Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1993. [Vol. 1.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 21)

STUDIES - András Tamóc: The Politics of a Cast-Iron Man. John C. Calhoun and His Views on Government.

austere circumstances of Waddel's academy he got acquainted with the classics. Despite his youth and relative inexperience Calhoun became a voracious reader eagerly consuming such tomes as Rollin's Ancient History, Robertson's Charles V, Voltaire's Charles XII and Locke's Treatises on Understanding

:

1

9 Waddel's combination of intellectual endeavor and physical activity followed the classic Greco-Roman ideal leading John to submerge in the beauty of Homer while fending for himself in the surrounding woods. Calhoun's paragon of a warrior-statesman, a person of exceptional intellect and physique, became unattainable for his health failed under the rigorous pace of study.

2

0 Although he furthered his education in the North, he chose one of the more conservative institutions, Yale. Calhoun's early years laid the foundation of a conventionalist mindset. What followed was simply another step in the execution of a master plan. Having taken Timothy Dwight's class on ethics he eagerly accepted the university president's traditionalist view of God and man's place in society. Furthermore John seemed to have made a definite career choice demonstrated by the title of his commencement address: "The qualifications necessary to constitute a perfect statesman".

2

1 He left Yale with reinforced conservative convictions and a burning desire to become a politician. He fulfilled the last requirement, possession of a law degree, by attending law schools both in the North and the South. Calhoun the politician was undoubtedly the product of his childhood and student years. He was influenced by the institutions he attended and by his classmates and his professors. According to Harris, secondary factors also play a significant role in the formation of one's political opinion. Group identity, social setting, class status, occupation, age, gender, race and religion belong to this category.

2

2 1

9 Merill D. Peterson, The Great Triumvirate (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), p. 20. 2

0 Ibid., p. 21. 2

1 Ibid., p. 22. 2

2 Fred R. Harris, America's Democracy (Glenview: Scott-Foresman Co., 1986), p. 183. 97