Synopses & Reviews
When Thomas Jefferson moved his victorious Republicanadministration into the new capital city in 1801, one of his first acts was toabolish any formal receptions, except on New Year's Day and the Fourth of July. Hissuccessful campaign for the presidency had been partially founded on the idea thathis Federalist enemies had assumed dangerously aristocratic trappings--a sword forGeorge Washington and a raised dais for Martha when she received people at socialoccasions--in the first capital cities of New York and Philadelphia. When the ladiesof Washington City, determined to have their own salon, arrived en masse at thepresident's house, Jefferson met them in riding clothes, expressing surprise attheir presence. His deep suspicion of any occasion that resembled a European courtcaused a major problem, however: without the face-to-face relationships and networksof interest created in society, the American experiment in government could notfunction.
Into this conundrum, writes CatherineAllgor, stepped women like Dolley Madison and Louisa Catherine Adams, women ofpolitical families who used the unofficial, social sphere to cement therelationships that politics needed to work. Not only did they create a space inwhich politics was effectively conducted; their efforts legitimated the new republicand the new capital in the eyes of European nations, whose representatives scoffedat the city's few amenities and desolate setting. Covered by the prescriptions oftheir gender, Washington women engaged in the dirty business of politics, whichallowed their husbands to retain their republicanpurity.
Constrained by the cultural taboos onpetticoat politicking, women rarely wrote forthrightly about their ambitions andplans, preferring to cast their political work as an extension of virtuous familyroles. But by analyzing their correspondence, gossip events, etiquette wars, andthe material culture that surrounded them, Allgor finds that these women acted withconscious political intent. In the days before organized political parties, thesocial machine built by these early federal women helped to ease the transition froma failed republican experiment to a burgeoning democracy.
Review
"This stylishly written book boldly argues that elite women in early Washington, through patronage, networking, and material display, did the dirty work of politics and thus allowed their men to retain their republican purity. While this argument is quite overdrawn, especially in its discussion of patronage, some of Allgor's insights are stunning. For example, her exploration of Dolley Madison's decoration of the White House and discussion of the significance of the First Lady's drawing rooms are wonderfully depicted. Her treatment of Louisa Catherine Adams' social campaign for her husband's presidential bid is full and measured. While Allgor is to be applauded for shifting our focus from women as marginal social creatures to women as political actors, she has only opened the debate about how central and significant that activity was." Reviewed by Andrew Witmer, Virginia Quarterly Review (Copyright 2006 Virginia Quarterly Review)
Synopsis
"Parlor Politics is a stimulating, lively, and subtle book that enlarges our understanding of how, in just half a century, Washington City became an important world capital." - Alan Pell Crawford - Wall Street Journal "For those whose knowledge of early Washington and its politics is in need of repair, Parlor Politics provides a fresh perspective and rich details- history at its most readable." - Jeff Sharlet - Washington Post "What Ms. Allgor's history suggests is that the nation that dares to criticize its first lady's fashion sense may be a very healthy one indeed." - Emily Eakin - New York Times "In this scholarly yet animated and thought-provoking analysis, Allgor presents her groundbreaking research on the critical role that women played in the early days of Washington politics.... Allgor... combines excellent research, which draws on primary archival material, with a flair for expressive writing." - Publishers Weekly, *starred review "An extraordinary piece of work, easily one of the most intellectually original and stylishly elegant first books I have ever read. Allgor's treatment of the role of women brings them into the center of the story of America's early political history and demonstrates that the republican values so central to the ideology of the post-Revolutionary era actually required the presence of women to permit the federal government to function. It's the kind of argument that seems utterly self-evident but in fact no one has made it before in anything like this persuasive way. Throughout the text, one encounters a truly lyrical presence, cajoling, whispering, taking us aside (as at an elegant dinner party) to talk interestingly about what the evidence means." - Joseph J. Ellis, author of Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation and American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson "Parlor Politics is an absolute gem of historical research and writing. Again and again-and yet again-it opens fresh views on the political culture of the early Republic. Moreover, its sprightly, sparkling prose will delight scholars and general readers alike." - John Demos, Yale University, author of The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America "Parlor Politics is cultural history at its best. Showing how style and substance merged into social power, Catherine Allgor has recovered the fascinating political role of women in the Washington of Jefferson and his successors." - Joyce Appleby, author of Inheriting the Revolution: The First Generation of Americans