Martin Van Buren was born into a modest Dutch household in 1782. Therefore, he was the first President to be born a U.S. Citizen and not a British subject. Being Dutch, he was also the first President not of British ancestory. He is also our only President that English wasn’t his first language, he grew up speaking Dutch (Wait just a second, you mean to tell me he wouldn’t have been able to “press 1 for English”????). His education was limited, but as a young teenager he started to apprentice and read law with a prestigious law office in his hometown of Kinderhook, New York. After working with several big-time attorneys in New York, Van Buren met many political leaders involved in New York state politics. From this point on his political career was born.

After starting his own law practice, Martin Van Buren became financially secure enough to focus his attention to the political sphere. He also married his childhood sweetheart, and the daughter of his first cousin (yuuuppp….). In 1812 he would secure his first party nomination, and won his first election for a seat in the New York State Senate. At this same time the War of 1812 broke out. Van Buren was a big supporter of the war, and even helped organize the New York militia. His political involvement in the war helped spring board him to winning the position of New York Attorney General in 1815. He won reelection to the New York State Senate and served in both positions simultaneously.

Van Buren continued to be involved and lead many New York “machine” political circles, including the famous Tammany Hall and Albany Regency. Around this same time, Van Buren’s wife passed away after contracting tuberculosis. Although they were only married a short time, he would never remarry. Because of his growing and expanding profile in New York machine, he was elected to the United States Senate representing New York in 1821. As Van Buren had done all throughout his career, he quickly became a very prominent Senator, serving on some major Senate committees.

Van Buren loved the two party system and strove to play one another against each other anytime he could. In the election of 1828, he chose to support Andrew Jackson against John Quincy Adams, because he believed Jackson had the better chance to beat Adams party. With the strong help of Van Buren campaigning for him in the north, the southern Andrew Jackson won the election. But Van Buren won an election of his own. He was elected as the governor of New York. He resigned from his Senate seat and assumed the governorship.

In February of 1829 Jackson asked Van Buren to serve as Secretary of State. Van Buren quickly resigned the governorship and became the U.S. Secretary of State. His term as governor of New York for 43 days is the shortest in New York history. As was described in Jackson’s article, Van Buren became his closest advisor. He experienced numerous successes as Secretary of State including securing several foreign treaties. Also described last time, he became Jackson’s Vice President in his second term, and continued having a successful national political career.

Jackson chose not to seek a second term and was determined to have Van Buren succeed him as President. And that’s precisely what he did. Van Buren won the election of 1836 in a landslide victory. And from this point forward, Van Buren’s easy breeze life in politics would be no more.

When Van Buren entered office, some of the bad policies of Andrew Jackson were just beginning to be felt. Jackson’s dismantling of the Bank of the United States sent the financial industry into a tailspin. This left state banks creating their own currencies, with no consistency. And many were refusing to convert paper currency into gold and silver. And remember, this was a big time for national expansion and business. Many citizens were heading west to purchase new land and start new industries. Banks were dispersing enormous amounts of credit, that were not being paid back. Numerous banks started collapsing, which in turn put several companies out of business. Therefore in 1837 the U.S. had its first economic depression, and unemployment levels reach records highs that the nation had not seen since its inception.

Van Buren proposed to create a U.S. Treasury department, that would house all of the government’s money, and wouldn’t be allowed to print paper currency whenever it felt like it. It would be tied to gold and silver. This would keep the government’s money out of private banks, politics out of private banking, and help curb inflation. Although the proposal was hotly contested, it did finally pass congress in 1840, the last year of Van Buren’s term. This financial system would remain in place until 1913 with the passing of the Federal Reserve Act. Unfortunately, this was too little and too late to save his Presidential career.

Additionally, Van Buren was weighed down with decisions he made regarding the Indian Removal Act. If you will remember from the Jackson article, although the Act passed under Jackson’s administration, many of the harsh Indian removals, such as the Trail of Tears, happened under Van Buren’s watch. He also got bogged down in the Seminole War in Florida, again costing the U.S. funds that they did not have.

Van Buren won the Democrats nomination to run again for President in 1840. With the economy still in shambles, and western expansion and Indian removal being controversial and divisive issues, Van Buren had an uphill battle to win his second term against the Whig Party. He lost to the Whigs in a landslide. Van Buren would try to run for President again in 1844 and 1848. But he never received the Democratic nomination. After this he would retire and never enter politics again. He wrote a few books and toured Europe. He lost that bid for second term to the two men in one of the most famous political slogans and songs, “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”. Who is this Tippecanoe that beat him for the Presidency? Stay tuned for next week’s episode to find out!

Andrew Jackson once said about himself “I was born for a storm, and calm does not suit me”. And I think he nailed it. Andrew Jackson could be described as our most temperamental President, fighting in over 100 duels and never backing down from a challenge. Although, he would go on to become one of the most decorated President’s this nation has ever seen. No other President has served in the House of Representatives, the Senate, a governor of a Territory, a state attorney general, justice on a state Supreme Court, a general in the Army, and President of the United States. Wow that is quite the list! But Jackson wasn’t always this decorated. He also had one of the most troubled and humble beginnings of any President. This article today will take a look at those humble beginnings.

Jackson was born in 1767, but his father was killed in a logging accident just weeks before he was born. Leaving his young mother to raise him and his two older brothers. When the Revolutionary War broke out, all three brothers joined the Continental Army. Young Andrew was only 12 at the time, and he and his middle brother served as couriers between the militias. Jackson’s oldest brother would die from heat exhaustion in the war. The next year Jackson and his brother would be captured and taken as prisoners of war. Therefore Jackson is our only President to have been a Prisoner of War.

