tional emergencies most of the time, and, latterly, the strength of the
national political parties. A federal government limited to adjusting the
tariff and modifications in interstate commerce could fairly easily be
directed from Congress. Moreover, the level of government that had
the most impact on citizens during the nineteenth century was state or
local government. For most of the first half of the nineteenth century
the legislative branch predominated in a fairly limited federal govern-
ment, as the Framers had intended that it would, and the greatest politi-
cal figures of the age were leading members of Congress: Henry Clay,
Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, and John Quincy Adams (who was
far more influential as a member of the House than he ever was as
president of the United States). Andrew Jackson was an exception to
the rule of weak presidents, but the reaction to his crusade against the
Bank of the United States was so strong that it probably weakened the
office even further in the long term. It was in Congress that the great
debates over slavery took place and where the numerous compromises
on the issue were thrashed out.

National emergencies and a sudden rise in the significance of for-
eign and defense policy brought the presidency to life as the Framers
had intended. Lincoln's "elective dictatorship" during the Civil War is
the most obvious example. But the power that the White House accu-
mulated in that conflict had receded within months of the war's end as
Congress passed the Tenure of Office Act and almost removed Presi-
dent Andrew Johnson from office by impeachment. For the final quar-
ter of the nineteenth century the presidency receded to its largely
ceremonial position, to the extent that when Woodrow Wilson and
James Bryce were writing their classic works on late nineteenth-
century American national government, it was generally agreed that
the most powerful office in the federal government was the Speaker-
ship of the House. ⁶

The Speaker's power came not only from presidential weakness but
also from the strength of the political party machines both within and
outside Congress. ⁷ These organizations commanded unprecedented
levels of loyalty from American voters but were primarily motivated
by control of state and local governments, rather than national issues. ⁸
Congressional adherents were expected, however, to secure as much as
they could from Washington for the local organization, and could do
so only by currying favor with the party leadership, which controlled
committee assignments, rules, and the legislative schedule on Capitol

-6-