#313 How John Adams Defined the Presidency w/ Lindsay Chervinsky

The Road to Now

Benjamin Sawyer

Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 629 Ratings

🗓️ 2 September 2024

⏱️ 55 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

John Adams' single term as President has long been cast as a low point in his political career, but Lindsay Chervinsky sees it differently. "George Washington created the Presidency," she writes in her new book Making the Presidency, "but John Adams defined it."

In this episode, Lindsay joins us to share why she sees Adams as a crucial figure in transforming an office that had been established for, and created by, George Washington, into a position with the customs and practices that could be passed down through generations. Along the way, Lindsay explains why she thinks we've gotten Adams so wrong (hint: both Jefferson and Hamilton disliked his politics), the crucial role he played in establishing a peaceful transition of power, and how the January 6^th insurrection might help us all have a greater appreciation for President John Adams.

Dr. Lindsay Chervinsky is the Executive Director of the George Washington Presidential Library and author of the new book Making the Presidency: John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic, which is out September 5^th, 2024 from Oxford University Press. You can find out more about her work at her website: lindsaychervinsky.com

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to check out Lindsay Chervinsky's previous RTN appearances on The Road to Now:

· #184: The President's Cabinet

· #263: Mourning the Presidents

· #296: The Election of 1824 (Part 1 in our Third Party Elections Series)

This episode was edited by Gary Fletcher

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the Roads Now. I'm Ben Sawyer, and I'm kicking off the show with an announcement.
0:09.5	As you all know, we've been running our poll to find out who was America's worst vice president.
0:15.2	But now I am here to announce the winners of the final four bracket. Who's going to make it to the finals?
0:19.8	And here's what we got.
0:21.7	John C. Calhoun easily defeated Spiro Agnew, with 74% of the vote. Congrats to Calhoun on finding
0:27.9	something he could actually nullify. On the other side of the bracket, the underdog number three
0:32.2	Andrew Johnson knocked off number two Aaron Burr to make the finals with a final tally of 58% to 42%.
0:38.4	So now ladies and gentlemen it is time to crown the winner of America's worst vice president.
0:43.2	Will it be number one seed, the cousin marrying double-crossing architect of white supremacy,
0:47.8	John C. Calhoun? Or will it be Andrew Johnson who drunkenly kissed the Bible at his
0:52.1	vice presidential inauguration and later went on to be possibly America's worst regular president.
0:57.3	Well, unlike the actual vice presidency in this election, we let the people decide.
1:02.1	Go to RTMPpod.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m.m. Worse. Worse. And help us decide. The voting will run until Sunday, September 8th at 3 p.m. Eastern, and we'll announce the winner in next Monday's episode. Just a note here, we are using our Patreon page to run the poll, but you do not need to be a patron to vote. This was just the easiest way for us to set up the poll in one place. That being said, if you like the show and want to support us on Patreon, you'll get access to a lot of bonus content, including a brand new mini episode in which today's guest, Lindsay Trevinsky, joins Bob and I for a conversation about who we think deserves the title of America's best vice president. It was not an easy decision. Speaking of vice presidents, let's get into our conversation with Lindsay Trevinsky on her new book, Making the Presidency, John Adams and the Presidents that forged the
1:44.5	Republic, and how America's first vice president came to play a crucial role in defining the
1:49.5	office of the presidency. Enjoy. I'm Ben Sawyer.
1:54.4	I'm Bob Crawford.
2:01.6	And this is the road to now.
2:03.0	It is.
2:05.1	And we haven't been together for a while, Bob, so we both want to say it.
2:05.5	We can say it together.
2:08.6	It's awesome that we're back together.
2:09.9	We've had a wild summer both going in different directions.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Benjamin Sawyer, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Benjamin Sawyer and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.