Political Thought and the Origins of the American Presidency The Alan B. and Charna Larkin Series on the American Presidency University Press of Florida Florida A&M University, Tallahassee Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton Florida Gulf Coast University, Ft. Myers Florida International University, Miami Florida State University, Tallahassee New College of Florida, Sarasota University of Central Florida, Orlando University of Florida, Gainesville University of North Florida, Jacksonville University of South Florida, Tampa University of West Florida, Pensacola F POLITICAL F THOUGHT F F and the F F ORIGINS F F of the AMERICAN F F PRESIDENCY F F y F F Edited by F F Ben Lowe F Foreword by David Armitage F University Press of Florida Gainesville · Tallahassee · Tampa · Boca Raton Pensacola · Orlando · Miami · Jacksonville · Ft. Myers · Sarasota Copyright 2021 by Ben Lowe All rights reserved Published in the United States of America 26 25 24 23 22 21 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Lowe, Ben, 1956– editor. | Armitage, David, 1965– author of foreword. Title: Political thought and the origins of the American presidency / edited by Ben Lowe ; foreword by David Armitage. Description: Gainesville : University Press of Florida, 2021. | Series: The Alan B. and Charna Larkin series on the American presidency | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020045519 (print) | LCCN 2020045520 (ebook) | ISBN 9780813066813 (hardback) | ISBN 9780813057750 (pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Presidents—United States—History. | Executive power—United States—History. | Electoral college—United States—History. | Constitutional history—United States. | United States—Politics and government. | Political science—United States. Classification: LCC KF4910 .P65 2021 (print) | LCC KF4910 (ebook) | DDC 342.73/062—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045519 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020045520 The University Press of Florida is the scholarly publishing agency for the State University System of Florida, comprising Florida A&M University, Florida Atlantic University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Florida International University, Florida State University, New College of Florida, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of North Florida, University of South Florida, and University of West Florida. University Press of Florida 2046 NE Waldo Road Suite 2100 Gainesville, FL 32609 http://upress.ufl.edu In Memory of Alan B. Larkin (1922–2002) CONTENTS List of Figures ix Foreword xi David Armitage Acknowledgments xv 1. Political Thought and the Intellectual Origins of the American Presidency: Royalism, Executive Power, and the History of Ideas 1 Ben Lowe Part I. The European Origins of the American Presidency 2. Checks and Balances: The Cromwellian Origins of the Presidency 19 Blair Worden 3. Party and Faction in Eighteenth-Century Political Thought from Montesquieu to Madison 53 Max Skjönsberg 4. Does the United States Need a Bill of Rights? Monarchs, Presidents, and the Persistence of a Political Genre in the Age of the American Revolution 74 Eric Slauter 5. Enlightened Despotism and the American Revolution: The Political Thought of Frederick the Great of Prussia 98 Caroline Winterer Part II. The Politics of Constitution Making: The Executive and the Federal Union 6. National Power and the Presidency: Rival Forms of Federalist Constitutionalism at the Founding 127 Jonathan Gienapp 7. Defending an Energetic Executive: Theory and Practice in The Federalist 165 Claire Rydell Arcenas 8. Is the Electoral College the Fundamental Problem? New State Admissions and the U.S. Constitution 187 François Furstenberg Part III. Implementing an Ideal: Political Theory and Practice among the Early Presidents 9. The Political Practices of the First Presidents: The Cabinet and the Executive Branch 217 Lindsay M. Chervinsky 10. Mirror for Presidents: George Washington and the Law of Nations 243 Daniel J. Hulsebosch 11. Liberty and Power: The Classical Republicanism of George Washington and Mercy Otis Warren 274 Rosemarie Zagarri List of Contributors 301 Index 303 FIGURES 8.1. Map of the United States of America and Canada (1783) 190 8.2. Jefferson-Hartley Map 194 8.3. Gouverneur Morris 197 8.4. Rufus King 199 10.1. The New York Society Library Charging Ledger 244 10.2. Title page of Emer de Vattel’s The Law of Nations 250 11.1. George Washington 277 11.2. Mrs. James Warren (Mercy Otis) 285