      2. Death of Daniel Webster

    CHAPTER 14 Franklin Pierce

      1. Gadsden Purchase

    CHAPTER 15 James Buchanan

      1. Inaugural Address

      2. Disunion Averted

      3. Intemperate Interference

      4. State of the Union is Beyond Executive Control

    SECTION V WAR AND PEACE

    CHAPTER 16 Abraham Lincoln

      1. First Inaugural Address

      2. The War Message

      3. Emancipation Proclamation

      4. Gettysburg Address

      5. Plan for Reconstruction

      6. Suppression of African Slave Trade

      7. Second Inaugural Address

    CHAPTER 17 Andrew Johnson

      1. Amnesty and Pardon

      2. The Union Restored

      3. Views on Reconstruction

      4. Answer to Impeachment Article I

      5. Acquisition of Alaska and Virgin Islands

      6. Final Universal Pardon

    CHAPTER 18 Ulysses S. Grant

      1. First Inaugural on Suffrage

      2. Restoration of Union to Peaceful and Proper Relations

      3. Eight Hour Day for Government Workers

      4. Last Message to Congress

    CHAPTER 19 Rutherford B. Hayes

      1. Reflections on the Great Railroad Strikes

      2. The Subject of Supreme Importance

      3. Harmonize Race Relations

      4. Beyond the Bayonet

      5. Pacification and Unification Program

    SECTION VI BUILDING OF MODERN AMERICA

    CHAPTER 20 James A. Garfield

          1. A Hundred Years of National Life

      1. The Torrent of Patronage Seekers

    CHAPTER 21 Chester A. Arthur

      1. Principles and Rules of Public Service

      1. Message on Arizona Crisis

      2. Call for a Pan American Conference

      3. Chinese Exclusion Act Clarification Requested

      4. The Temper of the American People and Elections

    CHAPTER 22 Grover Cleveland

      1. Vetoes Disaster Relief

      2. Liberty Enlightening the World

    CHAPTER 23 Benjamin Harrison

      1. The Presidential Oath is a Covenant with the People

      2. Call for a Reduction of Government Revenues and Expenditures

      3. The Burden of Presidential Appointments

      4. On Naturalization

    CHAPTER 24 Grover Cleveland

      1. Decision to Send Troops to Quash the Pullman Strike in Chicago

      2. Defends the Gold Standard

      3. American Economy and the Currency

      4. Government and the Individual

      5. Government Extravagance is a Crime against the Citizen

    CHAPTER 25 William McKinley

      1. War with the Spanish Empire

      1. America Looks Outward and Embraces the Philippine Islands

      2. Antietam Commemoration: End of the Bloody Shirt

      3. Last Words to the People

    PART TWO THE TWENTIETH CENTURY

    SECTION VII THE MODERN PRESIDENCY

    CHAPTER 26 Theodore Roosevelt

      1. The Greatness of McKinley

      2. Acquisition of Panama Canal Zone

      3. "Roosevelt Corollary" to the Monroe Doctrine

      4. Conservation of America

      5. Taft is Fit to be President

    CHAPTER 27 William Howard Taft

      1. Dollar Diplomacy Espoused

      2. The Chief Magistrate and the National Pastime

      3. The Chief Diplomat Modernizes the Apparatus

      4. The President’s Analysis of the 1912 Election Results

      5. Our Capitol City: The City of Washington and District of Columbia

    CHAPTER 28 Woodrow Wilson

      1. Establishment of the Federal Reserve System

      2. Federal Segregation Policy and the Chief Executive

      3. Order to Invade Mexico

      4. America Enters the Great War

      5. Decoration Day 1918

      6. A New World Order

    CHAPTER 29 Warren G. Harding

      1. On Race

      2. Our Oneness as Americans

      3. Our National Good Fortune

      4. Debs Receives Christmas Pardon

    CHAPTER 30 Calvin Coolidge

      1. The "Secret" Presidential Press Conference

      2. Calvin Coolidge Honors Aviator Charles Lindbergh

      3. Coolidge Farewell at George Washington University

    SECTION VIII DEPRESSION AND WAR

    CHAPTER 31 Herbert Hoover

      1. Vision of Prosperity

      2. Chief Comments on the Crash

      3. Hoover Defends Political Principles

      4. Renunciation of War

      5. U.S. Chamber of Commerce Conference

      6. Dedication of the Empire State Building

      7. Cornerstone Ceremony: Justice Department

      8. Attempt on Life of President-

      9. National Archives Cornerstone Ceremony

      10. Stages of Depression

    CHAPTER 32 Franklin D. Roosevelt

      1. First Inaugural Address

      2. FDR’s First "Fireside Chat"

      3. Social Security for America

      4. Reorganization of the Judiciary and Court Packing Plan

      5. "Lend-Lease" Plan

      6. War Against Japan

      7. Order of Japanese Internment

    SECTION IX LEADER OF THE FREE WORLD: THE NEW AMERICAN SUPERPOWER

    CHAPTER 33 Harry S. Truman

      1. Atomic Bomb Dropped on Hiroshima

      2. Employment Act of 1946

      3. Truman Doctrine

      4. Recognition of the State of Israel

