The Persistence of Elites

The Founding Fathers were mostly well-educated elites that attended college at a time when most colonial Americans did not, as described in great detail by Thomas E. Ricks in his book, First Principles. I have often written about America’s founding principles in my commentaries so the title caught my attention. But it was the subtitle that prompted me to buy the book. The subtitle states, “What America’s Founders Learned from the Greeks and Romans and How that Shaped Our Country.”

The author, Mr. Ricks, focuses on the first four presidents of the United States (George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison) highlighting their early education and university experience and then showing how those early foundations were applied in the founding of our country. In the colonial America where the Founders grew up there were only nine colleges, the most prominent of which were Harvard (John Adams), Princeton (James Madison), Columbia (Alexander Hamilton) and William& Mary (Thomas Jefferson).

Most early presidents read and spoke Latin and many spoke Greek and other languages. While they studied the Greek philosophers the era that they most admired was the Roman Republic. Their heroes were Cato and Cicero, their villains were Caesar and Catiline. Cato was especially admired as he was considered to exemplify the best of Rome, the ideal of Roman virtue. Ironically, it was the least schooled of our Founder presidents that best represented this ideal of Roman civic virtue, George Washington. The French philosopher Montesquieu asserted that the governing principle of republics was virtue by which he meant civic virtue making the virtuous Washington the perfect person to become president of the new republic even though he never attended college.

President John Adams said, “public virtue is the only foundation of republics.” At the age of forty-two Founder Benjamin Franklin retired from his business interests in order to dedicate his life to science and public service. Franklin believed that a man must be liberated from his private interests in order to virtuously serve the public interest. But only a small elite group of men could afford to be so liberated. It was the duty of the virtuous public servant to manage the governing of the common people who were dependent on their private interests to make their living. Nobel Prize winners Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson wrote a paper on the persistence of elites in societal institutions quoting Gaetano Mosca saying, “The domination of an organized minority … over the unorganized majority is inevitable.” There will always be elites. Even in the most egalitarian society some person or small group of persons will rise to the top sometimes through superior intelligence and drive but sometimes through ambition or greed.

Luckily for us, the principle author of the US Constitution, James Madison, realized future elected officials could be lacking in civic virtue. Few human beings are made in the mold of George Washington. Madison knew of Montesquieu’s belief in the essential role of virtue in a republic, but he also knew that many aspiring leaders might lack that essential virtue. It was Montesquieu who wrote in his book, The Spirit of Laws in 1756 about the idea of a separation of powers to prevent the accumulation of political power. This inspiration motivated Madison to divide the government of the new American republic into three co-equal branches and incorporate checks and balances into the Constitution to prevent an accumulation of power, to prevent someone lacking sufficient civic virtue from putting ambition ahead of the public good. In the 2024 election many people fear that Donald Trump would breach those checks on the accumulation of power if he is elected. But Kamala Harris also supports tearing down those checks and balances in order to advance her progressive agenda. Let’s hope that whoever wins this contest will not be able to undo Madison’s checks in the Constitution which have preserved our democracy for almost 250 years.

Many of the Founding Fathers feared the changes that the presidential election of 1800 between Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could bring about. Many in America believed that the partisan factions that sprung up in that election “were unmitigated evils.” But America survived that election and went on to become an exceptional nation. The election of 2024 is riven with partisan acrimony just like in 1800 and many are fearful for the future that will result from this partisan rancor. But the American people understand that there are better alternatives than an identity-driven socialist state or a populist autocracy. We must hope that Madison’s checks and balances can continue to preserve the autonomy of our three branches of government so we will have time to seek a better alternative.