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John Adams

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My curiousity in John Adams first piqued by repeatedly in my youth watching the musical "1776" (of which Adams is the main character), I looked forward anxiously to McCullough's latest take on America's 2nd President. It didn't hurt that McCullough's bio "Truman" is still perhaps my favorite political biography of them all. With all these high expectations, I was waiting for my hopes to be dashed. But, nothing could be further from the truth.

"Adams" is a terrific piece of work. Relying on a treasure trove of letters and correspondence written by Adams and his tremendous wife Abigail (both of whom were compulsive/obsessive writers), McCullough replays the history of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the Washington Presidency and Adams's tumultuous four years as President with vibrant storytelling and just the right amount of detail without getting weighed down.

In MuCullough's view, Adams was a brilliant, determined, forthright, nonpartisan, stubborn politician who was unabashedly American and ambitious for higher office only to the point that public service (according to Adams) was the greatest calling of all.

Anybody looking for a line by line history of America's birth, from 1776 to 1800, will probably be disappointed. McCullough skips over the details of the American Revolution and the drafting of the Constitution. He instead tracks the diplomatic journeys of Adams, who travels to England, France and Holland with Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson (both occasionally) as they try to negotiate various peace and commercial treaties.

The best surprise of the book? Abigail Adams, an amazing woman living entirely ahead of her time. Without her, McCullough obviously believes, John Adams would never have achieved his status in American history.

The only disappointments in the book? A skewed and very negative portrayal of Alexander Hamilton, and a less-than-complete discussion of why two of Adams's sons, Thomas and Charles, came to financial and physical ruin, while another, John Quincy, became our 6th President.

Though not quite as entrancing and new as "Truman," "John Adams" has its own charm. It's an amazing journey with America's inception, and a reminder of the greatness of all of our Founding Fathers, perhaps the most misunderstood of all being the delightfully stubborn and pigheaded Mr. Adams.

"In the cold...New England winter, two men on horseback traveled the coast road below Boston, heading north. The temperature, according to records kept by Adams' former professor of science at Harvard, John Winthrop, was in the low twenties."

One can almost hear the amiable yet dramatic tones of historian David McCullough, punctuated by paintings of New England blizzards and the sound of hoofbeats. (McCullough is a frequent narrator of documentaries, notably those of Ken Burns.) McCullough's familiar cadence resounds through this extremely well written best-seller. The details never slow the reading or obscure the portrait; instead, source materials (much of it from the Adams' personal letters) illuminate and concretize his subject. McCullough writes clearly, forcefully, and with an ear for detail, humor, and anecdote.

Overall this is a flattering portrait of Adams' longtime service as lawyer, revolutionary, writer and philosopher, diplomat, politician, and farmer. The book could well have been subtitled: "An Appreciation," both because Adams demonstrates so much to admire (including integrity, erudition, patriotism, work ethic, and courage) and because McCullough either doesn't criticize Adams or couches his disapproval by leaving some issues open.

Some readers may suspect a positive bias. Criticized and embattled by Jefferson, Madison, and Hamilton--and by the libelous hyperbole of opposition newspapers and rivals--Adams takes on an almost martyr-like persona. To test McCullough's balance, one must read other books on both the Founders and the political culture of the times. Joseph Ellis' "Brothers of the Revolution," for example, is a more analytic, speculative, and impersonal book than "John Adams," and Ellis does not temporize on such issues as Jefferson's affair with Sally Hemmings. (McCullough: "for all the rumors . . . relatively little would ever be known." Ellis: "which was only confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt by DNA studies done in 1998 . . . "). Ellis engages in comparatively more "psychobiography" ("[Adams had] a congenital inability to separate his thoughts from his feelings about them"); McCullough resists theory, and relies more on the literal evidence of his source materials. Also, because it is a biography, we miss some history: Since Adams was an ambassador in Europe during the war, securing French naval assistance and Dutch money, there is little mention of the country's trials military victories in the latter years of the war. Hamilton's role in stabilizing the country through the Federalist papers and establishment of a central bank receive little attention.

There is little question that Adams was, for the most part, the right man for the times, largely steering clear of both Republican and Federalist extremes. McCullough demonstrates that Adams was largely underappreciated by his contemporaries. More than Jefferson, Adams seems the man of the people, as well as the more flexible: Adams was an idealist when the times called for it; a pragmatist when they did not.

