Gouverneur Morris Quotes
A factious spirit prevails from one end of our country to the other. And by that spirit both Senators and Representatives are chosen. By that spirit the government acts; and, as to the provisions of the Constitution, however they may fill up the space of a speech to round off a period, or perfume a flower of rhetoric, they cannot restrain men heated in the chase of party game.
Gouverneur Morris, 1752-1816, U. S. Commissioner to England & U. S. Minister to France, U. S. Senator (Federalist, NY), Letter to Robert Walsh, February 5, 1811
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Despite his fears, that is exactly what happened. Ironically, he himself was the focus of much dissatisfaction with the administration, and the Federalists led by Adams and the Democratic Republicans led by Jefferson opposed each other, ousting Adams.
This was a very courageous statement by the President because it was his own Republican Party that tended to be the most hostile an partisan. However, where some in Congress listened to his advice, the pressure from the extreme right wing pressured the entire Republican party to new extremes of partisanship and vituperation and under the succeeding President Obama, many Republicans would not support positions that they had formerly voted for and/or advocated because they were favored by the Democratic President or other Democratic leader.
At the time Congress was gridlocked in bitter hyperpartisan conflict. Most people called for more comity and bipartisanship and most politicians wanted more bipartisanship but blamed the other party for the rift. Mourdock, arguing for less bipartisanship and no compromise defeated Richard Lugar in the Republican Senatorial Primary election. Lugar, one of the most respected and effective Senators was a statesman who worked with any and all to find effective compromises to reach national solutions. The nation was so politically polarized that the Republican Indiana voters ousted one of their most senior senators because he was effective at developing national solutions. See {626717} and {302706} for other Mourdock’s outrageous comments. While this rhetoric won in the Primary, it lost him the general election in a state where Republicans had a strong majority and should have had the seat.
DeLay had been forced to resign from his leadership position when he was criminally indicted. Months later after his former aids admitted criminal activity, he resigned from the Congress but claimed innocence. Then he was convicted. Always an extreme partisan, he was firm in his disdain for Democrats and bipartisanship or compromise of any kind.
Gouverneur Morris was an American statesman, a Founding Father of the United States, and a signatory to the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution. He wrote the Preamble to the United States Constitution and has been called the "Penman of the Constitution." In an era when most Americans thought of themselves as citizens of their respective states, Morris advanced the idea of being a citizen of a single union of states. He was also one of the most outspoken opponents of slavery among all of those who were present at the Constitutional Convention. He represented New York in the United States Senate from 1800 to 1803.
