Three Pressures That Discourage Acts Of Political Courage Summary

According to John F. Kennedy what are the three pressures that discourage acts of political courage?
John F. Kennedy, a firm believer that congressional representatives should be willing to risk honor, prestige, and even one's own career in the pursuit of solving an issue for the citizens of the nation, believes that pressures that discourage political courage include the pressures of one’s constituency, interest groups, letter writers, economic blocs, and the average voter. He believes that these pressures lead to politicians not acting as they would like to due to risks to one’s career, the unpopularity of the course they follow, the degradation of their characters, and, in some cases, the vindication of both their reputation and their principles.

Write a brief synopsis of the American politicians whose stories are told here.
John Quincy Adams came to the senate as a federalist in 1803 seeking to follow his own beliefs and preserve his father’s legacy. However, his party quickly grew distasteful with him after he voted in favor of the Louisiana Purchase. Adams then found himself further in political isolation when it came to Jefferson’s embargo against the British following their aggressive manners towards American merchants. Adams, unlike other federalists, supported the embargo and helped to sign it into law. The embargo idled the shipbuilding industry and destroyed trade, causing stagnation, bankruptcy, and distress. New Englanders considered Adams to be a deserter of his party and people as he continued to stand behind the legislation.

Daniel Webster, a Massachusetts senator, agreed to aid Henry Clay by standing in favor of his 1850 Compromise Bill in an attempt to keep the union together.

Despite knowing that his support of the bill would leave him unelectable within Massachusetts, Webster promised his support. This decision with ultimately lead to his historical condemnation. Within his “Seventh of March” speech, Webster argues in favor of Clay’s proposed legislation, which proposed that the only way in which the nation would thrive as a whole was if slavery was upheld within the south, put aside in debate for a moment to preserve the union, and that fugitive slave laws should be strengthened. Webster would die still standing beside his firm belief that he made the right decision supporting the bill and that he only ever had the union’s best interests at

heart.

Despite Missouri’s stance as a slave owning state as well as being a slave owner himself, Thomas Hart Benton opposed John C. Calhoun’s efforts to introduce slavery within newly acquisitioned territories. Benton considered the debate between the north and south over the issue to be causing the expansion of a barrier between the two sides. His opposition to allow the divide to further as well as his refusal to vote in favor of Calhoun’s resolutions ultimately led to his loss of popularity within his state as well as the loss of most of his committee memberships. His later opposition to the Great Compromise as well as President Fillmore almost led to Benton being shot. Instead, Benton was voted out of office as well as continuously plagued to regain and lose his seat in congress. However, Benton’s efforts, though fairly unpopular, were one of few factors that kept Missouri from seceding from the union during the civil war.

A southerner who stood for the preservation of the union, Sam Huston refused to support the Kansas-Nebraska Act due to it’s passing meaning the repeal of the Missouri Compromise as well as the fact that such a piece of legislation would allow for those who settled beyond the Rocky Mountains to embrace slavery if they wished to do so. Due to Huston being the sole southern democrat to vote against the act, his constituents were furious and soon rumors of his eventual downfall ran rampant. Because of this, his first quest to be elected as the governor of Texas failed. Despite his efforts to remain within the union, Texas seceded. Though he was elected upon his second run for office, Huston was ousted as governor due to his refusal to take the oath of allegiance to the confederacy.

President Johnson, believing secretary of War Edwin Stanton to be a tool placed by the radical republicans in order to create military dictatorship within the south, broke the tenure of office act.

Because of this, radical republicans immediately moved for the impeachment of the president. The trial eventually made it clear that the president was not be tried fairly as congress moved to have him declared guilty. Edmund G. Ross, a Kansas Republican, held no sympathy for the man; however, he pledged that he would make sure that Johnson was to be tried fairly. Due to his standing on the trial, the senator became the target of abuse from his fellow republicans, the public, and the media. Nonetheless, Ross would go on to cast the deciding vote against the president’s conviction, thus ending the impeachment proceedings. Because of this, Ross was not reelected to the senate and would go on to suffer ostracism and poverty because of it. However, Ross is now praised for saving the United States from dictatorship as the Tenure of Office Act would later be declared

illegal.

Though Charles Sumner was widely hated among southerners due to his radicalism and opposition to slavery, Lucius Lamar, a democrat from Mississippi, gave a eulogy to the departed senator upon the house floor. Lamar's eulogy praised Sumner for his desire for unity between North and South. Many southerners considered such an appraisal as a betrayal. In 1876, Lamar once again acted in opposition to his constituents when he agreed to the findings of an election commission that declared Republican Rutherford Hayes as president. Though the commission's findings were controversial, Lamar felt that standing with them would stave off another sectional controversy that would eventually lead to more bloodshed. His alienation of both his party and the people of Mississippi only continued when he voted against free silver measures that would have enriched the state. However, despite all of this, Lamar kept his Senate seat until his resignation to become secretary of the interior and, eventually, a Supreme Court justice.

George Norris, a Republican from Nebraska, first came to national attention in 1910 when he introduced a reform resolution that would strip Speaker Joe Cannon of most of his authority by stopping him of his ability to appoint committee members and their chairmen as well as removing Cannon from the Rules Committee. To everyone's