THE JEFFERSONIANS, A STUDY IN ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

1801-1829 byLeonard D. White, '14. Macmillan, 1951,pp. XIV, 572, $6.00.

Three years ago Professor White published The Federalists, a brilliant pioneering first volume in the administrative history of the United States Government. The present study is a continuation of the story through the Jeffersonian Republican period, 1801-1929, and is quite as rewarding as the earlier volumea definite contribution to our knowledge and understanding of the period.

In The Jeffersonians the author discusses the nature of the shift from Federalist to Jeffersonian administration, the strength and weakness of Jefferson as an administrator, the decline of presidential power under Madison, and the -trials of Monroe and Adams with the increasing assertiveness of Congress. Other chapters are devoted to the relations of the Jeffersonian presidents with their cabinet officers, the administrative history of the several government departments, and the administrative reforms which followed the War of 1812, some of which established procedures lasting into the twentieth century.

Attention is also given to the theory and practice of personnel administration under the Jeffersonians, to public service as a career, and to the public service ethics of the period. In this connection it is interesting to note the Jeffersonian reluctance to introduce the spoils system, as well as to the Jeffersonian, quite as much as the Federalist, belief that government was a matter for gentlemen.

In conclusion Professor White points out that the role of the Jeflcersonians in the field of administration was not that of innovation or creation, but rather "to direct an existing governmental mechanism towards the objectives that were imposed by their [own] views of public policy." The Jeffersonians, in fact, "carried the Federalist administrative machine forward without substantial alteration in form or in spirit for nearly three decades."

A study of administrative history such as this might well have been profitable but heavy reading, but The Jeffersonians, like its predecessor, is anything but dull. Excellent organization, apt illustrations, and interesting character sketches of the many striking personalities involved make for both rewarding and lively reading. For those interested in the history of the early Republic both TheFederalists and The Jeffersonians should be must reading.