“The five Pillars of Aristocracy,” he argued, “are Beauty, Wealth, Birth, Genius and Virtues. Any one of the three first, can at any time, over bear any one or both of the two last.” — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
“Perhaps, in that eerily instinctive way in which he always grasped the difference between the essential and the peripheral, he literally felt in his… — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
“Upon learning that Washington intended to reject the mantle of emperor, no less an authority than George III allegedly observed, “If he does that,… — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
“The Adams presidency, in fact, might be the classic example of the historical truism that inherited circumstances define the parameters within which presidential leadership… — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
“p. 274 ...his trademark decision to surrender power as commander in chief and then president, was not...a sign that he had conquered his ambitions,… — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
To my three sons, Peter, Scott, and Alexander who pulled me from the 18th Century and back into the present on a regular basis… — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
Lincoln once said that America was founded on a proposition that was written by Jefferson in 1776. We are really founded on an argument… — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
“They recognized from the beginning that they were a rare match. There were so many topics they could talk about easily and just as… — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
[quoting someone else] the American constitution is a document designed by geniuses to be eventually interpreted by idiots — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
“The first symptom of the trouble appeared when Madison studied Hamilton’s proposal for the funding of the domestic debt. On the one hand, Hamilton’s… — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
“But if insecurity was the primal source of Hamilton's incredibly energy, one would have to conclude that providence had conspired to produce at the… — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
“One of the petitioners, an infamous do-gooder of uncertain sanity named Warner Mifflin, had actually acknowledged that his antislavery vision came to him after… — Joseph J. Ellis Copy Share Image
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