McCullough includes some fascinating insights into Adams' personal life, especially his love, partnership, and correspondence with Abigail Adams and their son, John Quincy Adams. One comes away liking Adams, despite certain tempermental qualities implied by McCullough. The book documents just how well (and how often) Adams served his country, no matter what the inconvenience to himself or his family. Overall, the appreciation is well deserved. Readers will likely use this fine biography as a springboard to further investigations, such as Ellis' book. "John Adams" has 654 pages of text; additionally, there are black and white as well as color plates, extensive source notes, and a thorough index. Highly recommended.

Although it is not his best book, McCullough largely (not to say "hugely," a sloppy modifier for which he has a repetitive weakness) delivers on the high expectations for his thick biography of the Braintree Sage. His research is good and he has skillfully employed the two best aspects of John Adams' life in his account: Adams' own voluminous, revealing writings and his marriage to the irresistible Abigail. His accounts of Adams' finest hours--the creation of the Declaration of Independence and his refusal to declare war against France in 1798--are dramatically structured and emotionally moving. The only real quibble with his treatment of the long-underappreciated Adams is that, like Catherine Drinker Bowen two generations ago (check out her bodice-heaving account of John & Abby's courtship in "John Adams & the American Revolution")McCullough seems to have yielded to the impulse to soften the edges of the oft-curmudgeonly Adams. It wasn't just his principled character that left his life littered with political enemies, and McCullough downplays his hero's rough edges in his quest to make John Adams another Trumanesque Man Of The People. It's a stirring read, though, and may lead lucky readers back to Adams' own writings, most especially the Autobiography, Diary and his correspondence with Thomas Jefferson.

Its a given that whenever you see David McCullough's name on a book cover that the scholarship will be awesome and the writing will be brisk and entertaining. John Adams is exceptional in that McCullough has managed to outdo even his works on Harry Truman and Theodore Roosevelt, which takes some doing, believe me. The typical view of John Adams is that he was a dull, humorless failure of a President sandwiched between the two great success stories of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. McCullough shows us Adams the wit, Adams the innovator, and Adamsthe truly good man. Furthermore, McCullough also lets us see the entire Adams family, especially Abigail, John's soul mate in every possible way; and his son John Quincy, a worthy heir to his giant of a father. As Revolutionary leader, Adams was one of the first to be determined that the colonies should be free from Britain and one of the strongest representatives the country had in France, Holland, and England. As President, Adams had the thankless job of balancing between the pro-British High Federalists and the pro-French Republicans so as to keep the USout of a war which he knew we could not afford. Neither vain nor charismatic, Adams met the all too common fate of those who merely do a good job without hogging the limelight: he was jeered, ignored, and pushed to one side while he still had many more years he could have served. Another fascinating aspect of Adams' life which McCullough covers brilliantly is his long friendship with Thomas Jefferson. The two men were quite different in style and manner, but were close friends for many years until political differences divided them. I was very happy to read McCullough's account of how the friendship was restored after both men were in retirement, and to know that they kept in contact with each other almost up to the day they both died, July 4, 1826.

Father & left at that. Such an unfortunate phrase. He was so much more & may finally getting his due. I wouldn't have believed David McCullough could top his Truman. But he did. The book doesn't strictly follow history. Very little on the American Revolution in America. But that's ok because Adams spent most of that time in Europe. Perhaps it was his most important time. Certainly more than his vice presidency because he had to shut up. As president his single term was in many respects a failure. How could anyone follow Washington. Nobody could & he knew it & Jefferson knew it also. He had the benefit of four years buffer that Adams provided. One of the two most important things he is responsible for is avoiding a war with France thereby foiling Hamilton's plan for empire in the southwest. The other good thing was the creation of the U.S. Navy. He had many enemies real & imagined. Maybe because he always told the truth & was very self-righteous about it. His most important advisor, the one who would never desert him or stop loving him was of course Abigail. McCullough dwells on her at some length as he traces the progress of Adams life & their many years of separation.
We know all this & more because they wrote it all down & saved their letters to each other & others in & outside of the family.
Adams kept a 50 years diary. Perhaps with an eye on history that would vindicate him. This is an epic work.

This book is an outstanding success on so many levels. The writing is most lyrical and beautiful...there is not one wasted word in the whole book. It's a book that is difficult to put down for the night.

Perhaps the greatest success of the book is the correction of many John Adams stereotypes. In this book you meet a John Adams who is a delightful wit, a man deeply in love with his nation, and more-so with his wife. Mr. McCullough also gives Abigail Adams her due as a most delightful person and one of the most important women in our history. The love the couple shared is as deep a love as humans are possible of giving and receiving, and that love is radiated to you from the pages of this book.

