Lawyers From New York State

"Gentlemen don't read each other's mail."

"The only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him; and the surest way to make him untrustworthy is to distrust him and show your distrust."

"She ends her letter, characteristically, by picturing me and her other critics as indifferent to the suffering of women. But many feminists, including several who wrote or spoke to me about my review, regret her single-minded concentration on lurid sex. They think that though it has predictably attracted much publicity, it tends to stereotype women as victims, and takes attention from still urgent questions of economic, political, and professional equality."

"Discretion, like the hole in a doughnut, does not exist except as an area left open by a surrounding belt of restriction. It is therefore a relative concept. It always makes sense to ask, "Discretion under which standards?" or "Discretion as to which authority?""

"'Nixon is no longer president, and his crimes were so grave that no one is likely now to worry very much any more about the details of his own legal philosophy. Nevertheless in what follows I shall use the name 'Nixon' to refer, not to Nixon, but to any politician holding the set of attitudes about the Supreme Court that he made explicit in his political campaigns. There was, fortunately, only one real Nixon, but there are, in the special sense in which I use the name, many Nixons.'"

"We want to live decent, worthwhile lives, lives we can look back on with pride not shame. We want our communities to be fair and good and our laws to be wise and just. These are enormously difficult goals, in part because the issues at stake are complex and puzzling. When we are told that whatever convictions we do struggle to reach cannot in any case be true or false, or objective, or part of what we know, or that they are just moves in a game of language, or just steam from the turbines of our emotions, or just experimental projects we should try for size, to see how we get on, or just invitations to thoughts that we might find diverting or amusing or less boring than the ways we used to think, we must reply that these denigrating suggestions are all false, just bad philosophy. But these are pointless, unprofitable, wearying interruptions, and we must hope that the leaden spirits of our age, which nurture them, soon lift."

"If we are to be morally and ethically responsible, there can be no turning back once we find, as we have found, that some of the most basic presuppositions of these values are mistaken. Playing God is indeed playing with fire. But that is what we mortals have done since Prometheus, the patron saint of dangerous discoveries. We play with fire and take the consequences, because the alternative is cowardice in the face of the unknown."

"Perhaps MacKinnon should reflect on these suggestions that the censorship issue is not so simple-minded, so transparently gender-against-gender, as she insists. She should stop calling names long enough to ask whether personal sensationalism, hyperbole, and bad arguments are really what the cause of sexual equality now needs."

"We live in and by the law. It makes us what we are: citizens and employees and doctors and spouses and people who own things. It is sword, shield, and menace: we insist on our wage, or refuse to pay our rent, or are forced to forfeit penalties, or are closed up in jail, all in the name of what our abstract and ethereal sovereign, the law, has decreed. And we argue about what it has decreed, even when the books that are supposed to record its commands and directions are silent; we act then as if law had muttered its doom, too low to be heard distinctly. We are subjects of law's empire, liegemen to its methods and ideals, bound in spirit while we debate what we must therefore do."

"The whole country is full of enterprise. Our common schools are diffusing intelligence among the people and our industry is fast accumulating the comforts and luxuries of life. This is in part owing to our peculiar position, to our fertile soil and comparatively sparse population; but much of it is also owing to the popular institutions under which we live, to the freedom which every man feels to engage in any useful pursuit according to his taste or inclination, and to the entire confidence that his person and property will be protected by the laws. But whatever may be the cause of this unparalleled growth in population, intelligence, and wealth, one thing is clear — that the Government must keep pace with the progress of the people. It must participate in their spirit of enterprise, and while it exacts obedience to the laws and restrains all unauthorized invasions of the rights of neighboring states, it should foster and protect home industry and lend its powerful strength to the improvement of such means of intercommunication as are necessary to promote our internal commerce and strengthen the ties which bind us together as a people. It is not strange, however much it may be regretted, that such an exuberance of enterprise should cause some individuals to mistake change for progress and the invasion of the rights of others for national prowess and glory. The former are constantly agitating for some change in the organic law, or urging new and untried theories of human rights. The latter are ever ready to engage in any wild crusade against a neighboring people, regardless of the justice of the enterprise and without looking at the fatal consequences to ourselves and to the cause of popular government. Such expeditions, however, are often stimulated by mercenary individuals, who expect to share the plunder or profit of the enterprise without exposing themselves to danger, and are led on by some irresponsible foreigner, who abuses the hospitality of our own Government by seducing the young and ignorant to join in his scheme of personal ambition or revenge under the false and delusive pretense of extending the area of freedom. These reprehensible aggressions but retard the true progress of our nation and tarnish its fair fame. They should therefore receive the indignant frowns of every good citizen who sincerely loves his country and takes a pride in its prosperity and honor."

"Fillmore fought for compromise, but took no principled position on any of his positions. Never expecting to be president, he was thrust into battle without a plan. After firing his cabinet, he was left without advisors just as he began his administration. He relied on Clay, Douglas, and others to orchestrate a compromise that would stem the threat of secession and even war. He took a backseat to their leadership and would have likely signed almost anything that passed both chambers of Congress."

"By almost universal agreement, the most vague and ineffectual of all Presidents was Millard Fillmore, who succeeded to the office in 1850 upon the death of Zachary Taylor, and spent the next three years demonstrating how the country would have been run if they had just propped Taylor up in a chair with cushions."

"In less than ten years her Government was changed from a republic to an empire, and finally, after shedding rivers of blood, foreign powers restored her exiled dynasty and exhausted Europe sought peace and repose in the unquestioned ascendency of monarchical principles. Let us learn wisdom from her example. Let us remember that revolutions do not always establish freedom. Our own free institutions were not the offspring of our Revolution. They existed before. They were planted in the free charters of self-government under which the English colonies grew up, and our Revolution only freed us from the dominion of a foreign power whose government was at variance with those institutions. But European nations have had no such training for self-government, and every effort to establish it by bloody revolutions has been, and must, without that preparation, continue to be a failure. Liberty, unregulated by law, degenerates into anarchy, which soon becomes the most horrid of all despotisms. Our policy is wisely to govern ourselves, and thereby to set such an example of national justice, prosperity, and true glory, as shall teach to all nations the blessings of self-government, and the unparalleled enterprise and success of a free people."

"Fillmore was a likeable fellow. He mixed readily. He was most persuasive in small groups; his stolid style did not play well before large audiences. He spoke slowly, deliberately, using simple expressions and short sentences. His speeches lacked the flourish typical of the great orators of the day. A practical, unemotional man, he relied on logic and common sense to make a point in argument. He appealed to the mind rather than to the heart. Although basically a pragmatist, he was capable of genuine idealism if the cause struck his sense of righteousness. "A spark of idealism smouldered in his mind," biographer Robert J. Rayback has written. "Because his whole training had been aimed toward making or improving his livelihood, nothing could ever ignite the spark that would place him in that class of complete idealists who steadfastly cling to their visions no matter how inimical their interests. But the trait was there, seldom dominating, yet always helping to shape his values.""

"An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory."

"May God save the country, for it is evident that the people will not."

"God knows that I detest slavery, but it is an existing evil, for which we are not responsible, and we must endure it, and give it such protection as is guaranteed by the constitution, till we can get rid of it without destroying the last hope of free government in the world."

"The one characteristic for which Van Buren was famous was the one that suggested perhaps he was not always under control. This was his political ruthlessness. He was ruthless enough to stick with William Harris Crawford long after the Georgian had suffered a disabling stroke. He kept plotting to keep John Quincy Adams from the presidency in 1825. He cleared out most of the Adams postmasters in New York in 1829. As the stories about him spread, he acquired the nicknames of "Little Magician" and "Sly Fox." His reputation and political skill gave him a place in history, but he hated the image and sought steadily to be something else. He might have been a more successful President if he had been more willing to exploit his reputation."

"Van Buren's personality played a part in his downfall. As Jabez Hammond observed, Van Buren lacked "those fascinating traits" and the "halo of military glory" that had made Jackson a successful President. The lack of charisma had not been a liability in state politics, but in a national election, popular appeal meant much. Hammond wrote that "the people of this country [were] fond of novelties," and Van Buren's bland personality gave them nothing to make them forget the depression. In addition, Hammond believed that Van Buren had lost his two genuinely exciting qualities- his "adroitness and skill"- during his years in the White House. This change had become apparent in the way Van Buren had run his presidency, especially in his preoccupation with the independent treasury and his failure to use patronage effectively. The skills and talents that opened the door to the White House did not last long enough to keep him there."

"Van Buren himself bore much of the responsibility. In the election he was defeated by a political system and by political techniques that he more than anyone else had developed. Whig managers such as Weed and Stevens used methods that Van Buren and the Regency had perfected in New York. In 1836, he had won partly by adjusting to change better than his opponents had, but in 1840, the Whigs not the Democrats took advantage of what was new. With a national two-party system and nationwide means of communication, a national campaign with a national message was needed. With their log cabins, Tippecanoe slogans, and parades, the Whigs found the message that could produce votes. In Philip Hone's words, the "hurrah [was] heard and felt in every part of the United States." The Whigs allowed the common man to participate in their campaigns, whereas the Democrats, who had based their previous campaigns on the common man, discouraged participation. Harrison, not Van Buren, broke with tradition and went out on the campaign trail for himself. Harrison, not Van Buren, replaced Andrew Jackson as the popular hero in the eyes of the people. Even though Van Buren had created a national political party, he did not run a national campaign in 1840, but devoted most of his attention to New York as he had done in 1838, but not in 1824. Instead of adjusting his republicanism as he had in the past, he remained in 1840 chained to the Jeffersonian tradition."

"Although democrats tried to blame the defeat on fraud, hallucination, excessive democracy, and the Mormon Church, none of these was responsible. There were more fundamental reasons for the defeat. It would have been a miracle if the Democrats had been able to survive the depression that had gripped the nation ever since Van Buren took office. Even though the Liberty party polled barely 7,000 votes, Van Buren's proslavery policies had alienated Northerners and contributed to the loss of six states that Van Buren had carried in 1836."

"An Englishman who visited Van Buren's White House failed to notice any luxury or ostentation. Member of Parliament James Silk Buckingham, who attended Van Buren's open house in March 1838, wrote that the White House was "greatly inferior in size and splendor to the country residences of most of the British] nobility," and the furniture was "far from elegant of costly." "The whole air of the mansion," he said, was "unostentatious... without parade or displays,... well adapted to the simplicity and economy... of the republican institutions of the country." The servants wore no livery and Van Buren himself was dressed in a "plain suit of black." Buckingham was impressed that "every one present acted as though he felt himself to be on a footing of equality with every other person." As Buckingham noted, Van Buren in 1838 followed Andrew Jackson's policy of allowing anyone at all to attend a White House reception, and stationed no guards at the door. Van Buren himself walked to and from church alone and often rode horseback unaccompanied. A short time later, however, another British traveler, Captain Frederick Marryat, noted that Van Buren had taken a step that struck at "the very roots of their boasted equality" by stationing police at the door to "prevent the intrusion of any improper person." It was Van Buren's concession to the changing times."

"Accessible and a master of detail, Van Buren received advice from scores of obscure citizens and often dealt with matters that other Presidents might have left to subordinates. He dealt with army engineer Thomas Warner, for example, who went over Secretary of War Joel Poinsett's head to complain about being dismissed. Sometimes Van Buren let sentiment intrude on his decisions; when William Leggett was dying of tuberculosis, Van Buren appointed him agent to Guatemala so that he could enjoy his last months in a warm climate. And as before his tact helped in handling delicate situations, especially in appeasing Eaton when he was withdrawn from Spain. The skills that were evident in Albany were still at work in the White House."

"The union of Western and Southern politicians had had their revenge upon the North. The Radicalism of the frontier had won a great political contest. Jackson’s occupation of the Presidency had finally broken the “era of good feelings” which had followed the war with Britain, and by his economic policy he had split the old Republican Party of Jefferson. The Radicalism of the West was looked upon with widespread suspicion throughout the Eastern states, and Jackson’s official appointments had not been very happy. The election in 1836 of Jackson’s lieutenant, Van Buren, meant the continuation of Jacksonian policy, while the old General himself returned in triumph to. his retirement in Tennessee. The first incursions of the West into high politics had revealed the slumbering forces of democracy on the frontier and shown the inexperience of their leaders in such affairs."

"There were wild scenes at Washington at the inauguration of the new President, dubbed by his opponent Adams as “the brawler from Tennessee.” But to the men of the West Jackson was their General, marching against the political monopoly of the moneyed classes. The complications of high politics caused difficulties for the backwoodsman. His simple mind, suspicious of his opponents, made him open to influence by more partisan and self-seeking politicians. In part be was guided by Martin Van Buren, his Secretary of State. But he relied even more heavily for advice on political cronies of his own choosing, who were known as the “Kitchen Cabinet,” because they were not office-holders. Jackson was led to believe that his first duty was to cleanse the stables of the previous regime. His dismissal of a large number of civil servants brought the spoils system, long prevalent in many states, firmly into the Federal machine."

"In receiving from the people the sacred trust twice confided to my illustrious predecessor, and which he has discharged so faithfully and so well, I know that I can not expect to perform the arduous task with equal ability and success. But united as I have been in his counsels, a daily witness of his exclusive and unsurpassed devotion to his country's welfare, agreeing with him in sentiments which his countrymen have warmly supported, and permitted to partake largely of his confidence, I may hope that somewhat of the same cheering approbation will be found to attend upon my path. For him I but express with my own the wishes of all, that he may yet long live to enjoy the brilliant evening of his well-spent life; and for myself, conscious of but one desire, faithfully to serve my country, I throw myself without fear on its justice and its kindness. Beyond that I only look to the gracious protection of the Divine Being whose strengthening support I humbly solicit, and whom I fervently pray to look down upon us all. May it be among the dispensations of His providence to bless our beloved country with honors and with length of days. May her ways be ways of pleasantness and all her paths be peace!"

"Present excitement will at all times magnify present dangers, but true philosophy must teach us that none more threatening than the past can remain to be overcome; and we ought (for we have just reason) to entertain an abiding confidence in the stability of our institutions and an entire conviction that if administered in the true form, character, and spirit in which they were established they are abundantly adequate to preserve to us and our children the rich blessings already derived from them, to make our beloved land for a thousand generations that chosen spot where happiness springs from a perfect equality of political rights."

"All the lessons of history and experience must be lost upon us if we are content to trust alone to the peculiar advantages we happen to possess."

"I tread in the footsteps of illustrious men... in receiving from the people the sacred trust confided to my illustrious predecessor."

"From a small community we have risen to a people powerful in numbers and in strength; but with our increase has gone hand in hand the progress of just principles."

"How imperious, then, is the obligation imposed upon every citizen, in his own sphere of action, whether limited or extended, to exert himself in perpetuating a condition of things so singularly happy."

"The practice of all my predecessors imposes on me an obligation I cheerfully fulfill—to accompany the first and solemn act of my public trust with an avowal of the principles that will guide me in performing it and an expression of my feelings on assuming a charge so responsible and vast."

"There is a power in public opinion in this country -and I thank God for it: for it is the most honest and best of all powers- which will not tolerate an incompetent or unworthy man to hold in his weak or wicked hands the lives and fortunes of his fellow-citizens."

"Madam, I may be President of the United States, but my private life is nobody's damn business."

"Men may die, but the fabric of our free institutions remains unshaken."

"Experience has shown that the trade of the East is the key to national wealth and influence."

"I trust the time is nigh when, with the universal assent of civilized people, all international differences shall be determined without resort to arms by the benignant processes of civilization."

"I don’t think we had better go into the minute secrets of the campaign, so far as I know them… while I don’t mean to say anything about my birthplace, whether it was in Canada or elsewhere, still, if I should get to going about the secrets of the campaign, there is no saying what I might say to make trouble between now and the 4th of March."

"The extravagant expenditure of public money is an evil not to be measured by the value of that money to the people who are taxed for it."

"In the 1830s, under Andrew Jackson and then his successor Martin Van Buren, the military moved against the Indians in the southeastern United States in what was officially called, in the title of the law authorizing it, Indian Removal. Today we'd call it ethnic cleansing."

"Van Buren is probably the first real politician in America elected to the presidency. Unlike his predecessors, he never did anything great; he never made a great speech, he never wrote a great document, he never won a great battle. He simply was the most politically astute operator that the United States had ever seen."

"Politically, however, the Panic of 1837 had an enormous impact. It raised urgent questions about economic development and, in close connection, the relationship between the Treasury and the banking and currency of the country. What were the effects of English credit on the cycle of economic growth in the United States? Had the banks, by an overindulgence of the "spirit of enterprise," precipitated the pattern of overreaction and contradiction? Or were Jackson's policies chiefly to blame? Would the new president sustain these policies of reverse them? Temporarily, at least, the economy recovered from the Panic of 1837, but Van Buren's political response involved ecisions that gave basic shape to his entire presidency."

