Since the founding of the United States, the office of the presidency – and the men who have occupied it – have had a profound impact on the hearts, minds, and fortunes of American citizens. When George Washington was inaugurated as the first president in 1789, no one knew what kind of position it would be – would it be a powerful, king-like executive (as Alexander Hamilton wanted) or would its powers be limited, subservient to Congress (as Thomas Jefferson desired)?
Throughout the years, the role of the president has grown and diminished, with executive powers waxing and waning depending on the person and the time. Andrew Jackson, for instance, sought to expand the powers of the office to the point where he even ignored Supreme Court rulings. Abraham Lincoln, too, stretched the limits of executive power by suspending habeas corpus in his efforts to win the American Civil War. On the other hand, the string of weak, one-term presidents during the crisis over slavery in the 1850s – Taylor, Fillmore, Pierce, Buchanan – could do little but watch the country fall apart.
This collection examines the lives and times of the first 16 US presidents. By looking at their biographies, one can trace the first 90 years of the United States' existence through the eyes of the men who helped shape its destiny – both for better and for worse.
