Andrew Johnson and the Patronage

The Constitution bestows upon the president the right to make appointments by and with the advice and consent of the Senate to federal position at home and abroad. Over the passage of time, through free use of this power and the implied power of removal, the several chief executives constructed a vast patronage system, of which one primary goal was to reward the party faithful for their services. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine how well Andrew Johnson, the unexpected successor of Abraham Lincoln, used the seemingly powerful patronage weapon and the reasons why he used it as he did. Prior to his elevation to the presidency, Johnson had been a Jacksonian Democrat with a great faith in the wisdom of the masses of people. As such, he had subscribed to the spoils system with its attendant principles of loyalty to the party and rotation in office. There is little evidence to indicate that he subsequently changed his views, despite the fact that they were of questionable validity in the unbalanced postwar political context of 1865-1869. Andrew Johnson was also a decided individualist, a characteristic which showed itself on several occasions during his presidential career. This trait at times overshadowed his political convictions and, increasingly during the course of his presidency, dictated his actions. Nowhere was this tact more clearly evident than in his use of the patronage. As president, Johnson initially was allowed a free patronage hand, but as he and the dominant element of the Republican party, the Radicals; increasingly clashed on the issues of reconstruction, the latter moved to wrest control of the system from him. Seeking endorsement for his policies, he appealed to the people in the 1866 congressional campaign. Many of his supporters urged that he use the federal patronage to affect the outcome of the elections, and a number of changes were made, but the Radicals emerged victorious. Some observers, both at that time and later, charged that this result occurred because Johnson misused his patronage powers, but he probably realized that he could not have changed the outcome of the elections regardless of how he might have used his powers of removal and appointment. Having failed to win popular support for his position, Johnson then faced the alternative of either turning to the Democratic party and bolstering it with the federal patronage or becoming politically isolated. The leaders of that party both expected and encouraged him to return to the fold, but the chief executive steadfastly refused to do so. The people had not elected a Democratic president in 1864 and Johnson\u27s integrity and honesty dictated that they were not to receive one against their will. While becoming increasingly politically isolated, Johnson sought to reward those who had remained faithful to him. Close supporters were appointed to office, and despite demands from Democrats that changes be made, he refused to remove loyal cabinet members from their posts. At the same time, however, the president would not tolerate disloyalty. When his secretary of war proved unfaithful, Johnson, defying Radical legislative efforts to secure Edwin M. Stanton in his position, removed him from office. This move led to the chief executive\u27s impeachment and trial, a process which the Radicals unsuccessfully attempted to turn into a condemnation of his entire patronage policy. Both primary and secondary sources were used for this study. Heavy dependence was placed upon certain manuscript collections, particularly those of Andrew Johnson, Senators John Sherman and Lyman Trumbull, and Representative Elihu B . Washburne. The Congressional Globe, the United States Senate Executive Journal, and the official account of the impeachment trial were also of considerable value

Characterization of a Double Mesospheric Bore Over Europe

Observations of a pair of mesospheric bore disturbances that propagated through the nighttime mesosphere over Europe are presented. The observations were made at the Padua Observatory, Asiago (45.9\ub0N, 11.5\ub0E), by the Boston University all-sky imager on 11 March 2013. The bores appeared over the northwest horizon, approximately 30 min apart, and propagated toward the southeast. Using additional satellite and radar data, we present evidence indicating the bores originated in the mesosphere from a single, larger-scale mesospheric disturbance propagating through the mesopause region. Furthermore, the large-scale mesospheric disturbance appeared to be associated with an intense weather disturbance that moved southeastward over the United Kingdom and western Europe during 10 and 11 March