      5. Integrating the Armed Forces

      6. President Fires General Douglas MacArthur

    CHAPTER 34 Dwight D. Eisenhower

      1. Interstate Highway System

      2. "Open Skies" Proposal

      3. Little Rock High School Integrates Statehood for Hawaii

      4. Statehood for Hawaii

      5. The Chief Executive Orders a New Flag

      6. The Military Industrial Complex

    CHAPTER 35 John F. Kennedy

      1. Inaugural Address

      2. Birth of the Peace Corps

      3. Cuban Missile Crisis

      4. Civil Rights

      5. Berlin Wall Speech

      6. Hats Off to Aerospace

      7. New Frontiers of Peace and Abundance: Undelivered

    SECTION X TROUBLED YEARS AT THE OVAL OFFICE

    CHAPTER 36 Lyndon B. Johnson

      1. The Great Society

      2. Civil Rights Bill of 1964

      3. War in Vietnam

      4. Opening of the New York World’s Fair

      5. A Promise to Continue on the Path of JFK

      6. Vietnam and the Presidency

    CHAPTER 37 Richard M. Nixon

      1. An Interplanetary Conversation

      2. Marooned on the Moon

      3. Select Dicta-belt Tapes

      4. Desegregation

      5. "Opening" of China

      6. The Resignation

    CHAPTER 38 Gerald R. Ford

      1. Ford Pardons Nixon

      2. White House Conversation on the World

    CHAPTER 39 James E. Carter

      1. Jimmy Gives the Canal to Panama

      2. Iranian Hostage Rescue Mission Fails

      3. Camp David Accords

      4. "Malaise Speech"

    SECTION XI VICTORY IN THE COLD WAR: AMERICAN GLOBAL ASCENDANCY

    CHAPTER 40 Ronald Reagan

      1. Chief Diplomat Denounces the "Evil Empire"

      2. "Star Wars" Missile Defense Concept

      3. The Challenger Tragedy

      4. Arms Control Agreement with USSR

      5. History and the American Heritage

      6. Economic Recovery Program

      7. A Reply to Sammy on South Africa

      8. Tear Down This Wall

      9. Americans: Keepers of Miracles

    CHAPTER 41 George H. W. Bush

      1. War in the Persian Gulf

      2. Bicentennial Ceremony of George Washington’s Inauguration

      3. Leader of the Free World Speaks at Karl Marx University

      4. Batten Down the Hatches: An Historic New Year’s Note

    CHAPTER 42 William Jefferson Clinton

      1. North Atlantic Free Trade Agreement

      2. White House Affair Denial

      3. Post Impeachment Presidential Comments on Acquittal

      4. Suspending Restrictions on U. S. Relations with the PLO

      5. The Era of Big Government is Over

    PART THREE THE AMERICAN PRESIDENCY AND THE NEW MILLENIUM

    SECTION XII GROUND ZERO AND THE NEW MILLENIUM

    CHAPTER 43 George W. Bush

      1. Tax Relief Plan Announced

      2. The Whole World Hears You

      3. War on Terror

      4. America Strikes Back

      5. Homeland Security Act

      6. Millennium Challenge Initiative

      7. On Iraq

      8. Medicare Prescription Drug Act

      9. Energy Strategy for 21st Century

      10. Hurricane Katrina

      11. The Patriot Act

      12. The Global War on Terror

    CHAPTER 44 Barack H. Obama

      1. Guantanamo

      2. Stimulus

      3. Health Care

      4. Solyndra, Inc.

      5. BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster

      6. Mid-Term Referendum

      7. Killing Osama Bin Laden

      8. Arab Spring and the Middle East

      9. American Jobs Act

      10. Libya: Shadow of Tyranny Lifted

      11. Iraq War Ends

      12. Keystone XL Pipeline

      13. A Blueprint for the Future

    Biography

    Thomas J. McInerney is Professor of History at Metropolitan State University in Denver, Colorado.

    Fred L. Israel is Professor Emeritus of American History at the City College of New York. His previous works include the five-volume History of Presidential Elections 1789-1988 (1988), which he co-edited with Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., and Running for President (1995).

    "State papers are instruments of power, and Presidential Documents illustrates the diverse ways American presidents have striven to mold the nation's destiny. This collection, well-selected and ably annotated, is a fine introduction to the perennial mysteries of the American presidency." -- Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.
    "Deftly selected and edited, these documents present a compact history of the presidency in the sometimes inspirational, sometimes disconcerting words of the presidents themselves.Presidential Documents ought to be required reading for all presidential candidates and for all voters." -- Donald A. Ritchie, U.S. Senate Historical Office.
    "This fine collection of documents with running commentary from professors Watts and Israel provides a valuable tool for studying the American presidency and the country's larger history." -- Robert Dallek, Professor of History, Boston University
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