In 1800, James Callender, pamphleteer and journalist, wrote this about John Adams, one of America's most revered founding father:
It is not so well known, as it should be, that this federal gem [John Adams], this apostle of the parsons of Connecticut, is not only a repulsive pedant, a gross hypocrite, and an unprincipled oppressor, but that he is, in private life, one of the most egregious fools upon the continent.
He went on to "enquire by what species of madness America submitted to accept, as her president, a person without abilities, and without virtues."
It's easy to think of our democracy as teetering on the edge as we read news coming from the campaign trail this election season. It makes us long for our golden age of politics, when politicians got along and were civil to one another.
But those rosier days never really existed. Politics has always been a nasty sport. It's been part of the fabric of American political campaigns since the days of our founding, when the signing of our Constitution almost didn't happen.
GUESTS:
- Gail Collins - Op-ed columnist for The New York Times and the author of six books including Scorpion Tongues: Gossip, Celebrity and American Politics
- Matt Warshauer - Professor of History at Central Connecticut State University and the author of several books, most recently, Inside Connecticut and the Civil War: Essay’s on One State’s Struggles
- Michael Schudson - Historian and Sociologist and professor of Journalism, Columbia School of Journalism. He’s the author of The Good Citizen: A History of American Civic Life, and most recently, The Rise of the Right to Know
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Colin McEnroe, Chion Wolf, and Greg Hill contributed to this show.
