James A. Bayard Jr. Quotes
… so as not to hazard the Constitution.
The Presidential election of 1800 produced a crisis even greater than that of 2000. There was an Electoral College tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr—both of the same party, Democratic Republicans. The Federalist Party led by President John Adams had been totally rejected by the voters and Adams was in third place. However, the Federalists saw an opportunity of maintaining the Presidency anyway. The Constitution threw the election into the House of Representatives with each State delegation having a single vote. In the House, the Federalists had parity with Jefferson’s party which resulted in 35 tie votes. Finally, Congressman Bayard, the sole Congressman from Delaware, withheld his vote on the 36th ballot, thereby electing Thomas Jefferson of the opposition party. His reason was:
James A. Bayard Jr., 1799-1880, U. S. Congressman & Senator (Democrat, DE), Quoted in The Wilson Quarterly, Winter 2002
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The Chief Justice at the time was an ultra-conservative judge, who together with his 8 colleagues—all conservative—had blocked much of the democratic and progressive legislation that the Congress had passed. FDR had a much different legal and philosophical view of the Constitution than the Chief Justice, and the court would declare much of his New Deal legislation, passed in the emergency of the Great Depression, unconstitutional. Almost all of those “unconstitutional” things were years later passed again and this time a more modern court found they were Constitutional.
Powell was the Secretary of State and Addington kept advising the administration that as long as the President was acting in defense of the country in his capacity as Commander in Chief, he did not have to obey any existing laws that had been Constitutionally passed which in the opinion of the President restricted or limited the President or the executive branch. Addington was an attorney and Assistant to the Vice President, but he was given much responsibility for administration policy. Powell the Secretary of State of the Administration could not have disagreed more and although most politicians including Republicans disagreed with the Addington thesis, Powell was one of the few Republicans to criticize the Addington position.
Hamilton acknowledged that the major public objection to the new U. S. Constitution was its lack of a Bill of Rights, which Hamilton argued was unnecessary.
The president was asked if he supported the Supreme court's school desegregation decision:
In one of the most unusual revolutions in world history, Brazil became independent from Portugal via a revolution led by the son of the Portuguese King and heir to the throne, Pedro I. The crown prince of Portugal, led Brazil in her breakaway from Portugal and by popular acclaim became Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil. He is probably the only monarch in history who was the heredity monarch of one kingdom and selected by popular acclaim to the throne of another.
Senator Grimes thought that Andrew Johnson was a terrible President, but when the House of Representatives impeached President Johnson and he was tried before the Senate, Grimes voted for acquittal. His reason for the his vote was he thought that the Constitution did not provide for the removal if a President just because he has “Unacceptable.” Johnson survived removal from office by a single vote and had Grimes not been so principled about the Constitution, Johnson would have been removed from office. On the other hand, Johnson was a terrible President and many of the nations racial problems in later years emanated from his actions and inactions while in office.
On the Fugitive Slave Act: As one of the leading American Catholic intellectuals during the 19th Century, Brownson’s opinions went far in keeping Catholics from joining the side of the abolitionists. However, just a few years later his tone would change and he would become one of the few Catholic writers to refuse to defend slavery, see {610710}. While the majority of Catholics refused to join the abolition movement, they often did so because abolitionism was closely tied to anti-Catholicism, see Gordon {611392} or Shaftesbury {611106}. Other reasons included Irish immigrants fearful of competition from Black labor and the fear of liberal individualism and social disorder, which was prevalent in 19th century Catholic thought. For a further explanation on the relationship between American Catholics and slavery, see McGreevy {612036}.
This quotation is particularly important because it summarizes one of two opposite schools or thought regarding judicial interpretation of the Constitution that politicians have been arguing about since the Supreme Court first sat. The other is Original Intent where only the original intentions of the writers and ratifiers of the Constitution should be considered—assuming that it can be determined.
James Asheton Bayard Jr. was an American lawyer and politician from Delaware. He was a member of the Democratic Party and served as U.S. Senator from Delaware.
