3-Minute Civics: ‘People are policy’ in presidential administrations
President-elect Joe Biden listens as retired Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, Biden’s choice to be secretary of defense, speaks during an event at The Queen theater in Wilmington, Del., on Wednesday. AP
Published: 12/13/2020 6:41:33 AM
(This is a companion piece to the Nov. 22 3-Minute Civics column on presidential transitions by Adam Krauss.)
When I teach my U.S. History students about American elections that changed the political landscape forever, I teach the election of 1800, when Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams, as the one that saved democracy.
Against George Washington’s advice, political parties had solidified and the 1800 election was particularly nasty, far more than even by today’s standards, even to the point of planting the seed that grew into the duel that would, three years later, kill Alexander Hamilton. What makes this election so important, though, is that after all of the venom and vin