Tag Archives: William Vans Murray

3.05 – Affairs, Foreign and Domestic

October 13, 201903 - Thomas JeffersonAlbert Gallatin, Barbary States, Dolley Madison, France, Great Britain, Haitian Revolution, Henry Addington, Ireland, James Callender, James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Levi Lincoln, Manuel de Godoy, Martha Jefferson Randolph, Meriwether Lewis, Napoleon Bonaparte, Spain, Talleyrand, Thomas Jefferson, Toussaint L'Ouverture, William Pitt the Younger, William Vans Murraypresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1799-1801

The beginning of Jefferson’s administration coincided with changes in other parts of the world including France, Great Britain, Spain, and Saint-Domingue that would ultimately come to impact the United States. Meanwhile, as Jefferson continued to assemble his Cabinet, he and his administration also had to deal with a new round of negotiation with Napoléon’s government and appeasing an irate office seeker who threatened to expose the President to public scandal. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Le général Toussaint Louverture” [c. 19th century], courtesy of Wikipedia

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2.22 – Enter the Federal City

May 19, 201902 - John AdamsAlexander Hamilton, Barbary States, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Fisher Ames, France, George Cabot, Great Britain, James Callender, James McHenry, James Monroe, John Adams, John Marshall, John Quincy Adams, Napoleon Bonaparte, Oliver Ellsworth, Oliver Wolcott Jr, Samuel Dexter, slavery, Talleyrand, Timothy Pickering, Washington DC, William Duane, William R Davie, William Vans Murraypresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1799-1801

As President Adams and the federal government transition to the new federal capital, the next presidential election looms, and both Federalist and Democratic-Republican leaders work on behalf of their favored candidates to meet challenges to their prospects. While Federalists cope with an internal debate over exactly which candidate to support, Democratic-Republicans in Virginia work to cover up the involvement of French agents in Gabriel’s Rebellion. All the while, the US commission to France scrambles to conclude their work with a treaty in time for Adams and the Federalists to claim credit for winning the peace. Source notes for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “A view of the Capitol of Washington before it was burnt down by the British” by William Russell Birch [c. 1800], courtesy of Wikipedia

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2.18 – New Year, New à Vous

March 24, 201902 - John AdamsFrance, Great Britain, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Napoleon Bonaparte, Oliver Ellsworth, Talleyrand, Timothy Pickering, US Navy, William R Davie, William Vans Murraypresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1797-1800

The French Directory falls, and the three US peace commissioners are left with many questions as to how to proceed before they even arrive in Paris. Meanwhile, the US government considers a change in its policy towards the Barbary States, and the USS Constellation engages French naval forces once more in the Caribbean. Source information for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Les trois consuls de la Constitution de l’an VIII (de gauche à droite : Cambacérès, Bonaparte, Lebrun)” by Henri-Nicolas Van Gorp [c. 1803], courtesy of Wikipedia

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2.16 – High Noon in Trenton

February 24, 201902 - John AdamsAlexander Hamilton, Benjamin Stoddert, Charles Lee, France, Great Britain, Haitian Revolution, James McHenry, John Adams, Oliver Ellsworth, Oliver Wolcott Jr, Patrick Henry, Talleyrand, Timothy Pickering, Toussaint L'Ouverture, William R Davie, William Vans Murraypresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1798-1799

New unrest in the government of France in 1799 presented President Adams with an important decision as to whether to continue with his peace overtures. Meanwhile, competing agendas within his own administration prompt one of Adams’s Cabinet members to urge him to end his sojourn in Quincy as yet another yellow fever epidemic strikes Philadelphia. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Drawing of the New Jersey state capitol at Trenton” [c. 1879], courtesy of Wikipedia

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2.14 – The Plausible Probability of Preserving the Peace

January 27, 201902 - John AdamsAlexander Hamilton, Benjamin Stoddert, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Lee, Democratic-Republican Party, Federalists, France, Francisco de Miranda, George Washington, Haitian Revolution, James McHenry, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Oliver Ellsworth, Oliver Wolcott Jr, Patrick Henry, Robert Liston, Rufus King, Spain, Talleyrand, Theodore Sedgwick, Thomas Jefferson, Timothy Pickering, Toussaint L'Ouverture, William Vans Murraypresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1798-1799

Adams throws the American political landscape into a frenzy with a special message to Congress announcing that he was appointing a new Minister to France to negotiate peace. While exploring what this all means for Adams, his administration, and the nation, we also take a step back in this episode to look at the influence of American policy in Saint-Domingue and South America on the realities and future of Franco-American relations in 1799. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Atlantic or Western Ocean” by John Thomson [c. 1814], courtesy of Wikipedia

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2.12 – Ready, Aim, Fire!