They were put into the household service of a British officer. Jackson once refused the orders of the officer, and was slashed with a sword leaving scars on his hand and head that he would carry with him forever. The brothers then contracted smallpox, and nearly starved to death while serving as prisoners. Finally, their mother secured their release, and started the long journey home. Traveling through huge downpours on the trip back, and still suffering from smallpox, Andrew’s brother Robert would not survive the trip back.

Jackson’s mother then started treating U.S. Soldiers who were also sick and suffering from diseases. She quickly also contracted a disease and passed away. Leaving Andrew Jackson as an orphan at age 14. Jackson received sporadic education the rest of his teenage years. He would then go on to assist several lawyers, and gained enough education to qualify for the North Carolina Bar. He would set out west to practice law, and this is where he experienced his first duel. It ended with both men firing their pistols into the air, as 90% of duels did in that day.

He would end up settling in a small frontier town called Nashville (and now it’s like super cute and trendy and you can like take cute Kelsey Montague wing pictures and eat hot chicken). Here Jackson would meet his future wife, and also some very prominent and powerful frontiersmen whom he would befriend. These friendships would help him secure the position of Attorney General of the Tennessee Territory and then elected as Tennessee’s first U.S. Representative when they became a state. The next year he was elected as Senator for Tennessee. He would serve during the administration of John Adams, which he soon became “disgusted” with, and resigned. Once again showing his quick temperamental nature.

He would return home and be elected as a Justice to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Jackson would also be elected major general of the Tennessee Militia, a position that was voted upon by officers at the time. In 1806 he would settle down with his wife Rachel on their farm, the Hermitage, outside Nashville. This is when the most famous of his reported 100 duels would take place. Jackson had quite the controversy in his life, as he had married his wife before she was fully divorced from her first husband (unbeknownst to him). A fellow attorney, Charles Dickinson published an article in the local newspaper attacking Jackson. He and Jackson were bitter rival horse breeders and betters. Defending his wife and his reputation, Jackson challenged Dickinson to duel.

They met for the duel, and Jackson let Dickinson fire first. Dickinson was an expert shot, and had already killed 26 men in duels. He fired and hit Jackson square in the chest just inches from his heart. Since Dickinson fired first, he had to remain still as Jackson fired. Jackson shot, but his gun misfired. Not considered a legitimate shot, Jackson aimed again and hit him chest and killing him. Doctors were amazed that Jackson remained on his feet and was not killed. The bullet was so close to his heart it couldn’t be operated on. And he would live the rest of his life with the bullet still lodged in his chest.

Just when you thought we’ve described a pretty packed and adventure filled life, it was really far from over and his military career was just beginning. He was sent to lead the Tennessee Volunteers to defend New Orleans during the War of 1812. This trek where he would encounter street fighting brawls and more duels (one of which he got shot in the shoulder) would lead to his troops giving him the nickname “Old Hickory” for his toughness. He would lead troops in battles against the Creek and Shawnee in the Creek Wars. During this fighting he was commissioned as a major general of the United States Army. He then fought the British and Spanish in Florida, and then the British in the huge Battle of New Orleans. He would win the battle and receive the Congressional Gold Medal. The U.S. had bought this land from the French. But had the British won this battle they may have kept the land or given it back to Spain who originally owned it. So this was a hugely important victory, and vaulted Andrew Jackson to national fame.

After his military service he was again elected to the Senate after a 24 year gap. The second longest gap in service of any Senator. As was pointed out in our last article, John Quincy Adams won our very first extremely close election for President. Jackson was in the that election, and actually won the popular vote. But in the run off election, one of the other Presidential candidates, Henry Clay, supported JQA. This tipped the scales to Adams and he won the election of 1824. Mr. Temperamental Jackson called Clay the “Judas of the West” and that he had accepted his 30 pieces of silver. Jackson once again resigned from the Senate and returned to Tennessee.

In the election of 1828 Andrew Jackson would revive his Presidential aspirations. Jackson, with the campaign help of a prominent New York Senator named Martin Van Buren, who greatly opposed Adams, won the election. Thus making John Quincy Adams and his father John Adams the only 1 term Presidents the country had seen up to that point. Rachel although did not fare so well. After struggling with sickness and stress from the long election, she died of a heart attack three days after the election.

Jackson’s Presidency, like his life, was filled with much turmoil and controversy. His cabinet was constantly having scandals, until almost all of them were removed and his famed “Kitchen Cabinet” was created. He also signed the Indian Removal Act, perhaps his biggest controversy. Even though Jackson signed around 70 treaties with Indian Tribes, and negotiated some of them himself. And some of the more well known Indian Removal Act treaties like that removing the Cherokee along the Trail of Tears were not enforced until Jackson’s successor took office. He even adopted a couple of Indian children as his own. His treatment of Indians is still one of his longest lasting legacies. He also introduced policies that would help bring about the disastrous “spoils system”. And his Congress implemented tariffs that angered southern farmers, especially those growing cotton.

He did have some successes as President surrounding foreign politics and the economy. He negotiated numerous trade deals with other countries. The also paid off the entire national debt, the time that’s ever been done in the history of our country.

As if Jackson hadn’t had enough gun incidents, he was also the first victim of a Presidential assassination attempt. A man named Richard Lawrence was an unemployed painter and believed the U.S. government owed him a large sum of money. President Jackson was leaving the Capitol Building after a funeral. Lawrence was waiting outside and in close proximity fired a pistol at Jackson. It misfired. From his coat he pulled out a second pistol and shot at Jackson. It too misfired (where does this guy get his guns?). Jackson then proceeded to chase down a fleeing Lawrence and beat him with his cane. The two men where separated by the crowd and Lawrence was subdued and disarmed by Davy Crockett, King of the Wild-frontier (you’re singing aren’t you?).

Martin Van Buren served as Jackson’s Secretary of State during his first term, and then as his Vice President during his second term. For those in my area, he is also the namesake of Van Buren, Missouri. Named after him at its establishment while he was Jackson’s Vice President. Van Buren was Jackson’s chosen successor, and did succeed him as President. He will be the subject of our 8th article next week. We are entering a stretch of “lesser known Presidents”, and part of why I wanted to do this series. So stayed tuned for those guys!

