{"title":"Stephen F. Knott","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"the-lost-soul-of-the-american-presidency-the-decline-into-demagoguery-and-the-prospects-for-renewal-paperback","title":"The Lost Soul of the American Presidency: The Decline Into Demagoguery and the Prospects for Renewal - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe American presidency is not what it once was. Nor, Stephen F. Knott contends, what it was meant to be. Taking on an issue as timely as Donald Trump's latest tweet and old as the American republic, the distinguished presidential scholar documents the devolution of the American presidency from the neutral, unifying office envisioned by the framers of the Constitution into the demagogic, partisan entity of our day. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe presidency of popular consent, or the majoritarian presidency that we have today, far predates its current incarnation. The executive office as James Madison, George Washington, and Alexander Hamilton conceived it would be a source of national pride and unity, a check on the tyranny of the majority, and a neutral guarantor of the nation's laws. \u003ci\u003eThe Lost Soul of the American Presidency\u003c\/i\u003e shows how Thomas Jefferson's \"Revolution of 1800\" remade the presidency, paving the way for Andrew Jackson to elevate \"majority rule\" into an unofficial constitutional principle--and contributing to the disenfranchisement, and worse, of African Americans and Native Americans. In Woodrow Wilson, Knott finds a worthy successor to Jefferson and Jackson. More than any of his predecessors, Wilson altered the nation's expectations of what a president could be expected to achieve, putting in place the political machinery to support a \"presidential government.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs difficult as it might be to recover the lost soul of the American presidency, Knott reminds us of presidents who resisted pandering to public opinion and appealed to our better angels--George Washington, John Quincy Adams, Abraham Lincoln, and William Howard Taft, among others--whose presidencies suggest an alternative and offer hope for the future of the nation's highest office.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51367974666463,"sku":"9780700630394","price":48.58,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/GxZ8bXJ90f9780700630394.webp?v=1789116998"},{"product_id":"conspirator-in-chief-the-long-tradition-of-conspiracy-theories-in-the-american-presidency-hardcover","title":"Conspirator in Chief: The Long Tradition of Conspiracy Theories in the American Presidency - Hardcover","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eEsteemed presidential historian Stephen F. Knott takes readers on a sobering tour of the lowlights in the American presidency, showing how presidents from Thomas Jefferson to Donald Trump have engaged in reckless conspiracy-mongering about their political opponents in an effort to increase their power and privilege.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eToday we are inundated with conspiracy theories--QAnon, the \"Big Lie,\" Pizzagate, the Epstein Files, and innumerable false claims about vaccines and other medicines. But the widespread proliferation of lies and misinformation can make it easy to forget that conspiracy theories have been part of American life from the beginning. The land of the free and the home of the brave has also been the den of false rumors and conspiratorial claims about one's political enemies--not merely by rank-and-file Americans but also by our most powerful and consequential elected leaders. As political historian Stephen F. Knott recounts in painful detail, the Commander in Chief of the United States has often acted as Conspirator in Chief.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart presidential history and part descent into a political Dante's \u003ci\u003eInferno\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eConspirator in Chief\u003c\/i\u003e is a tour through the Hall of Shame in American politics. Thomas Jefferson used surrogates to spread false claims about Alexander Hamilton in order to destroy his political influence, attacked newspaper editors who were critical of his party and policies, and used conspiracy theories about the Federalists to tarnish them in the eyes of the American people. This brand of demagoguery reached an apex in the presidency of Andrew Jackson, who publicly defamed abolitionists, manipulated newspapers to publish his conspiracies, and spread his own \"Big Lie\" about the 1824 election being stolen from him in a \"corrupt bargain.\" Andrew Johnson spread false accusations about the Radical Republicans and he declared the need for \"white emancipation\" and made spurious claims about the dangers of a coming Black supremacy as a result of Reconstruction. Woodrow Wilson, according to Knott, continued Johnson's racist and conspiratorial interpretation of American history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn addition to our most infamous presidents, Knott uncovers the surprising conspiratorial inclinations of our more esteemed leaders, including Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Harry S Truman. Knott shows how both presidents painted their opponents in an extreme light, casting aspersions on political rivals by calling them \"betrayers of America,\" \"spies, saboteurs, and traitors,\" and comparing them to Nazis, fascists, and communists. Less surprising are the presidencies of Richard Nixon and Donald J. Trump, both known for their propagation of racist and paranoid beliefs and their denigration of political opponents. As Knott demonstrates in excruciating detail, Trump epitomizes the worst of this long American tradition. While Trump is in a league of his own regarding the sheer output and outlandishness of his conspiracy-mongering, he did not begin this odious practice.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this follow-up to \u003ci\u003eThe Lost Soul of the American Presidency\u003c\/i\u003e, Knott does more than show how low American presidents have gone. He also illuminates an alternative track record in which presidents took the high road and embraced the \"better angels of our nature.\" \u003ci\u003eConspirator in Chief\u003c\/i\u003e is a sobering reminder of the power of a president's words and the damage they can do when that power is wielded in self-serving ways, but it is also a reminder that words can heal and repair as well. Knott calls the nation to a more humane and dignified future.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51378997231839,"sku":"9780700641284","price":32.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/XG6LeBkak79780700641284.webp?v=1789264963"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/stephen-f-knott.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}