January 2, 201902 - John AdamsAbigail Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Stoddert, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Lee, Egypt, Elbridge Gerry, France, George Washington, James McHenry, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, malta, Napoleon Bonaparte, Oliver Wolcott Jr, Talleyrand, Timothy Pickering, William Vans Murraypresidencies

Year(s) Covered: 1798

As the nation gears up for the possibility of war with France, President Adams is increasingly focused on the possibility of peace as he prepares his annual message to Congress. Meanwhile, a rising star in the French military suffers a major setback that imperils the French Republic’s position on the global landscape. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “The Destruction of “L’Orient” at the Battle of the Nile, 1 August 1798″ by George Arnald [c. 1825-1827], courtesy of Wikipedia

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2.08 – Have At Thee! The Response to XYZ

November 4, 201802 - John AdamsAbigail Adams, Albert Gallatin, Alexander Hamilton, Benjamin Franklin Bache, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Lee, Elbridge Gerry, France, James McHenry, John Adams, John Marshall, John Quincy Adams, Oliver Wolcott Jr, Talleyrand, Thomas Jefferson, Timothy Pickering, US House, William Vans Murraypresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1797-1798

As the Adams administration learns of the XYZ Affair and the President works to determine his next course of action, partisan bickering devolves to a fight on the floor of the House of Representatives while back in Paris, divisions start to form between the special envoys as Talleyrand increases his pressure on one of their number. Sources used for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Congressional Pugilists” by an unknown artist [15 Feb 1798], courtesy of Wikipedia

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2.07 – One Hand Washes the Other: The XYZ Affair

October 21, 201802 - John AdamsCharles Cotesworth Pinckney, Elbridge Gerry, France, James Madison, John Adams, John Marshall, John Quincy Adams, Napoleon Bonaparte, Talleyrand, William Vans Murraypresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1797-1798

The three commissioners sent by Adams arrive in France to begin negotiations but find themselves beset with new characters and new circumstances following French victories in the field and a coup in the government. One figure in particular stands between the envoys and peace, and he’ll gladly get out of the way…if, of course, the Americans are willing to pay. Sources used in this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Charles Maurice de Talleyrand Périgord” by François Gérard [c. 1808], courtesy of Wikipedia

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2.05 – Et Tu, France?

September 23, 201802 - John AdamsAbigail Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Charles Lee, Fisher Ames, France, George Cabot, James Callendar, James McHenry, James Monroe, John Adams, Oliver Wolcott Jr, Pierre Auguste Adet, Timothy Pickering, William Vans Murraypresidencies

Year(s) Discussed: 1796-1797

News arrives in Philadelphia of the French government refusing to accept Charles Cotesworth Pinckney as the US Minister to France, and various individuals both inside and outside the Adams administration spring into action to try to gain control of US foreign policy. Meanwhile, Adams works to cultivate sources independent of the State Department to keep him informed of affairs in Europe, and forces conspire to launch an attack on one of the leading figures of the American political landscape. Source information for this episode can be found at http://presidencies.blubrry.com.

Featured Image: “Portrait of William Vans Murray,” Mather Brown [c. 1787], courtesy of Wikipedia

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Presidencies of the United States

A journey through presidential history from the beginning to the present day

Tag Archives: William Vans Murray

3.05 – Affairs, Foreign and Domestic

2.22 – Enter the Federal City

2.18 – New Year, New à Vous

2.16 – High Noon in Trenton

2.14 – The Plausible Probability of Preserving the Peace

2.12 – Ready, Aim, Fire!

2.08 – Have At Thee! The Response to XYZ

2.07 – One Hand Washes the Other: The XYZ Affair

2.05 – Et Tu, France?