This year marks 50 years since the United States accomplished the greatest outer space feat in history, landing men on the moon. But this endeavor of space exploration may not have happened without the efforts of our 6th President, John Quincy Adams, in the 1830’s and 40’s. Man has always been fascinated with space, since the beginning of time there has always been a primal need to understand the cosmos. Before John F. Kennedy vowed to send man to the moon, John Quincy Adams introduced the fascination of space and science to our U.S. government.

Many of the Presidential articles that we have looked at thus far have described stories from their pre-presidencies, but with JQA (as he will be known throughout the rest of this article) we will be looking at some things he did after having served in the nation’s highest office. JQA did some things after he was President, that no other President has done to this day. Being a one-term President, some of his longest lasting impacts stemmed from that work in his later years.

JQA was born in 1767 to Abigail and John Adams, our second President. JQA, following in the footsteps of this father, was involved in the political scene from a very early age. He was around all of the founding fathers as a kid and spent much of his time growing up in Paris where his father was doing diplomatic work. He went on to serve 4 ambassadorships to foreign countries, a United States Senator representing Massachusetts, and Secretary of State to James Monroe.

Long before the heated and contested election of George W. Bush and Al Gore, JQA experienced our first extremely close election. If you remember from last week, James Madison ran for office unopposed. That wasn’t so with JQA, as 4 people from the same party ran for President. No candidate won a majority of the electoral vote, as the vote was split. The House held a contingent election, which Adams won. He would also be a very strong foreign policy President with his ambassador background. He greatly expanded American trade and continued the Monroe Doctrine in Latin America and the Caribbean.

And then he lost. He was thoroughly defeated by Andrew Jackson by a margin that wouldn’t be seen until almost 80 years later in the election of Theodore Roosevelt. JQA retired from a public life, but after his son’s suicide one year later, he returned to public office. Adams was elected to the House of Representatives and is so far the only President to be elected to the House after he has already served as President. He would win 9 terms and serve in the House for 17 years, until he had a stroke on the House floor and passed away.

But these 17 years is where Adams’ impacts took hold. Adams had been fascinated with astronomy from an early age. As Secretary of State he even advocated for a national observatory to be placed at Harvard University, his alma mater. Even his very first address to Congress upon becoming President was urging them to build the first national observatory. He believed it was the government’s responsibility to and duty to promote learning. Adams called these observatories that he advocated for lighthouses of the sky”.

Adams was unsuccessful in setting up an observatory. The interests of the government and citizenship as a whole was not in astronomy or science. He never received that funding for those projects. That is until 1829, when an extremely wealthy British scientist died.

In 1829 James Smithson died, and left his entire estate to his nephew who had no heirs. He stated that if his nephew died without an heir, the money was to be used “to found in Washington, under the name of the Smithsonian Institution, and establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” In 1835 his nephew passed away, without heirs. The U.S. government now had money in today’s value around $15,000,000 in gold coins to create a scientific foundation. JQA was a House member in Congress at this time, and Congress now finally had the funding he had been seeking for a decade.

Andrew Jackson, President at the time, quickly formed a Congressional Committee to handle how the new funds would be used, and JQA was appointed to chair the committee. It took Congress ten years of debate to figure out how to appropriate the funds (see, they’ve always moved as quickly as a herd of turtles), with John Q. Adams advocating for an institution of science and learning. In 1846 Congress finally voted to create and establish the Smithsonian Institution (or “the nation’s attic”). It would include at that time an art gallery, museum, library, and laboratory.

A few years earlier, the U.S. had also finally received their first public observatory in Cincinnati, Ohio. The seconded largest telescope in the world was purchased from Germany for the observatory. In 1843 Adams was invited to lay its corner stone. He made the two-week trip to Cincinnati by train, steamboat, a canal packet boat pulled by horses, and a stagecoach. At the ceremony he would deliver a two-hour speech which was a history of astronomy. They named the hill upon which the building was constructed, “Mount Adams”. This lecture on astronomy and science would turn out to be Adams last public address.

Through Adam’s tireless efforts, and many years when Congress wanted to spend Smithson’s donation in some other way, the Smithsonian now boasts 19 museums, 9 research centers, a zoo, and over 200 institutions in 45 states. We also have 13 observatories. One of Adams last acts as President was to sign a bill for the future creation of a national observatory. Today this is known at the United States Naval Observatory. Even though Adams came into office almost 200 years ago, his efforts in furthering science and astronomy are still felt today. We can thank John Quincy Adams for our incredible Lighthouses of the Sky.

In 1803, the size of our United States instantly doubled. For $15 million (today $600 billion), the United States bought the Louisiana Territory from France. This territory would go on to make up parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, New Mexico, Texas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, and two Canadian provinces. This land was well over 500 million acres. So, as you can see, what started out as the United States attempt to just purchase the port of New Orleans turned into a much much bigger endeavor. Our 5th President, James Madison, was the chief negotiator in securing this land for the U.S.

When we think of foreign policy, we often think about that being a relatively new topic. Events like World War II propelled the U.S. into numerous countries and solidified us as a global super power. But in fact, the ground work for many foreign policy decisions was laid under the Presidency of James Madison. He will always be known as one of the strongest President’s when it comes to international politics.

The early 1800’s were troubled and tumultuous times for France. They were suffering a terrible French Revolution, with revolts happening within France and in their abroad territories such as the Caribbean. In 1800 Napoleon Bonaparte secretly purchased the Louisiana Territory from Spain. He had plans to greatly expand into North America, and even sent several thousand troops to secure the port of New Orleans.

