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Article: The lame ducks of Marbury. (presidential transition from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson, persistant problem of lame duck appointments)
- Article from:
- Constitutional Commentary
- Article date:
- June 22, 2003
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Constitutional Commentary, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had not been the best of friends before the election of 1800, and their competition for the presidency gave them ample occasion to ponder each other's faults. Yet it was easy for Jefferson to identify the single incident that troubled him most. As he wrote to Abigail Adams in 1804:
I can say with truth that one act of Mr. Adams' life, and one
only, ever gave me a moment's personal displeasure. I did
consider his last appointments to office as personally unkind.
They were from among my most ardent political enemies,
from whom no faithful cooperation could ever be expected,
and laid me under the embarrassment of ...