The Jefferson Rule

March 23, 2015
From the Jacksonians to the Tea Party, historian Sehat (The Myth of American Religious Freedom) shows how a range of American political leaders have invoked the Founding Fathers for their own ideological ends. Sometimes this has been on behalf of America’s highest ideals, as when Martin Luther King, Jr. described the Declaration of Independence and Constitution to be “a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.” Far more often, however, the Founders’ diverse views have been levied to present a one-dimensional view of American political philosophy, as when Ronald Reagan drew a straight line from Thomas Jefferson to the “conservative principles of limited government, fiscal austerity, and states’ rights.” America’s founders, as Sehat documents, were complex and often contradicted themselves: for example, Jefferson had stood for states’ rights in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions of 1798 and a strong federal government in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Sehat indulges in long digressions while discussing debates over such matters as Reagan’s tax and budget cuts of the early 1980s. He also never explains his cryptic title—what exactly is “the Jefferson rule”? Still, this is a sobering, informative study of concepts from America’s political origins too often viewed with rose-tinted glasses.

February 15, 2015

People often view the founding fathers as complete and impermeable to criticism, and politicians often use this holistic vision to advance their own agendas. Sehat (history, Georgia State Univ.; The Myth of American Religious Freedom) argues that is dangerous rhetoric because it muddies the political process and no solutions develop. Sehat convincingly argues that the founders were fallible and not succinct in the ways they wanted the nation to be governed. At times, the 1790s discussions were bitterly divisive. The author argues that it was not until Thomas Jefferson claimed the mantle of the revolution during his presidency that the vision of a pure founding emerged. This myth has been used over and over again in the American political arena by figures from Andrew Jackson to Ted Cruz, as Sehat effectively demonstrates, as a way to gain the upper hand. One gets the feeling that politicians are stuck in a continuous cycle and do not know how to move beyond the bounds of what was written by the founders. This book works well with Jack N. Rakove's Original Meanings. VERDICT Highly recommended for political junkies, historians, and rhetoricians.--Jacob Sherman, John Peace Lib., Univ. of Texas-San Antonio

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