In 1801 Thomas Jefferson was President. He learned of the secret sale of Louisiana to France, and quickly sent the U.S. ambassador to France, Robert Livingston, to Paris to try and purchase New Orleans. If you remember at this point in our history there was no air or really even any land transport. Waterways was were your roads, and the Mississippi River was your interstate. A large portion of our U.S. goods flowed through foreign controlled New Orleans. If the United States could obtain that port, U.S. shipping would take off.

Negotiations dragged on for a couple years during France’s wars and revolts. In 1803 Jefferson, in need of negotiation assistance, requested the aid of a prominent French nobleman who had escaped the French Revolution and immigrated to the United States. This nobleman was Pierre Samuel du Pont de Nemours (His son E.I. du Pont de Nemours would go on to found a small gun powder mill which would become a company you may have heard of, the largest chemical company in the world, DuPont).

James Monroe, who had just finished being Governor of Virginia, was a close advisor to Thomas Jefferson. He was sent to Paris with Robert Livingston to negotiate the purchase of New Orleans in January 1803. On a previous diplomatic mission to France, things had soured to the point where Monroe was formally expelled from France. So Jefferson sending Monroe back to France showed how serious he was on this matter.

To make matters even hairier, at this point in time Napoleon was preparing to invade the United Kingdom, and was running significantly low on war funds. Jefferson had authorized that Monroe and Livingston could purchase New Orleans for any amount up to $10 million. Both Monroe and Livingston were caught extremely off guard when the French Treasury Minister offered the entire Louisiana territory, including all the land of the 15 states mentioned in the first paragraph, for $15 million. So, for $5 million more, around 3 cents an acre, they could purchase all the land from the Gulf of Mexico, to southern Canada, and west to the Rocky Mountains.

However, the problem lied in the fact that they only had permission from Jefferson to purchase the port of New Orleans and some of its surrounding territory. James Monroe feared that Napoleon could withdraw this offer at any minute. And many had fears that what they were doing was unconstitutional because the Constitution didn’t explain how the United States was to acquire territory, if they even had that right at all. With no means of quick communication at the time, Monroe and Livingston agreed to the deal and signed the Louisiana Purchase on April 30th, 1803 without President Jefferson’s knowledge or approval. The signed documents didn’t even arrive back in the United States until July 14th.

Monroe’s international successes vaulting him to political fame. He would serve as ambassador to Great Britain, and then as Secretary of State and Secretary of War simultaneously during the War of 1812. In 1816 Monroe’s war time successes and foreign politics led him to becoming our 5th President, defeating Rufus King (still slightly irked we didn’t get to have a President Rufus, but it is what it is now).

Monroe would oversee the Missouri Compromise, where Missouri entered the United States. He would use his international skills to sign major treaties with Great Britain and Russia, acquire the state of Florida from Spain, and implement the “Monroe Doctrine”.

The Monroe Doctrine stated the United States would not allow foreign powers to intervene in Latin America. They would help to uphold republican institutions in these countries and allow them to remain independent. This same philosophy has been revisited centuries later in America’s interventions, democracy building, and defense of numerous countries around the world.

In the 1820 election he ran for President unopposed, the only President other than George Washington ever to do so. This is quite the honor for Monroe, as he had admired Washington for years, and was the future President who crossed the Delaware with George Washington at the age of 18 that I teased previously. Succeeding Monroe, our 6th President would be our first son of a former President to assume the office. A feat that wouldn’t be repeated for 175 years until George W. Bush was elected. Stay tuned for that article next week.

90% of the time when we think of the Unites States Constitution, or making a “Constitutional Argument”, we are thinking about the Bill of Rights. The first 10 amendments to the Constitution, and not the actual body of the Constitution itself. This includes things like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, protesting, right to bear arms, trials and treatments by law enforcement, states’ rights, and the press and media. Read that sentence again. If you notice these are often some of our society’s greatest controversies, and yet biggest protections. I can think of no other document than these 10 simply stated amendments that is so controversial on one hand yet carries so much meaning and weight and truly makes this country what it is today on the other. Our 4th President, James Madison, is often known as the “Father of the Constitution”, and rightfully so. But he is also the “Father of the Bill of Rights”, and that is what we will look at in this article.

10 sentences. As you are reading this you just read 10 sentences. Did James Madison at the time he was drafting the Bill of Rights know how big of an impact those 10 sentences would have for centuries to come? I personally do not believe he did, as he was even opposed to amending the Constitution in the beginning. So, let’s take a look how these 10 amendments came about, and the role Madison played in bringing them to fruition.

If you’ll remember, the United States was first governed under the Articles of Confederation until 1787. In 1787 the Philadelphia Convention met to revise the Articles, and ended up drafting a whole new Constitution, and the one we still have to this day. James Madison, then a representative to the convention from the state of Virginia, set out to create a whole new governing system. Therefore, Madison and his ideas about this new government led him to becoming the chief drafter of our Constitution. As was previously mentioned, he initially opposed bill of individual rights, believing the states could protect individual liberties just fine without help from the national government.

Nine states needed to ratify the new Constitution. And some states, mainly Virginia and Massachusetts were holding out unless amendments were included. This amendment vs. non-amendment months long heated debate really started to convince James Madison that the amendments were needed.

With Madison authoring larges parts of the Constitution that was being amended, he was the natural fit to draft a bill of rights. He did so and presented 9 articles which included around 20 amendments to the House of Representatives for their consideration. Madison was extremely fascinated with history and loved studying various governments. He drew inspiration for his bill of rights from the Magna Carta written in 1215 (right to petition and trial by jury), and the 1689 English Bill of Rights (right to bear arms and no cruel and unusual punishment). States also had constitutions, and Madison leaned on his own governing Virginia’s declaration of rights.

12 of his 20 proposed amendments were decided upon for consideration by the House and Senate. The Senate reviewed the proposal, and the house reviewed the proposal. Finally, they both agreed on one bill, comprised of 10 new amendments. They eliminated amendments 1 and 2, and kept 3-12, giving us the 10 that make up the Bill of Rights.

