Most are very surprised by what they learn, explains Heather Iannucci, director of the John Jay Homestead in this Hudson River town, where the July Fourth celebration will include a reading of the Declaration of Independence, music and tours of the stately, shingled house where the country's first chief justice lived his final years. For his accomplishments heading a network of informants during the revolution, actions that helped inspire James Fenimore Cooper's novel "The Spy," the CIA's website calls Jay "the first national-level American counterintelligence chief." Alexander Hamilton turned to Jay first when conceiving the Federalist Papers, and George Washington thought so much of him that when he was forming his original Cabinet, he offered the first position — any position — to Jay, who chose the Supreme Court. Founding Father received praise from Chernow and Isaacson among others, but he struggled to find a publisher and ended up with the London-based Hambledon Continuum. In his Pulitzer-winning "Founding Brothers," a million-seller published in 2000, Ellis does not include Jay among the eight "most prominent political leaders in the early republic," an omission Stahr points out in his biography. Historian Gordon Wood pointed out that when Jay was New York's governor, he refused to endorse Hamilton's scheme in 1800 to manipulate the state's electoral laws during a close presidential campaign and deny the White House to Jefferson, their political rival. In Stacy Schiff's biography of Franklin in Paris, "The Great Improvisation," she noted that Jay never tried to compete with or undermine Franklin while both were diplomats abroad and was willing to endure financial and physical hardship on behalf of independence. "When Lynne Cheney decided she was going to tackle James Madison, she had a tremendous amount of stuff to work with," says Stahr, referring to Cheney's Madison biography that came out in 2014. The letters between Jay and his wife, Sarah Livingston Jay, rank closely with the correspondence of John and Abigail Adams, Ellis says, likening the Jays to the acknowledged first couple among the founders. Jay, already suspected as pro-British by the rival Republican Party, was burned in effigy in several cities. Devastated at first but sustained by his religion, Jay looked after his farm, advocated for education for blacks and became president of the American Bible Society. [...] he's more worried about America than he is about John Jay.
Who's John Jay? Scholars Urge New Look At Forgotten Founder
By HILLEL ITALIE, AP National Writer, San Francisco Chronicle
Fri, 07/03/2015 - 10:10am
Topics: the spy, founding brothers, the great improvisation, heather iannucci john jay homestead hudson river july fourth declaration independence james fenimore cooper cia alexander hamilton federalist papers george washington cabinet supreme court founding father chernow isaacson london-based hambledon continuum pulitzer-winning founding brothers historian gordon wood new york hamilton white house jefferson in stacy schiff paris franklin when lynne cheney james madison cheney's madison sarah livingston jay abigail adams jays republican party devastated american bible society john jay jay jay john john jay american ellis stahr america founder biography rival political chief position
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