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25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not History's Favorite., December 21, 2003
This is one of the few, possibly the only, early American President I am aware of who is consistently treated poorly by historians. It is almost like there is some unspoken conspiracy to paint the man as some kind of slacker. The closest we can come to this kind of consensual disapproval is how the American press treated Gerald Ford's athleticism. In Ford's case, this former center for the University of Michigan football team, an excellent recreational skier and a man who consistently shot golf in the low 70's was treated as an uncoordinated clod, who could not put one foot in front of another. Something similar is going on with the depiction of JQA. Independent of his parents in Europe for 6 years, much of that time by his own choice, his biographers treat him as a mama's boy. That's right, the same man who undertook his first diplomatic mission for the United States at age 14! And it goes down hill from there. Incredible successes as Secretary of State under James Monroe are glossed over, a Presidential vision for America that was the equal of Washington, Adams (his father), Jefferson, Madison and Monroe's combined, formulator of the Monroe Doctrine, extender of the Continental limits of the United States from sea to sea, ardent abolitionist who fought the Gag Rule in the House of Representatives for 9 years (that's right, he defends our most fundamental of freedoms, freedom of speech, and during a 9 year Congressional battle, defeats those who would have suppressed this freedom within our own Congress), founder of the Smithsonian, the list of this man's unbelievable accomplishments goes on and on. Professor Remini should be embarrassed for this mediocre effort. Was JQA stiff, prickly and unyielding? Of course he was. Was he obstinate, arrogant and difficult? Again JQA is guilty. But after his outstanding works on Jackson, Webster, and Clay for Professor Remini to simply repeat Nagel's poor work and not take the time and opportunity to fairly and accurately report on this man's life accomplishments has got to be some form of academic bankruptcy. This book is only 155 pages long. And those pages are small. That should tell you something. Save your money.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not the best president, but important., June 11, 2005
John Quincy Adams was one of the smartest and most educated men to serve as president. With all that intelligence, he really stunk up the White House. Remini points out how absolutely blind and deaf JQA was to politics. He would not campaign in even minor ways or do anything to help his chances for political success. Perhaps we could use more of that in today's world, but at the same time, politics is politics. If one truly believes in the importance of long term planning and success, he or she must be willing to make some short term sacrifices. With all that said, JQA's secretary of state years under President Monroe were incredibly successful. JQA practically created the Monroe Doctrine and made the case that sometimes preemptive action is necessary. Samuel Flagg Bemis is apparently the expert historian on JQA's State Department years, and Remini relies on his work for that chapter. John Lewis Gaddis also made use of John Quincy Adams's leadership of the State Department in a comparative look at grand strategies, along with FDR and GWB.
The book is interesting, short, and well-written. Little more can be asked for.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good short biography, April 28, 2003
John Quincy Adams was the first son of a President to become President himself. Although his family connections didn't hurt, they also weren't overly helpful; his break from his father's Federalist connections means that JQA had to attain the nation's highest office based primarily on his own resume, not his father's. Ironically, Adam's tenure as President was in some ways, the low point in his career of public service. Prior to then, he was one of the best foreign relations people in American history, one of the primary authors of the Treaty of Ghent and the Monroe Doctrine. In his post-Presidential life, he was a prominent Congressman noted for his anti-slavery work (including his winning defense in the Amistad case) and his part in founding the Smithsonian Institute. As a President, however, he was at best mediocre and ineffective, his four years marred from the start by his controversial election and his unwise appointment of Henry Clay as Secretary of State (for Clay, it was equally unwise to have accepted the position). Having read Remini's three volume biography of Jackson, it was interesting to read his depiction of one of Jackson's principal political enemies. Remini does a good job, but this is not as strong an effort as his other biographical works. The brevity of the book (which I believe was imposed by the American Presidents Series editors) makes this book more of an overview than a full biography. Remini does cover most of the major points, however, and does deal with Adams's personal life as well. As stated before, John Quincy Adams was not a very significant President, but he is an important part of early U.S. history. This book is a good introduction to the man often recognized as the best Secretary of State ever. For a more detailed biography, however, Paul Nagel's recent work is a worthwhile read.
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