A warrning to Jefferson fanatics...during his research, I think McCullough, perhaps more than anybody else, gained a true understanding of Thomas Jefferson and has done the nearly impossible...portraying Jefferson as a human being. As a human being, Jefferson loses some of his shine. As a human being, john Adams shines even brighter.

Mr. McCullough has done with John Adams what he did with Harry Truman a few years ago...he has restored the lustre of a truly great and underrated American. I hope that preparing this book gave Mr. McCullough as much pleasure as I had reading it.

I wasn't overly excited about McCullough's John Adams when it first came out. I'd heard the rave reviews, but at the time I had just finished another John Adams biography by John Ferling. My appetite for Adams was sufficiently satiated. Early this year, however, I caught McCullough on CSPAN Book Notes, giving a speech about his various books, and I was enthralled. The man can tell a good story. And I mean good. The speech began somewhere around midnight and I couldn't change the channel until it finished somewhere around 3AM - I was transfixed. It was then, with weary eyes and stiffened back, I decided to give McCullough a chance.

Of course I was glad I did. There's a reason why McCullough is the latest darling of the popular history arena - he's (darn) good at what he does. I'm not talking about his research or capacity for insight - which, although both of high quality are no more impressive than any other historians I've read - but rather just the manner in which he weaves his writing. That's where the true craftsmanship shows through. McCullough is a true storyteller in every sense of the word. His writing is personal and fluid, seamlessly incorporating thousands of quotes from John and Abigail, as well as countless others, directly into his narrative. To read David McCullough is to read John Adams. No other book will ever bring the reader as close to good old John as this one.

If I had a single complaint about the book - there's always at least one - it would be that McCullough seems a bit too quick to justify (or worse, apologize) for certain unsavory aspects of John Adams' character and career. Adams was far from perfect. He was overly vain, quick to temper, and he often made very poor decisions - to wit, the Alien and Sedition Acts. In each instance, when relating an Adams snafu, McCullough acknowledges the mistake, but too often continues with "... but it makes sense if you consider..." But for many such instances, there should be no "buts". The Sedition Acts were obviously unconstitutional. Adams' temper and frequent outbursts did get him into serious trouble on several occasions, often to the detriment of his career. There are no explanations needed to erase away these flaws - Adams was human, like the rest of us, and he made his mistakes. In the end, the book would have been stronger had McCullough not only acknowledged these mistakes but used them to delineate the shortcomings in John Adams' character, instead of apologizing for them.

But hey, no one's perfect.

Get the book, you'll love it. I'm almost certainly going to pick up some other McCullough's in the coming months, even though most of the subjects he's covered interest me not at all (i.e. Truman, Panama Canal, Jonestown Flood...) Of course, the big news is that his next book will be entirely about the Revolution......

Historian David McCullough, author of several notable presidential biographies including "Mornings on Horseback" (Theodore Roosevelt) and "Truman," has breathed new life into the largely forgotten tale of an essential figure in American history. Unlike Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, and other 18th century figures, John Adams frequently has been banished to the dustbin of American history by scholars, political junkies, and a fair share of 5th grade history students who regard the New Englander as uncommonly prudish and puritan. McCullough's biography takes this myth to task by examining Adams' character in depth. The historian concludes that, while Adams had personality flaws, the motivating factor behind his New England facade was strength, integrity, and an utmost concern and love for the well being of his young country.
The prose of McCullough's biography is swift, engaging, and balances the author's penchant for detail and an overall thematic approach. Unlike "Truman," in which the narrative is swamped at the start by too many unnecessary details about the subject's early life, "John Adams" gives important details of the Massachusetts man's formative years and then moves swiftly on to the first major test of his character--the pre-declaration deliberations of the continental congress in Philadelphia. McCullough's balance between the different stages of Adams' long life is excellent, allowing the reader to see the consistency of the New Englander's integrity and character through three decades of public service, as well as two subsequent decades of private life.
While tangents about the devotion and love of Abigail and the rising political career of John Quincy fit nicely within the book's framework, there is one notable flaw in McCullough's narrative. The historian virtually glosses over Adams' role in--as well as the national implications of--the Alien and Sedition Acts, considered by many scholars to be the darkest moment in John Adams' long public service career. McCullough does spend some time examining the Alien and Sedition Acts, but given the importance of the Acts in both the life of Adams and the life of our nation, the historian's discussion is extraordinarily brief, leaving an aftertaste of near flippancy in the reader's mouth.
The author's brief discussion of the Alien and Sedition Acts aside, the narrative is compelling and the scholarship lives up to the high standards McCullough has established in the past. "John Adams" is a must-read for the history buff, political junkie, and casual reader alike.

