The precedents of the presidency

The United States Constitution drafted in 1787 is one of the shortest written governing charters in the world. The majority of the 4,000 words are devoted to Congress, leaving a relatively scant description of the presidency in Article II. In many ways, the presidency we have today barely resembles the office outlined in the Constitution. Instead, the office was created and defined by the early office holders who viewed the Constitution as a good first step, but not the end game.

When George Washington took the oath of office and became the first president on April 30, 1789, he began to fill out all the fuzzy bits of the presidency overlooked or ignored in the Constitution. He determined how the president would work with the other branches of government, interact with average citizens, manage domestic crises, and dictate foreign policy. He filled the Supreme Court, created the cabinet, and asserted executive privilege for the first time. He then retired, crafting the two-term precedent for the presidency, which was codified into law with the 22nd Amendment.

But when Washington went home, the presidency was still largely undefined. Washington had offered one possible definition, but it was unclear if his model would work for anyone else. Washington’s stature was unparalleled. No one else would ever enjoy the same vaunted and unchallenged position. Would Congress, the executive departments, and foreign nations respect the presidency if someone else occupied it? Would the American people recognize it?

The presidency of John Adams was equally as pivotal, therefore, because he defined the presidency for everyone else. He changed the presidency in two ways: he fully embraced and defended the powers of the presidency, and he lost and went home.

First, Washington had mostly wielded presidential authority with little pushback. As a result, many executive powers were still theoretical until tested. Adams faced tests from extreme voices in his cabinet and Congress. The Arch Federalists, the radical wing of Adams’s political party, attempted to create an executive-by-committee presidency, like the British cabinet today. Adams pushed back on these efforts and asserted his sole right to pursue diplomacy and define foreign policy. The secretaries had a right to share their opinion; they could not demand the president follow their advice.

Adams also insisted on the right to change cabinet personnel at will. The Constitution mentions department secretaries, but it does not say how many, what kind, how they will be appointed, or how they will be removed. In the summer of 1789, the First Federal Congress created the first three departments (war, state, and treasury) and the attorney general. They determined that the president would appoint secretaries but could not find consensus on how they would be removed, so they simply left it out of the bill.

Both Washington and Adams assumed the president had the unilateral power to remove a secretary, but Washington never tested this theory. He never fired a secretary. Instead, his secretaries voluntarily resigned or retired. In May 1800, Adams removed Timothy Pickering and appointed John Marshall the next secretary of state. Congress considered this unprecedented step before ultimately confirming Marshall and tacitly approving the president’s right to fire a secretary. Until Adams tested this authority, it was theoretical. Every president since Adams, except Andrew

Johnson, has enjoyed this privilege and the Supreme Court affirmed the president’s right to remove secretaries at will in Myers v. United States (1926).

Second, Washington had taken the first and hardest step when he willingly gave up power in 1797. He was still wildly popular and could have easily won a third term. But as the violent insurrection on January 6, 2021 reminded us, we can never take for granted that the losing candidate will go home quietly and peacefully. For context, when Adams went home on March 4, 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte was on the throne in France. In 1815, Napoleon staged a wild escape from the Isle of Elba to seize the throne for an additional 100 days. Unlike his more violent contemporaries, Adams did everything in his power to ensure a smooth transition. He then returned to his home in Quincy, Massachusetts, where he wrote to President Thomas Jefferson, “This part of the Union is in a state of perfect Tranquility and I see nothing to obscure your prospect of a quiet and prosperous Administration, which I heartily wish you.”

A republic is characterized by the peaceful transfer of power. John Adams knew that sometimes in a democracy, you lose. He loved the republic even when he lost and set an example for all his successors to uphold and defend the peaceful transfer of power. The presidency would not be the same without him.

_{Featured image: Official Presidential Portrait of John Adams, painted by John Trumbull, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons}