Promoting Democracy: Mass Political Communication during the Presidency of Thomas Jefferson

FAIN: FB-55685-11

Melvin C. Laracey
University of Texas, San Antonio (San Antonio, TX 78249-1644)

This project is a case study of how Thomas Jefferson's presidential newspaper, the National Intelligencer, promoted not just Jefferson and his administration, but also broad principles of democratic philosophy, constitutionalism, political identity, and nation-state formation. By examining the content of every issue of the paper during Jefferson's administration (three issues per week, or about 1250 issues in total), this study will provide a unique guide to the concerns and principles of Jefferson and his party, as evidenced contemporaneously in the pages of the newspaper that was widely regarded to reflect his views. It will also analyze, from the perspectives of current presidential studies scholarship and modern critical theory, what this episode in American political history indicates generally about how political leaders build and maintain power by constructing and promoting favorable government institutions and citizen understandings.

Associated Products

Informing a Nation: The Newspaper Presidency of Thomas Jefferson (Book)
Title: Informing a Nation: The Newspaper Presidency of Thomas Jefferson
Author: Mel Laracey
Abstract: During his presidency, Thomas Jefferson both sponsored and wrote for his own newspaper, the National Intelligencer and Washington Advertiser. The newspaper spoke on behalf of his policies and those of his Republican, anti-federalist party, the Democratic-Republicans, the precursor to today’s Democrats. Author Mel Laracey focuses on the newspaper’s message during Jefferson’s first term, showing how the third president used media to promote his administration and its goals against their political rivals, the Federalists. Informing a Nation shows how Jefferson and his allies dealt with political challenges, reveals hitherto unexamined aspects of the early presidency, and raises broad questions of the relationship between the presidency and media today.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://www.worldcat.org/title/informing-a-nation-the-newspaper-presidency-of-thomas-jefferson/oclc/1226085457&referer=brief_results
Publisher: University of Michigan Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 978-0-472-1323
Copy sent to NEH?: No

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