The aspect of McCullough's biographies that I enjoy most is that McCullough seems to genuinely like the person he is writing about. John Adams is no exception in this regard. When we meet someone new, one of the first questions we ask (or are asked) is "What do you do for a living?" This is not surprising because most people base their identity off what they spend 40 or so hours a week doing. Furthermore, we base our initial opinions of others based on their jobs. When we become friends with a person, however, their career becomes secondary to (but not independant of) their personality and values. When I say that David McCullough treats John Adams as a friend, I mean that he focuses primarily on Adams' values, advice, examples of how he put his values into practice. Rather than get a lesson on the Declairation of Independence, McCullough tells the reader what John Adams role in the formation of the document was and how his values (anti-slavery sentiment for example)contribute to the result. And while Adams' career is discussed at length, the most enjoyable aspect of the book comes in the form of advice that John and his "dearest friend" and wife Abigail give to their children and to each other. In sum, McCullough gives us a well written biography about the life, career and wisdom/values of a man from New England named John Adams. I highly recommend this book; your opinion of the second president of the United States will be raised as a result and his practical advice will be appreciated.

John Adams as a subject and David McCullough as a biographer were made for one another. Adams was a prolific letter writer and essayist whose wife, family, and friends also wrote a great deal. With so much raw material from and about Adams to choose from, McCullough could emphasize his obvious talent for creating a smooth narration through simply connecting the most pertinent written materials authored by the key figures.

Most people who read this book will gain three important lessons:

(1) even the most successful people look to their personal lives for their real satisfaction;

(2) exploring deep relationships with remarkable people is far more rewarding than knowing lots of people; and

(3) serious mistakes and antagonisms will dog even the most successful person, so you have to take yourself with a large grain of salt.

John Adams is eclipsed in most histories of the Revolutionary period by the story line of building the new republic, and the lives of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. As a result, your perception of John Adams probably is limited to his role in defending the British soldiers after the Boston Massacre, encouraging the break with Britain, his ambassadorships, and the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts during his presidency. From that, you will have a perception of a man who saw his best days in 1776 and may wonder vaguely how his son became the 6th president.

If you are like me, this book will totally change that perspective. His best days were clearly those after he left the presidency when he could enjoy private life as a farmer. His son was raised from a small boy for public life, accompanying his father to France for diplomatic service during the Revolution. John Adams also had a talent for making tough decisions that showed up well in his encouragement of George Washington to become commander-in-chief, his advocacy for the Revolution, selecting Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence, his steadfastness in finding allies in Europe regardless of protocol, his steady focus on getting sea power for the United States, and his attempts to avoid war with France while president.

On the other hand, his style made him frequently misunderstood. He believed so passionately in his ideas that he often offended people by the vigor of his pursuit of them. From those extreme actions, people assumed that he had secret, extreme views in favor of authority and monarchy . . . which was probably not the case. Mr. McCullough is probably a little too gentle in forgiving Adams for his sometimes offensive ways because of the purity of his intentions.

His life also helps anyone better understand American history because he was bedeviled by communications and travels delays more than any other American of his day. Decisions about politics normally had to be made in light of limited and out-of-date information. So the man on the spot had to use his best judgment. Many interesting examples of this are well covered in the book.

In many ways, this book is almost a triple biography of Adams, his wife Abigail, and Thomas Jefferson. The interactions of the three are the most interesting parts of the book. Clearly they were among the very most talented of their age, and you get to see how the relationships formed, were put under pressure by public life and politics, and reasserted themselves with leisure and retirement.

My main complaint about the book is that Mr. McCullough could have included a lot more about the implications of what Adams believed and did. For example, although Adams was like Washington and wanted there to be no political parties, his presidency saw that unhappy event occur. How could Adams have helped maintain the consensus that there should be no parties? Clearly, he would have had to have been more active in cleansing his own Federalist supporters . . . which would have required a break with Washington's choices. Adams also kept us out of a war with France. However, would such a war have likely been very serious for the United States? France was well occupied at the time fending off every monarchy in Europe. So, although the book raises many delicious subjects like that, you will have to think them through on your own. That's a good way to learn to think independently, so this is a blessing in disguise.

Another limitation of the book is that Adams is forgiven too easily for the Federalists passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, which clearly could have destroyed our civil liberties. How could someone who had fought for liberty do anything other than oppose such legislation with every ounce of his strength?

After you finish reading this fine history, I suggest that you think about how you could learn from the example of John Adams. What did he do well that you need to do better? What virtues do you have that he lacked?

Even in the midst of crisis, be sure to notice and enjoy the wonder of life all around you!