Well written and thoroughly researched biography, The life of John Adams 2nd President of the United States is well worth the read. As with other exceptional biographers McCullough incorporates into the work, Adams relationship with other important people of the day especially the founding fathers. The author takes the reader on a journey back in time, and the book is filled with historical information. I found that Abigail Adams played a extremely important role in the life of this man and many of their letters have survived and added greatly to understanding the mindset of the people living in this time period. Highly recommend this biography.

It took me a long time to finish, but that’s only because I have bad reading habits. This was an enlightening book that presents a truly impressive combination of enjoyable reading and useful learning. John Adams often seems misunderstood and undervalued in history, or at least whenever I have encountered him, but this book ensures that he will remain understood and appreciated by all who read it. But the beauty of “John Adam’s” is not just what you learn about him, but what you learn of the people and experiences that surrounded him. Learning about Abigail Adams and the relationship between John and Abigail was a real treat. Otherwise, the Goodreads description describes it all, so I won’t bother recounting it here. I will just say that this is a worthwhile read for anyone who is interested in US history. It is hard to imagine a better biography.

MESSAGE TO BIOGRAPHERS: Tidy up your prose, sharpen your story-telling, knowledge up on your source material and bring your entire bag of game, because the gauntlet has been chucked, the bar has been raised and David McCullough has taken off his literary glove and pasted all of you upside your second rate heads. The challenge is before you.

This is, WITHOUT QUESTION, the best biography I have ever read. It is also, again WITHOUT QUESTION, the best story on the American Revolution and the creation of the United States of America that I have ever read.

The breadth, depth and detail of this biography is unbelievable. Epic does not begin in describe it. It is epic epicness on an epically epic scale. This is only appropriate given the subject matter.

After finishing this book, I believe the John Adams is the "founding father" I most admire. By making that statement, I do not want to downgrade the importance of the others. Jefferson was arguably more intelligent and was clearly the better writer. Washington was the most beloved and admired figure and without his leadership, the fledgling country would not have had a much needed symbol to rally around and the revolution may very well have failed. Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Paine, James Madison, Samuel Adams, John Jay and all the rest deserve to be acknowledged for their significant contributions.

So why John Adams? Two simple but very important reasons. First, John Adams, through the beautiful prose of McCullough, came across to me as the quintessential HONORABLE MAN. True, he was short tempered and intellectually vain in so far as he very much desired to be acknowledged as "great" by his countrymen. He was a man with many faults.

However, he NEVER allowed any of his shortcomings or personal desires to influence any decision he made or any action he took. He was a ROCK OF INTEGRITY and every action he took and decision he made (though not always correct in hindsight) was what he genuinely BELIEVED to be in the best interest of the country. Thus, he came across in this story as the person who most aptly illustrated the qualities of INTEGRITY, VIRTUE AND MORAL FORTITUDE.

In contrast, Jefferson's "behind the scenes" attacks on Adams and his inability to even acknowledge the same later on struck me as shallow and less than admirable. I point that out not to bash Jefferson (who I also admire) but to demonstrate that even the best of men had moments when they did not act in accordance with their conscience. Everyone that is, except John Adams, who never seemed to waiver from the path his conscience set before him.

The second reason, and one that goes hand in hand with the first, is the absolute devotion, respect and love that he and his wife, Abigail, displayed for one another throughout their lives. Call me sappy and overly sentimental, but I was absolutely awe struck by the level of commitment and affection that they felt and showed to one another even across great distances and during long years when they hardly even saw each other. John and Abigail drew strength and comfort from one another in a way that was special and unique.

This just cemented for me the truly exceptional nature of John Adams' character. He made me proud to be an American and to have such men in my country's history. Anyway, to sum up, I loved this book and give it my HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!! 6.0 Stars.

One final note: for those of you that listen to audiobooks, I wanted to point out that I listened to the unabridged version (all 30+ hours of it) narrated by Nelson Runger and Mr. Runger did an amazing job that I believe added both to my enjoyment and absorption of the material.

2022-08-09 I just learned the author died last Sunday, 2022-08-07 at 89 years old. RIP The obituary in the Wall St. Journal by Danny Heitman was very good.

3 Jan. 2018 - I listened to this book not long after it came out (2002 or 3?) and really liked it. McCullough narrated the book himself and was very good. Only faults I remember with the book was that the author was far too forgiving of Adams for his:
- foolish/pernicious position on the Alien and Sedition laws,
- allowing/helping the government to expand more than necessary
- foolish promotion of grandiloquent language for addressing the President and promoting the power of the government in general.