George Washington had 14 copies of the Bill of Rights made. One for Congress and one for each of the 13 states. Pennsylvania’s copy is still missing. North Carolina’s copy was stolen during the Civil War, and later recovered by the FBI in a sting in 2003 (Nicolas Cage was not a suspect this time). The original copy made for Congress currently sits in the rotunda of the National Archives in Washington D.C. It is displayed next to the Constitution and Declaration of Independence (and a copy of the previously mentioned Magna Carta sits nearby). Two of our 3 most famous and founding documents, were penned by our 4th President. If you have never visited the Archives, I urge you too. It is awe inspiring to see. (And FREE!)

Many believe that the Constitution itself was heavily favored, and would have come about eventually with or without James Madison. But few disagree that without James Madison, there would be no Bill of Rights. I think evidence to support that is the 13th amendment wasn’t added on until almost a 100 years after the Bill of Rights. And essentially the Bill of Rights weren’t even used to decide any court cases until 150 years after they were adopted. And no amendment was applied to the states until a freedom of speech case in 1925. The right to bear arms wasn’t even incorporated to the states that they can’t limit firearm ownership until 2010. And finally, the 3rd amendment, which states the government can not quarter soldiers in your home, has never been used in the Supreme Court or incorporated.

Madison would go on to have a somewhat rocky Presidency. He was in office during the brutal War of 1812, which many people hold him responsible for not preventing. Even to the point the British burned down the newly built White House. Madison’s fame is most likely overshadowed by his more famous wife Dolley Madison. Who was essentially the first, First Lady, the first person to have bipartisan dinners in the White House, and bravely helped save the iconic portrait of George Washington from the White House as it was burning down around her. It still hangs in the East Room of the White House to this day. She has been featured in a movie, been placed on US currency, and had a war ship named after her in WWII. Things her husband can not claim. (Maybe I’ll do a famous First Ladies segment after this).

Next week we will explore the teaser from the first article. Who was that man who crossed the Delaware as a teenager with George Washington, featured in that famous painting, and became our 5th President? Find out next week!

It’s midafternoon on April 27th, and eight marines have just completed a 500 mile trek through the Middle Eastern desert from Egypt to Derne, Libya. They are being shot at from the windows and rooftops of homes. You might think this scene was from earlier this week, or today even, but it in fact took place 214 years ago in 1805. Thomas Jefferson was President at the time. The eight Marines and their foreign mercenaries would capture the city, and this would be the first time the America flag would be raised on foreign soil.

Thomas Jefferson was very familiar with the Middle East. And the documents he penned 243 years later are still shaping our foreign policy. The Unites States has often been labeled by the belief that countries around the world should have their governments elected by the people. Ultimately this belief was sprung forth from Thomas Jefferson’s philosophy that self-government would come to the entire world. Nowhere else has this mission been on better display than in the Middle East, and that also started with Jefferson.

Jefferson had a relationship with the Arab world from a young age. Early on he purchased a copy of the Qur’an. Not an easy book to come by, translated into English, in the 1700’s. This Qur’an is in fact still in existence, in the Smithsonian. It was most recently brought out earlier this month to use for the swearing in of one of our first two Muslim congresswomen, Rashida Tlaib. He even purchased Arab grammar books and other documents in an effort to teach himself Arabic. There is no doubt Jefferson knew much more about the Arab world and Islam than many of our current legislators.

To set the stage, during the Revolutionary War French ships would protect American merchant ships who were trading in Europe and the Mediterranean. But shortly after the war this treaty of protection went away. This open the doors for pirates from the Barbary States, Algiers, Tunis, Tripoli, and the Sultanate of Morocco (present day Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Morocco) to seize US merchant ships and holding their crews for ransom.

The first American ship, the Betsey, was seized in 1784. Thomas Jefferson, then US Minister to France, sent envoys to Morocco and Algeria to purchase treaties and the sailors freedoms from Algeria. Morocco would go on to sign that treaty in 1786, and thus a Middle Eastern country became the first country to sign a treaty with the United States. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson also traveled to London that year to meet with Tripoli’s ambassador Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja. When the US paid Algeria the ransom, they also agreed to pay them $1 million a year for 15 years for the safe travels of American ships.

This piracy, capture, and ransom issue would continue all the way until the time Thomas Jefferson became President in 1801. Hijacking and enslavement of US sailors had been happening so frequently in the Mediterranean that some sailors had been prisoners for over a decade. This all came to a crescendo in 1795 when the US secured the release of 115 sailors for $1 million. This at the time was a staggering 1/6 of the entire US budget that year. 3 years later, the government under John Adams with Jefferson as Vice President created the United States Department of the Navy in order to help prevent further attacks and ransoms in the Middle East.

On the day that Jefferson became President, Pasha Yusuf Karamanli, the leader of Tripoli, demanded a huge sum of money from the United States. Jefferson immediately refused. Which led to two months after Jefferson taking office Tripoli declaring war on the United States. This action would begin the Barbary Coast Wars.

Jefferson sent armed American vessels to the area to seize all ships and goods of Tripoli. Many of the US vessels engaged in battles with Tripolitan vessels. In 1803 Tripoli seized one of the armed US frigates, the USS Philadelphia. They took the entire crew as hostages. In 1805 General William Eaton led his small force of 8 Marines, and 500 Arabs and Greeks all the way from Alexandria, Egypt to Derna, Tripoli (Libya). They captured the city, which was the first US victory on foreign soil, and gave the US enough leverage to secure the release of the hostages. This battle and victory would go on to be memorialized forever in the Marine’s Hymn line “to the shores of Tripoli”, describing the Marines first ever victory. A peace treaty was signed by Tripoli two months later. The Navy and Marines would be permanent fixtures in the US Military and government from this point forward.

