John Adams: A Life

Rating:
Summary: John Adams was a great man and Founding Father
Review: This book is a biography of John Adam's life from his birth in 1735 until his death on July 4th 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The date of John Adams death coincided almost to the hour with the death of Thomas Jefferson, a coincidence that is itself remarkable. This and numerous other events in his life are depicted in a clear, and interesting manner. The book is organized chronologically from Mr. Adam's early childhood thru the day of his death and is organized into the following five parts: Love of Fame, An Epocha in History, Safe and Glorious in the Harbour of Peace, One Man of Inflexible Integrity and I Still Live and Enjoy Life. The book contains a Preface, an Introduction, an Afterword, an Abbreviations Section, Notes, a Selected Biography Reference and an Index.

I found this book very interesting not only for the story of John Adam's life but also the historical period that is discussed in the telling of that story. The five-page introduction paints a concise picture of Early America and what life was like for men and women of that time. John Adams was the son of Puritan farmers and as the first son of the family was chosen as the only child to be provided an education due to the family's meager resources. Rather than being kept on the farm he was sent to local schools and then to college to become a Lawyer after his graduation from Harvard College. This opportunity gave him the ability to escape the more common lifelong rigor and manual labor of farming although he did own a farm with slaves and maintained a working farm for most of his life. He became quite successful as a Boston lawyer and this opportunity and his education provided us with one of the Founding Fathers of the American Revolution. The book chronicles his life and relationship to numerous famous early Americans and other Founding Fathers including Samuel Adams, John Hancock, James Monroe, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and others.

The story of these men and how they came together in a common cause to break the chains of tyranny from the British Monarchy is told in an interesting and readable style. Mr. Ferling also notes perspectives on the Founding Fathers actions that are often lost on the reader. For instance the fact that these men, including John Adams, were either very successful or soon to be or like George Washington were very wealthy with large land holdings. And yet, they were willing to risk all that they had in a revolutionary war against the "Parent State" for the sake of liberty and freedom from British rule. These men were well aware that by forming the Continental Congress and acting as they did they would spark a Revolution and that their fate for such treasonous acts would be death at the hands of the British Monarchy should the revolution fail or falter. The book recounts the early days of the revolutionary period and how events were intertwined to become the American Revolution. John Adams played a pivotal role in the saga and sacrificed much of his person life and early marital and family time to his duties as one of the Founding Fathers. John Adams spent numerous stretches of months and even years away from his wife and family during the early years of the forming of the United States Union and the ensuing Revolutionary Years. He traveled to Europe and worked with Benjamin Franklin (whom he loathed) and later with Thomas Jefferson as ambassadors to France and peace negotiators with the British. Mr. Ferling details the daily habits and events, letters and correspondence between the various players in these grand events and helps us understand how individual personal desires and goals drove these men to their achievements and describes the sacrifices made by them during this time.

John Adams became the second President of the United States after serving for two terms as George Washington's vice-president. Thomas Jefferson was vice-president under John Adams and later succeeding him in the Presidency by defeating him in the election of 1800. John Adam's son, John Quincy Adams, was later elected President and served from 1825 to 1829. These events and numerous others are covered in the book and told in a compelling manner. I particularly enjoyed the last section of the book, which focuses more directly on John Adams, the man, and how he lived out his life after the Presidential years. John Adams throughout his life was torn by mood swings and periods of self-doubt about his abilities and later in life complained that even for all he had done, that he would be forgotten and that he was not a great man. Mr. Adams, I respectfully differ with you. You were indeed a great man and all Americans and millions of other people of the plant owe you a great debt of gratitude for what you did in your lifetime.

I find Mr. Ferling's writing style clear and very readable with the subject covered in an interesting manner and at an appropriate level of detail. The Index of the book is a nice feature and helps to easily locate people and events discussed in the book.

This book is great reading and I would recommend it for anyone interested in Presidential History, early American History and the Revolution or the Founding Fathers. It was well worth the price and my time to read it.

Rating:
Summary: The definitive work
Review: This book remains the best biography of our second president. Ferling manages to properly place Adams in the top tier of American Presidents, but at the same time recognizing his significant character flaws, including his occasional bouts of "insensibility" and his sometimes embarassing love for pomp and circumstance as when he would wear a sword at ceremonial events as President).

But the bulk of this biography charts the many roles that Adams played -- lawyer, delegate, ambassador, author, Vice-President and President -- and in each role, his decisions seemed to come down on the side of what he thought was right, no matter the personal consequences. His life was courageously lived, and he remains a titan in American history.

Rating:
Summary: The definitive work
Review: This book remains the best biography of our second president. Ferling manages to properly place Adams in the top tier of American Presidents, but at the same time recognizing his significant character flaws, including his occasional bouts of "insensibility" and his sometimes embarassing love for pomp and circumstance as when he would wear a sword at ceremonial events as President).

But the bulk of this biography charts the many roles that Adams played -- lawyer, delegate, ambassador, author, Vice-President and President -- and in each role, his decisions seemed to come down on the side of what he thought was right, no matter the personal consequences. His life was courageously lived, and he remains a titan in American history.

Rating:
Summary: John Adams: A Life
Review: This is an excellent biography, following Adams from birth to death in one volume, and detailing both the positive and the negative aspects of the man clearly and fairly. I've been fascinated by Adams ever since seeing the movie "1776", which gives a marvellous "based on fact" dramatization of the writing and signing of the Declaration of Independence, and this book gave me a more thorough, more strictly factual look at the man. I wasn't disappointed on that score; he's just as interesting without the dramatic liberties taken by the movie.

My only quibble with this book is that the editing, at least in the edition that I have, is rather poor. There are numerous errors in grammatical structure and word choice, the kind of errors that I have become accustomed to in mass market paperbacks but refuse to accept in a scholarly historical work. Things like "he requested that the Congress name his successor be named in his place" and "...the British ... was ready" and "the New England sates" (rather than "States") and "the House of Representative" (even back then, there was more than one representative in the House) and "the dreary weather proved not be a herald of the months ahead" and many others. I understand that mistakes happen, and don't demand perfection. But there are just too many of this kind of error in this book for me to say that it is well-written; probably two dozen, if I had to guess.

Overall, this is a worthwhile biography of a fascinating president. Hopefully, future editions will clean up the writing a bit more.