Adams was an amazing man. He had an incredible wife and one of his sons, John Quincy Adams, was pretty darn amazing himself.

He was crucial for the American revolution's success and founding of the US.

He was a highly civilizing force in American society and acted honorably, vigorously and effectively in the colonies, in the new republic and in his international capacities too.

The original HBO mini-series did a great job in adapting the book to that medium too. Very dramatic, very powerful. I have not yet seen the further (expanded) TV series yet.

Quite recommended.

"The longer I live, the more I read, the more patiently I think, and the more anxiously I inquire, the less I seem to know....Do justly. Love mercy. Walk humbly. This is enough..."

McCullough's splendid biography is written so beautifully that the pages fly by. I polished off this book in less than a week, then turned right back to the beginning and started reading it again, this time taking notes and studying the life and writings of this thoroughly admirable man.

Even in an age of heroes, John Adams was extraordinary: for his wisdom, his courage, his virtue, his refusal to take the easy path when his conscience and insight pointed to a harder way.

I found the final two chapters on his life as Farmer John of Stoneyfield particularly moving. "Something I must do, or ennui will rain upon me in buckets." Gradually, he found his way to contentment: Abigail wrote to Thomas "Your father...appears to enjoy tranquility and a freedom of care which he had never before experienced. His books and farm occupy his attention."

Adams was remarkably free from rancor and bitterness. When scandalous tales of Jefferson's liaison with his slave, Sally Hemings surfaced, Adams was largely silent. He and Abigail "put the issue squarely where it belonged saying...that all such stories of slave masters and their slave women were metaphors for the overriding sin of slavery itself." But sadly, it would take over eleven years for the breach between the former friends to be healed.

In 1805, after four years at Quincy, Adams began to reach out to others and started a "vivid correspondence" with his old friend Benjamin Rush that was "to occupy much of their time and bring each continuing enjoyment." Finally, on New Year's Day 1812, Adams took up his pen to write a short letter to Jefferson, breaking a decade of silence.

His many letters to Rush, Jefferson and others filled his days, but he also walked about four miles every day when weather permitted and he and Abigail managed the farms and kept their home always open to their children and grandchildren. "Griefs upon griefs! Disappointments upon disappointments. What then? This is a gay, merry world notwithstanding."

I love this book, the author, and the subjects John Adams and his wife Abigail. It might have benefited from a little editing for greater brevity but otherwise a perfect book. My favorite parts were all the beautiful quotes about morality from Adam's personal journals.

John Adams is an extraordinary book, and an excellent political history of the beginning of the United States. This is the first book I've read by  David McCullough, and I'm impressed at his ability to be respectful but blunt, and be serious but entertaining at the same time.

John Adams was an unusual man -- though he had the ambition and vanity characteristic of all politicians, he was a remarkably uncomplicated and generally happy family man. The impression one gets from this book is much like a hobbit -- a sincere, courageous fat little man, who was thrown into circumstances far beyond his expectations and rose to each occasion with incredible tenacity, determination, and eventual success, but who vastly preferred being at home on his farm, mending walls, resting with his wife, and playing with his children and grandchildren.

Adams was one of the most influential figures in the American Revolution, taking roles in the Continental Congress, choosing Washington as General of the Revolutionary Army, writing the constitution of Massachusetts, largely forming and approving the text of the US Constitution and Declaration of Independence, acting as ambassador to England, France, and the Netherlands, being elected Vice President, and eventually becoming the second US President, and father of the sixth. McCullough examines his life through his copious letters, articles, and books, with attention to both his external accomplishments, and his personal life. His joy and enthusiasm in life are impressive to read about -- over his lifetime, he lost a child in infancy, two of his sons grew up to be alcoholics, his only surviving daughter died of cancer in her 40s, he lost several grandchildren in infancy, and eventually lost his beloved wife. Despite this, and despite the public scorn heaped on him for every decision he made as President (yes, they did that back then, too), he managed to build a satisfying life for himself, and take joy in what he did have.

One of the most striking aspects of the book for me was how early partisan politics grew venomous and nasty. The country was already split irreconcilably into two parties by Washington's second term, and the race for president after him (between close friends Adams and Jefferson) grew so vicious that the friendship between the men was lost for 11 years. And while modern readers will side with Adams against slavery, and Jefferson against the Alien and Sedition acts, the degree of hatred and hysteria on each side was truly amazing, though Adams managed to stay above it as much as possible. Modern politics are always very different when viewed in the light of history.