Here we end the trend of the President’s Vice President succeeding them as President. Especially with Jefferson’s first Vice President Aaron Burr shooting and killing Alexander Hamilton while he was still Vice President. He would spend Jefferson’s second term in exile after fleeing to Europe. Our next President was the father of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, and the only President besides George Washington to actually sign the Constitution. So stay tuned next week to learn more about the President who drafted our Constitution.

On the cold, late, Boston winter evening of March 5th, 1770, British soldiers would fire into a crowd of Boston citizens, killing 5. This event would go on to be known as the Boston Massacre, and was the spring board that helped launch the American Revolutionary War. So, what happened to lead up to this massacre, and how would this event help set in motion John Adams rising to the Presidency? That’s what we will take a look at in this article.

In 1768, two years prior to the incident, the Townshend Acts were placed upon the colonies implementing outrageous import taxes on common goods. The people of Massachusetts were greatly affected, as Boston Harbor was the main harbor where imports would come into the country. The citizens created such an unstable environment in the colony, that Great Britain dispatched several regiments of British troops to secure Boston.

The townspeople were most outraged with the custom collectors, who put ends to the smuggling and collected the taxes. British troops were even assigned to guard the Boston Customs House. On March 2nd, 3 days before the Massacre, an off duty British soldier was seeking extra work. He asked a group of local rope makers if they had any work, and one of the rope makers jokingly replied that there was, that he could “Go clean out my outhouse”. A fist fight broke out as a result, and ended with the soldier fleeing, getting more soldiers, and leading to a larger brawl.

On the infamous night of the 5th, one lone guard stood in front of the Customs House. He got into an argument with a young local boy and ended up hitting him and knocking him to the ground with his gun. Several other young people came to the boy’s defense, and after while the crowd had grown to around 100 people. With the lone guard the only soldier protecting the Customs House.

When a group of 25 sailors showed up, led by a half Indian and half black man named Crispus Attucks, the soldier called for reinforcements. The reinforcements showed up, including Private Matthew Killroy who had been involved on behalf of the British in the rope makers brawl three days prior. By this point the crowd had grown to several hundred and had taken up throwing snow balls at the soldiers. Attucks further riled up the crowd, and they began throwing larger items. One item hit a soldier and knocked him down. He got back up, yelled for the soldiers to fire, and shot and killed Crispus Attucks. He would become the first casualty of the Revolutionary War. As more soldiers fired, 4 other citizens would end up being killed. Among the dead included Samuel Gray, a rope maker who was involved in the brawl earlier in the week.

This event instantly led to Paul Revere and Samuel Adams using it as propaganda in print media to spread the message of a revolution. The soldiers were quickly indicted for murder, but they could find no legal counsel. As no one wanted to represent and defend the men who had killed their fellow countrymen. A young lawyer named John Adams entered the scene and chose to put his name on the line to defend the British soldiers. Adams truly believed that everyone deserved the right to a fair trial, which is seen as common practice now, but was not at the time. He knew that the fate and reaction of this trial could determine his career path for better or worse going forward.

What is interesting, is John Adams actually won the case for the British soldiers! The officer was not convicted, because it couldn’t be proven that he ordered his men to fire. And the soldiers were found innocent of murder, as Adams argued they used self-defense. Only two were convicted of manslaughter, and had their sentences reduced to a branding on their thumb.

This case, and how eloquently John Adams presented himself and defended the soldiers, and his new-found notoriety, led to him being elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives just three months later. While in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, he would be instrumental in authoring the Massachusetts Constitution, which influenced the United States Constitution which we still use today.

Adams would go on to become our nation’s first Vice President and became our nation’s second President on March 4, 1797. Although, he later stated that his defense of the British Soldiers after the Boston Massacre was “one of the most gallant, generous, manly and disinterested actions of my whole life, and one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country”. Coming from a man who helped write the Declaration of Independence and Constitution, that is quite the statement. In regard to the Boston Massacre itself, he would say that “the foundation of American Independence was laid” on March 5th, 1770.

In keeping with the Vice President becoming President theme, next week we will look at John Adams Vice President, and eventual bitter rival, who would reduce John Adams to one term and take over the Presidency as our 3rd President, double the size of the United States, and send the first U.S. troops to fight in the Middle East.

In 1753 the French Military began to seize the territory that is today Ohio, driving out residents and constructing forts. The problem with this Ohio Country is obviously the British claimed it as their territory and were upset the French were driving out their subjects. At this point the British lieutenant governor of Virginia dispatched a young major in the military to serve as an envoy to go meet with the French in Ohio and direct them to leave the territory. That young major was none other than George Washington

When Washington and six other men reached the Ohio Valley, they found that the French had left the region. He and his men proceeded to meet with an Iroquois Indian tribal leader named Tanacharison. Washington secured the Iroquois’s support against the French, and gained Tanacharison and a few of his warriors to serve as guides through the Ohio wilderness.

Tanacharison soon discovered that the French had moved to a new location in what is now eastern Pennsylvania. He urged Washington to send men and help him attack the French’s new location. Washington immediately set out with 40 men to meet up with Tanacharison and attack the French encampment. Washington and his 40 men and Tanacharison and his eight or nine warriors quickly surrounded and attacked the French encampment and the French surrendered. But Tanacharison killed and scalped the wounded French commander Joseph Coulon de Jumonville and proceeded to eat his brains. Only one of the wounded French soldiers ended up not being scalped.

Therefore, this episode where George Washington ordered the first shots led to both the French and British sending vast numbers of troops into the Ohio and Pennsylvania region which led to both parties declaring war. This would become known as the French and Indian War. Washington would be promoted to colonel and commander-in-chief of the British Virginia Regiment. Later the next year the war became a global conflict when it spread to five continents from the American colonies all the way to European powers fighting for territory as far away as India and the Philippines.