High throughput modular chambers for rapid evaluation of anesthetic sensitivity

BACKGROUND: Anesthetic sensitivity is determined by the interaction of multiple genes. Hence, a dissection of genetic contributors would be aided by precise and high throughput behavioral screens. Traditionally, anesthetic phenotyping has addressed only induction of anesthesia, evaluated with dose-response curves, while ignoring potentially important data on emergence from anesthesia. METHODS: We designed and built a controlled environment apparatus to permit rapid phenotyping of twenty-four mice simultaneously. We used the loss of righting reflex to indicate anesthetic-induced unconsciousness. After fitting the data to a sigmoidal dose-response curve with variable slope, we calculated the MAC(LORR )(EC(50)), the Hill coefficient, and the 95% confidence intervals bracketing these values. Upon termination of the anesthetic, Emergence time(RR )was determined and expressed as the mean ± standard error for each inhaled anesthetic. RESULTS: In agreement with several previously published reports we find that the MAC(LORR )of halothane, isoflurane, and sevoflurane in 8–12 week old C57BL/6J mice is 0.79% (95% confidence interval = 0.78 – 0.79%), 0.91% (95% confidence interval = 0.90 – 0.93%), and 1.96% (95% confidence interval = 1.94 – 1.97%), respectively. Hill coefficients for halothane, isoflurane, and sevoflurane are 24.7 (95% confidence interval = 19.8 – 29.7%), 19.2 (95% confidence interval = 14.0 – 24.3%), and 33.1 (95% confidence interval = 27.3 – 38.8%), respectively. After roughly 2.5 MAC(LORR )• hr exposures, mice take 16.00 ± 1.07, 6.19 ± 0.32, and 2.15 ± 0.12 minutes to emerge from halothane, isoflurane, and sevoflurane, respectively. CONCLUSION: This system enabled assessment of inhaled anesthetic responsiveness with a higher precision than that previously reported. It is broadly adaptable for delivering an inhaled therapeutic (or toxin) to a population while monitoring its vital signs, motor reflexes, and providing precise control over environmental conditions. This system is also amenable to full automation. Data presented in this manuscript prove the utility of the controlled environment chambers and should allow for subsequent phenotyping of mice with targeted mutations that are expected to alter sensitivity to induction or emergence from anesthesia

Detection of inspiratory recruitment of atelectasis by automated lung sound analysis as compared to four-dimensional computed tomography in a porcine lung injury model

Background: Cyclic recruitment and de-recruitment of atelectasis (c-R/D) is a contributor to ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI). Bedside detection of this dynamic process could improve ventilator management. This study investigated the potential of automated lung sound analysis to detect c-R/D as compared to four-dimensional computed tomography (4DCT). Methods: In ten piglets (25 ± 2 kg), acoustic measurements from 34 thoracic piezoelectric sensors (Meditron ASA, Norway) were performed, time synchronized to 4DCT scans, at positive end-expiratory pressures of 0, 5, 10, and 15 cmH2O during mechanical ventilation, before and after induction of c-R/D by surfactant washout. 4DCT was post-processed for within-breath variation in atelectatic volume (Δ atelectasis) as a measure of c-R/D. Sound waveforms were evaluated for: 1) dynamic crackle energy (dCE): filtered crackle sounds (600–700 Hz); 2) fast Fourier transform area (FFT area): spectral content above 500 Hz in frequency and above −70 dB in amplitude in proportion to the total amount of sound above −70 dB amplitude; and 3) dynamic spectral coherence (dSC): variation in acoustical homogeneity over time. Parameters were analyzed for global, nondependent, central, and dependent lung areas. Results: In healthy lungs, negligible values of Δ atelectasis, dCE, and FFT area occurred. In lavage lung injury, the novel dCE parameter showed the best correlation to Δ atelectasis in dependent lung areas (R2 = 0.88) where c-R/D took place. dCE was superior to FFT area analysis for each lung region examined. The analysis of dSC could predict the lung regions where c-R/D originated. Conclusions: c-R/D is associated with the occurrence of fine crackle sounds as demonstrated by dCE analysis. Standardized computer-assisted analysis of dCE and dSC seems to be a promising method for depicting c-R/D

Characteristics of cloud-nucleating aerosols in the Indian Ocean region

During the Indian Ocean Experiment (INDOEX), cloud droplets were collected and evaporated using a counterflow virtual impactor (CVI). The nonvolatile residual particles were then analyzed by various instruments. Physical and chemical properties of the below-cloud aerosol to evaluate which aerosol particles act as cloud nuclei in different environments, and their effects on cloud microphysics. Four cases, ranging from clean Southern Hemispheric clouds to heavily polluted clouds near India, were analyzed. For the cleaner clouds, droplet concentrations were much higher fraction of the available particle concentrations than for polluted clouds, but entertainment apparently acted to reduce droplet number concentrations in both regimes. For clean clouds the median critical supersaturation and size of the ambient particles and droplets residual particles were similar. In polluted clouds there were stringer differences between ambient and droplet residual distributions, and particles with lower critical supersaturations were favored as nuclei. Simple model calculations were used to show that polluted clouds are expected to achieve lower water supersaturations than clean clouds; thus only particles with relatively low critical supersaturations are likely to affect clouds in polluted regions. Soluble fractions for the ambient aerosol inferred from the size and cloud in polluted regions. Soluble fractions for the ambient aerosol inferred from the size and cloud condensation nuclei measurements were in general agreement with another study in the region. Droplet residual particles did not necessarily have higher soluble fractions than the ambient aerosol, but did tend to have higher total amounts of soluble per particle, particularly in the polluted cases