Informing a Nation: The Newspaper Presidency of Thomas Jefferson By MelLaracey, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. 2021. pp. 248.

The administration of Thomas Jefferson and its relationship to the National Intelligencer newspaper receive one of the most thorough and insightful treatments in Mel Laracey's recent book. More than a mere historical retelling of the events of Jefferson's first term, this volume seeks to expand our understanding and revise our conventional wisdom regarding the role of this newspaper in constructing Jefferson's plebiscitary presidency. What was the nature of rhetoric in the Jefferson administration? Was the Intelligencer a quasi-governmental mouthpiece for the administration? Laracey brings new light to these questions, attributing Jefferson's many successes to a vigorous rhetorical presidency facilitated by a newspaper that informed, persuaded, and defended his administration to the public. To begin, the book's many conclusions are predicated on a critically important argument regarding the nature and public perception of the National Intelligencer: to wit, that Jefferson had significant direct involvement with the newspaper's content, and that readers would have understood that the paper represented the official views of Jefferson and the administration. Laracey contends that one must view the Intelligencer's content as a quasi-official supplement to the relatively meager official communications from the president. This foundation should be noteworthy to those attentive to previous studies of presidential rhetoric. While there is no shortage of scholarship on the Intelligencer, there has not been a consensus as to whether the newspaper was contemporarily linked to Jefferson in such a clear and unambiguous way. Laracey mounts a convincing effort to address the empirical challenges previously laid out by Tulis (The Rhetorical Presidency, Princeton University Press, 1988) and refined by others. Laracey provides evidence that Jefferson's acknowledged use of the newspaper and the publication of his administration's various political and policy arguments did not provide safety or insulation from public responsibility. Jefferson was not using the Intelligencer for political cover, and Jefferson's opponents not only recognized this rhetorical strategy but approved of it—taking him to task for the items that appeared on its pages. While this singular contribution is not insignificant in itself, the project then moves to its larger effort—to understand how Jefferson used the paper to advance his administration's policies and to defend himself personally. In particular, Laracey frequently returns to the argument (one which has been previously and commonly made about Jefferson's First Inaugural) that the overall goal of these efforts was to attempt to "correctly" educate the citizenry in the appropriate modes of being a Jeffersonian Republican. The book sets about this task chronologically, tackling the fraught contingent election of 1800, efforts to spread the "proper behavior" of Jeffersonian Republicans, administration efforts to replace appointed Federalists with Republicans, the matter of judicial review and the administration's response to the Federalist Supreme Court, the Samuel Chase impeachment, the Louisiana Purchase, and the reelection campaign of 1804. Some of the more interesting examples of this evidence include efforts in what Laracey calls the "civic canonization" of Jefferson, with the paper highlighting the virtue of his Republican simplicity. In addition to cultivating his Republican ethos, Laracey examines early plebiscitary arguments in the Intelligencer for expansive executive power, particularly with respect to appointments. The Intelligencer vehemently argues in favor of wide executive prerogative in the removal and replacement of Federalists. Laracey provides a particularly interesting example of the replacement of federal marshals so that they could connect public opinion to the judicial system in jury selection (103). Another effort is a close examination of the Republican reactions to the Supreme Court's decision in Marbury v. Madison, showing more early Republican opposition than previously suggested, followed by a later acceptance of the principle of judicial review, as it became clear that Jeffersonian Republicans could use it as a political tool (124). Laracey skillfully argues that Jefferson used the Intelligencer to create a conceptualization of Republican mores to be emulated by the populace, which included the necessary information (and opinion) on government action so that the public could hold their leaders accountable (68). The impressive use of multiple historical sources adds a rich context to Laracey's arguments, and his use of overlooked passages, letters, and diaries helps to bolster his challenges to the conventional wisdom. Informing a Nation significantly improves our understanding of Jefferson's presidency by illustrating, in great detail, his use of the Intelligencer to consolidate power and influence governance. Laracey's examination of the Intelligencer adds a new level of nuance to our historical narrative and shows that Jefferson was an active creator and manipulator of public discourse. The author declares no conflict of interest.