Soon the the most well-known portion of George Washington’s story would continue. Washington would eventually become brigadier general. 1758 he retired from the British Virginia Regiment, but learned valuable leadership and battle skills that would serve him well in later years. He was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses that same year, beginning his political career.

In 1775 the Revolutionary War began. After becoming very frustrated with how the British were mandating new policies and taxes on the colonies, as well as how he was treated in the military, George Washington supported the revolutionaries and the Second Continental Congress nominated George Washington as commander-in-chief of the newly formed Continental Army.

His military career would be best known for his crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas Day 1776. You’ve all seen the most famous painting of Revolutionary times, and possibly American history in general, but may not have realized it also depicts an at the time18-year-old future president in the boat with George Washington crossing the Delaware. Who was that future president who also crossed the Delaware? Well that’s for a later article…..

The Revolutionary War would end in 1783, and the British recognized the United States as independent later that year. Washington would go on to be unanimously elected President in 1789 (the only unanimously elected president we’ve ever had) and served two terms. As was mentioned in the teasers, Washington was the only President to never live in the White House, as it wasn’t yet built. Also, not working in the White House was President Washington’s Vice President, John Adams. Adams will be the subject of next week’s article, as he would be the one to become our nation’s second President.

The current state of al-Qaeda is an interesting topic to explore. We are now 20 years past the U.S. Embassy bombings in Africa, 18 years past the U.S.S. Cole bombing in Yemen, and 17 years post 9/11. Despite the years that have passed, we unfortunately lost Sgt. Leandro Jasso with the Army’s elite 75th Ranger Regiment over Thanksgiving weekend to an al-Qaeda small arms attack. And not only an al-Qaeda attack, an attack in southwestern Afghanistan’s Nimruz Province, where it was not really known that al-Qaeda was operating. Western Afghanistan is far away from the mountainous eastern and northern Afghanistan where most U.S. forces engage al-Qaeda fighters. And last week we lost four U.S. soldiers to a Taliban road side bomb attack. This attack was the largest single loss of life for U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan since 2015. Additionally, al-Qaeda is now fighting in more countries than it was in 2001. So, what does all this mean for the current state of their operation?

In 2011 Osama bin Laden’s #2 in command, Ayman al- Zawahiri took over as the global leader of al-Qaeda. As I described in one of my previous articles, “The Next Bin Laden”, we have also seen Osama’s son Hamza bin Laden moving into a leadership role. With many other top al-Qaeda leadership hiding in Pakistan (such as bin Laden) and Iran.

As was stated previously al-Qaeda’s brand has spread, and they now operate in more countries than they did in 2001. They have thousands of operatives in countries ranging from south Asia, to the middle east, to west/north/east Africa. Their main affiliate outside of Afghanistan is AQAP (al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula), headquarter in Yemen. They have taken over territory in Yemen, and boast around 7,000 fighters.

They also have AQIS (al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent). This organization operates in south Asian countries like Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan. Next, we have al-Shabaab in Somalia. They are operating in east Africa, and helping to destabilize a country that has been in turmoil since before the U.S.’s “Black Hawk Down” incident in 1993. Moving west into Africa, their next affiliate is AQIM (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb). They operate mainly in Algeria in northern and western Africa. They are closely tied to, and back, Ansar al-Sharia who were responsible for the infamous September 11th, 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya. Then moving to the far western parts of Africa we have Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam Wal-Muslimin (JNIM). They operate in Mali and other west African countries. Finally, we have Jabhat al-Nusrah, which is al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria. Even though the group has split into several factions and formed new groups, the U.S. still considers them AQ’s Syrian affiliate.

Estimations show al-Qaeda troop strengths around 7,000 in Yemen, 5,000 in Somalia, 5.000 in Libya, and 15,000 in Syria, the group still consists of a large base of supporters. And this doesn’t include the fighters in Afghanistan, Pakistan and other countries. So why has al-Qaeda been able to hang around, and thrive?

You have to keep in mind, al-Qaeda is fueled by an idea. An idea is hard to destroy. And the ideology takes time to die out, if it even ever does. They see themselves as the vanguard of Islamic revolution. That the rest of the world is in a state of ignorance, and that their group, as small as it may be, is set out to save the world from this state of darkness. Until this idea is proved as being false, it will continue to be a reason why the group has validity.

As has been mentioned the group is operating in extremely war torn and volatile ungoverned countries. Afghanistan has been in a state of instability since the 1980’s, Somalia since 1991, Yemen in the early 2000’s, and Iraq since the U.S. invasion in 2003. The Arab Spring in 2011 also created a ripe environment for jihadist groups in countries like Syria. Until some of these countries become more stable, and have effective governments in place, they will continue to be an attractive home to groups like al-Qaeda.

The structure that al-Qaddafi has in place has also allowed it to stick around since its creation in 1988. The minutes from their very first meeting in August 1988 are heavily devoted to organization and structure. They are hierarchical and rule based, but regional commanders have broad leeway to prioritize strategies to the local conditions where they operate, following integrating leadership strategic priorities. The subordinate affiliates act in the strategic interest with the group. They even create strong personal relationships within the groups through battlefield brotherhood and marriage. Sometimes this structure can backfire, such as when ISIS disobeyed leadership and broke off from the group. But most often this decentralized management of the group allows for better operations and stability, makes them more agile and flexible, and more efficient exchanges of power when a commander is killed. This is a great example of centralized decision making and decentralized execution.

The U.S. also played a part in helping al-Qaeda stay relevant, and grow. With the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Iraq army, one of the largest in the world, was disbanded. This put hundreds of thousands of men out of work. Many would go on to help form and lead al-Qaeda in Iraq, which would eventually turn into ISIS in 2010. While ISIS was flashy and in your face, with bold statements and high quality propaganda videos, al-Qaeda was slowly and quietly embedding themselves in these unstable communities and gaining the trust of fellow Muslims who couldn’t trust their government , or felt the U.S. presence in their country was harming them. For example al-Shabaab in Somalia is very environmental. They don’t allow outside food or aid into the land they control, but they have banned plastic bags. A total head scratcher. They use these tactics to gain the trust of the occupants of their controlled territory.