This is an excellent historical and personal read, and I recommend it to anyone.

two things that i got from the book:

1. John Adams and Abigail really loved each other a lot. By the way, have I told you again, dear reader, that John Adams and Abigail really loved each other a lot? Well, not to worry, I'm David McCullough and I will tell you about 547 additional times before the book ends.

2. David McCullough as a chub-on for his subject. That's BAD history.

A masterpiece.

Is it possible to miss the company of a person who has been dead for centuries at the end of a biography? That’s the power of McCullough’s writing. He takes the ink and paper of years long since past and breathes life into the people and personalities that have shaped our nation’s history.

And really, at its core, this was a love story. The true partnership between John and Abigail Adams is enviable now and almost unimaginable in the 18th century. What a gift to have the letters of two people who deeply loved and respected each other survive the test of time and allow us to learn about them and learn from them.

If you’ve got a lot of time on your hands, don’t mind getting lost in the details of adventures across Europe, the White House, and a farm in Massachusetts, and want to read a biography that is so compelling it feels like fiction: read this.

It took me a year (ok, and then some) to read and every moment has been joy. I’m sad this journey is over!

McCullough has us believe, for 466 pages, that Adams is generally disliked among the political set of his time and that there is no way he could be elected President: he is anti-slavery, deeply spiritual, a fine family man who loved first his wife, then his children, then farming, and he was always dedicated to doing the right thing (he even defended the British at one point and won the trial: it was the right thing, but not the popular thing to do). But suddenly, on page 467, in what feels like a plot twist, John Adams is inaugurated as America's 2nd President! Then, within a few pages, he is being trashed and slandered again. What does he do? He shuts down the slanderous publication and jails the publisher and a few writers in what feels like a violation of the 1st Amendment. (This would be like Obama shutting down Fox News after having enough of those ridiculous "birther" stories.) This book feels, and is, massive but stupendously readable. And McCullough doesn't err in the way of some historical writers and include all of his research notes: he sticks to the good stuff and delivers a page-turner. What I don't know about my own country's Founding Fathers is shameful: it's time to read more about these remarkable people. As the author says on the back cover, "With change accelerating all around, more and more we need understanding an appreciation of those principles upon which the republic was founded...What was the source of their courage...Who were those people...I don't think we can ever know enough about them." No, but we can make an effort to better understand them!

I finished it! This book took me a while to read, but it's well worth it! McCullough gives such a personal view into who John and Abigail, actually the whole Adams family, really were. And they were truly wonderful, honest, patriots, full of integrity, and not afraid of hard work for their country. John and his wife Abagail wrote over a thousand letters to each other and these and countless more to other family and friends, including Jefferson who became a friend while they were both working in France during the revolutionary war. The friendship between the Adams and Jefferson is remarkably documented. Jefferson was much more reserved and his character may not have been as pure as history remembers him....although I have always wondered how a slave owner could really have written ..all men are created equal. He didnt really believe that, and appears to have been a misogynist as well. While John and Abigail had some very prophetic views of what slavery was going to eventually do to the nation. The relationship between John and Abagail was so close. They were truly best friends in love. We are lucky this family saved all their letters, and wrote so candidly! because it gives us an insightfull and accurate look into the people of the time.

I recommend this book to anyone whos interested in what the founding fathers were really like, or the events of the revolution.

What an accomplishment to have listened to this 30 hour book! It could easily have ended up being one of those books that I "always meant to get to".

At the beginning I got kind of discouraged and thought "Why am I reading another book about the white guys - by another white guy? I read an interview with David McCullough and the interviewer asked him if there was a story he had wanted to write but it just didn't happen? He responded that yes, he wanted to write about Martha Jefferson or George Washingtons wife, but their correspondences didn't survive. Burnt by either themselves or their husbands, for whatever reason. So, McCullough wrote from the "Gold Mine" of the Adams papers.
Interesting; the erasure of history... Who gets control of the story... Whose stories survive...

Anyway. John and Abigail's love story was so amazing. They were affectionate and absolutely in love with each other their whole lives. They seemed to have a great capacity for being united whether they were with each other or not. (John was gone for months and years at a time sometimes). Abigail was strong and good and smart and independent. Widely considered to be one of the most exceptional women of her generation. They were perfectly matched.

I loved the parts about the other great historical figures; Washington, Hamilton and Jefferson etc. They certainly weren't perfect, but they are interesting!! It would be cool if somebody wrote some songs about them.