"He does not need fame, or pity, but Martin Van Buren is worthy of a sober second thought. Quite simply, it's antidemocratic to expect all of our leaders to be great, or to pretend that they are once they are in office and using the trappings of the presidency for theatrical effect. It goes without saying that we need our Lincolns and Washingtons- the United States would not exist without them. But we need our Van Burens, too- the schemers and sharps working to defend people from all backgrounds against their natural predators. For democracy to stay realistic, we need to remain realistic about our leaders and what they can and cannot do. In other words, we need books about the not-quite-heroic. Van Buren is history, and this book has reached its terminus, but, as Kafka tells us, the work is never done."

"Van Buren will remain one of our lesser-known presidents, for reasons that he would understand. His presidency produced no lasting monument of social legislation, sustained several disastrous reverses, and ended with ignominious defeat after one short term. There will never be an animatronic Van Buren entertaining children at Disneyland alongside Abraham Lincoln. But still, he lives wherever people find gated communities shut to them. He lives particularly in the places far from the presidential stage where democracy does its best work- in the back rooms of union halls, fire stations, immigrant social clubs, granges, and taverns like the one he grew up in. Or even far from American shores, where courageous men and women are risking their lives every day to form opposition parties against the wishes of their governments."

"Van Buren shivered through the same damp inaugural ceremony that elevated and killed William Henry Harrison, then made his way north, to the home state he had not lived in for twenty years. He arrived by ship at Manhattan, and found a surprise that must have warmed his jaded heart. A huge number of the city's poor came out in the rain to greet him, conscious that, for all his imperfections, this New Yorker had somewhere represented their interests in a government where they had precious few allies."

"In truth, Van Buren was defeated, and badly. He would never hold elective office again; his career ended as prematurely as it had begun. The winds of fortune blow very strong in American politics. But despite a presidency that was disappointing in many ways, he could return to New York satisfied that he had remained true to his understanding of Democracy, imperfect as that may have been, and that most others would have fared worse under the difficult circumstances he had faced. In fact, many were about to, as the United States entered the dreariest presidential season in its history, a twenty-year drought that did not end until the watershed of the 1860 election."

"For all the noise and head generated by the 1840 campaign, its most lasting legacy may have been one of the shortest words in the English language. In the spring of 1839, the phrase "OK" began to circulate in Boston as shorthand for "oll korrect", a slangy way of saying "all right." Early in 1840, Van Buren's supporters began to use the trendy expression as a way to identify their candidate, whom they labored to present as "Old Kinderhook," perhaps in imitation of Jackson's Old Hickory. Van Buren even wrote "OK" next to his signature. It spread like wildfire, and to this day it is a universal symbol of something elemental in the American character- informality, optimism, efficiency, call it what you will. It is spoken seven times a day by the average citizen, two billion utterances overall. And, of course, it goes well beyond our borders; if there is a single sound America has contributed to the esperanto of global communication, this is it. It is audible everywhere- in a taxicab in Paris, in a cafe in Instanbul, in the languid early seconds of the Beatles' "Revolution," when John Lennon steps up to the microphone and arrestingly calls the meeting to order. There are worse legacies that a defeated presidential candidate could claim."

"Martin Van Buren was probably one of the most charming men of his age. Without that charm, that ingratiating, refined and affable manner, he could never have succeeded as well as he did. Men and women vied for his companionship, and maneuvered to get him to accept invitations to their dinners. He was courteous to all- which some misinterpreted- and possessed the "high art of blending dignity with ease and suavity." His mild, open, and sociable disposition induced one observer to write that he was "as polished and captivating a person in the social circle as America has ever known..." Although endowed with no exceptional wit himself, he had a sense of humor and a keen appreciation of the humorous."

"To stay alive in the New York political world one had to be clever, shrewd, and sometimes unscrupulous. It did not take the intelligent young lawyer Van Buren very long to learn what he must do to survive. Within ten years after his arrival in Albany as a senator, Van Buren gained control of the state's Republican organization. His success was due partly to his personality as a leader, partly to his ability to conceive and execute intricate plans to weaken his opponents, partly to his above-average talents as a speaker and writer, and partly to his genius for political organization."

"Martin Van Buren was born in the little village of Kinderhook, in Columbia County, New York, on December 5, 1782. The son of a tavernkeeper, he received his earliest education helping his father manage the tavern where he watched the patrons eat and drink and listened to their conversation- political and otherwise. Observers later commented on his great knowledge and understanding of human nature; undoubtedly much of it was acquired during these early years. He went to the village academy for a formal education, and then to the law offices, successively, of Francis Silvester and William P. Van Ness. In 1803 he began the practice of law and slowly built a reputation for himself as a hard-working and resourceful lawyer."