AP NOTES 1/30

Political parties have evolved heavily since the beginnings of the presidency
-they've gone from vice to virtue

different functions of parties
-party in the electorate
-the people identify themselves one way or another, hold parades, etc
-party in government
-how much power each party has in congress, eg, speaker, etc
-party as organization
-people who help organize the election machine, registering voters, running campaigns, etc

in the 19th century, the local parties are actually the strongest ones, as opposed to today where the national parties are the most important

by 1856, democratic party has emerged as the party of the south, while republicans are the party of the north
1860 is really the epitome of the split between regional parties
-lincoln carried ONLY the north, scored 59.4% of the electoral vote
-he only won 39.82% of the popular vote
-the north essentially elected the president in 1860
-leads to southern secession, civil war
-lincoln was the consummate party president

Lincoln's a fun guy
-suspends the writ of habeas corpus by executive order
-does this to maintain control over maryland and baltimore especially
-essentially declares martial law in the area
-lincoln is referred to as pretty close to a military dictator
-the only president before to ever even come close was James Polk, with the mexican war, but not really the same
-a lot of the stuff he does is even explicitly banned in the constitution
-it was determined after the war that lincoln had acted unconstitutionally
-lincoln's war powers do NOT last beyond his administration, so no institutionalization
-it was actually unclear as to whether the president even has the authority to end slavery at all
-lincoln just decided 'fuck that'
-emancipation proclamation doesnt actually free all the slaves, only the ones in rebel territory
-that's how he justified it- it would help out in the conduction of the war

Andrew Johnson
-becomes president after lincoln is assassinated
-the real important thing here is the resurgence of congressional authority
-military reconstruction act and tenure of office act essentially emasculate the presidency
-both strip powers from the president-
-military reconstruction act puts congress in the loop in reconstruction
-tenure of office act makes it impossible for him to fire officials without congressional approval
-johnson becomes first president to be impeached, kept in office by only one vote