Research

My primary research interests lay at the intersection of American political institutions and American political thought. In general, my research endeavors to understand how ideas have shaped the American constitutional order.

The Untold Origins of American Democracy

Manuscript, Under Review

My first book examines the origins of American democracy in the political contests between John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. The project uses these two statesmen's conception of republican government to launch its analysis. Adams wished to save a collapsing republican order by injecting the nation with classical virtue, while Jackson preferred to scrap republicanism altogether and transform America into a majoritarian democracy. This seemingly theoretical debate had a large impact on the early American state. Until this point, the state was used largely to promote commerce and foster regional harmony. Under Jackson, the state started to enforce the political will of a majority of male white voters who happily used their increased power to systematically oppress racial minorities. I argue that this series of events teaches us a great deal about the potential weaknesses in our democratic system and that Adams’ emphasis on public-spirited republicanism could do much to strengthen the best aspects of the American regime.

A Republic of Virtue: The Political Essays of John Quincy Adams

Contracted, Political Animals Press

Though most famous as a statesman, throughout his long career John Quincy Adams produced a steady stream of essays, poetry, and speeches that offer reflections on the deepest questions of political life. In the final years of his life, Adams’ efforts as a writer took on a more philosophic tone as he re-wrote the social contract and outlined his own unique vision of America’s theoretical foundations. Though this series of essays is probably the most thoughtful of Adams’ public works, they have been largely unread and unpublished since the mid-nineteenth century. This book seeks to correct this tragedy, reviving some of Adams’ best works of political literature and placing them within the context of his broader career. 

Journal Articles

Towards A Conservative Liberalism: John Quincy Adams, Slavery, and the Meaning of Freedom

(Pietas, Fall 2023)

Scholars who argue America is an essentially liberal nation, tend to have only one variety of liberalism in mind: Lockean liberalism. This strand of liberalism is fully committed to what Isiah Berlin calls negative liberty, the result of leaving citizens free from political or social constraints and allowing them to flourish on their own. However, the politics and life of John Quincy Adams stand in stark contrast to Lockean liberalism. Adams was a self-proclaimed liberal who argued freedom was the aim of all legitimate governments, but he understood that term in a strictly positive way. Pulling from Christian and classical sources Adams argues that liberty goes beyond a lack of political restraint. In his eyes, freedom requires the cultivation of personal virtue that allows one to curb their selfish instincts. This article will examine the political writings of John Quincy Adams to understand this unique form of liberalism, as well as the writings of American abolitionists who borrowed heavily from Adams’ ideas revealing conservative liberalism’s broader popularity.

War Against The State: Daniel Patrick Moynihan and the Defense of Localism

(Conference Draft)

In 1979 long serving New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan described the heart of his liberalism as an attempt to use economic policy to enliven and ennoble the intermediary institutions – such as family, clubs, and trade unions. Despite this, few studies have fully investigated the relationship between community and liberalism in Moynihan’s thought. This paper seeks to fill that gap. This paper provides a new lens through which we can view Moynihan’s long effort to reform and expand modern American welfare. In his eyes, such an approach to politics offered an alternative to the hyper-individualistic economic system of the budding neoliberal world.