Despite these things, the U.S and others have made headway in getting rid of the group. The invasion of Afghanistan did take out numerous key al-Qaeda commanders. Including Osama bin Laden in 2011. They do lack a strong base. While they are spread out over countries, the leadership remains in hiding, on the run, and often have difficult times with communication among group members. This is due to U.S. counterterrorism and having helped over 100 other countries with their counterterrorism tactics. We also still maintain troops in several of these countries, and drone strikes take place virtually every day. Integral leaders are being captured and killed every month.

But in conclusion the U.S has spent $2.8 trillion on defense spending, and is still bogged down in several countries. Al-Qaeda has morphed into a larger network, and the Taliban has grown to over 60,000 and control most of Afghanistan. Back in September on the anniversary of 9/11 the leader of Al-Qaeda, Ayman al-Zawahiri, explained who to continue to confront America. He urged his followers to continue to fight America wherever they are found. He condemned the moving of U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem as America having a Jewish bias, and for continuing to meddle in other Muslim countries. This group will continue to remain resilient until the idea and not the group is defeated, Middle Eastern countries become stable politically and economically, and their false Islamic message based on fear and despair is countered. Fighting an ideology is a long process, and we must remain resilient as well.

Sources:
Barr, Nathaniel, Gartenstein-Ross, Daveed. “How Al-Qaeda works: The Jihadist Group’s Evolving Organizational Design”, huson.org
Bergen, Peter, “Jihadist Terrorism 17 years after 9/11” 09/10/18, newamerica.org
Bulos, Nabih, “Seventeen years after 9/11, Al Qaeda May be Stronger than ever” , 09/10/18, latimes.com
Byman, Daniel, “Judging Al Qaeda’s Record, Part II: Why Has Al Qaeda Declined?”, 6/20/17, lawfareblog.come
Gibbons-Neff, Thomas, “Fourth Soldier Dies After Coordinated Bomb Blast in Afghanistan”, nytimes.com, 12/03/18
Joscelyn, Thomas, “Al Qaeda is very much alive, and widely misunderstood”, 9/11/18, longwarjournal.org
Josecelyn, Thomas, “Al-Qaeda leader: America is the main enemy in a ‘single war with different fronts’”, 09/11/18, longwarjournal.org
Netz, Steven, “Is Al-Qaeda Winning?”, worldpoliticsreview.org, 9/14/18
Soufan, Ali, “Al-Qaeda is thriving, despite our endless war. Can we ever defeat it?”, buzzfeednews.com, 10/29/18

As the great philosopher Steven Tyler once said, “it’s the same old story, same old song and dance, my friend”. If you were looking for dirt, big revelations, or new scandals then this isn’t the book for you. The book was very well written in a typical Woodward fashion, and quite the page turner. But it isn’t the “tell all” book some of the media is making it out to be. It just goes deeper and into more conversational detail on things you already know.

The book does discuss President Trump’s faults such as lack of a transition team in the beginning, not putting proper people in proper positions, split second decision making, crazy tweets and outrageous and sometimes offensive statements, and can get caught in lies. But, all of those things except the transition team he demonstrated all throughout his campaign (which the early chapters of the book shows and points how he out maneuvered and out campaigned Hillary).

So that being said, honestly your interpretation of the book will depend on your view of Trump as a president. That may sound like a simple statement, but it’s not. That’s why many media reports of the book have been “book shows how incompetent he is to lead”. But the book brings up no surprises. If Trump’s public actions and presidential philosophy don’t bother you, then any new details in the book likely won’t either.

While Woodward uses what’s called deep background sources (which pretty much means he doesn’t name a source), you can clearly tell who the sources for the book were. Those would be Rob Porter (former White House staff secretary), Gary Cohn (former National Economic Council Director), Steve Bannon (former White House Chief Strategist), and Reince Priebus (former White House Chief of Staff). The book is primarily an opinion of President Trump’s first 13 months in office through those 4 gentlemen’s eyes, a few others.

You’ll notice the word former in all their titles. So again, not surprising they all have negative views of the president. Woodward also has a tendency in his books to write favorably about people who would be a source for him, and more negatively towards those who declined interviews. This book is no different in those regards.

The book praises president Trump on a few things. It gives him credit for being correct on his assessment of how pulling out of the Paris Climate Agreement would go, and how he handled the Iran Nuclear Deal, with most of the world now following his lead. As well as campaigning on the fact the would try to change long standing policies, and he hasn’t shied away from doing so. The book mostly discusses North Korea, Afghanistan, and tariffs as far as policy issues go.

If you are picking up the book to find out hints of results regarding the Mueller Russia investigation and Russian collusion, you will be surely disappointed. No hints are given, and the man who broke the biggest presidential scandal in history almost suggests in the book that there is no scandal. He doesn’t use sources to disprove statements the President has made against the investigation and collusion, and Woodward even calls the Steele Dossier a “garbage document”.

Again, the book I thought was very well written. Woodward has reported on 8 different presidents. His thoughts, investigations, and writings are very well respected, myself included.  It was interesting to read about history in a sense as it is currently unfolding. Everything is fresh on your mind and easy to recall, with much of it still ongoing. I think that is why it was such a page turner. I can’t comment on accuracy of statements, as obviously I wasn’t in the room for the conversations. So my review in no way states the book is 100% true. Just that Woodward is known for accuracy, he wouldn’t have twelve #1 bestselling books if he was a sham. Finally, I would highly recommend you read the book. It’ll be the fasting selling and most sold book in years, I suggest you join the club.