Really good. I learned a lot, but it's not as interesting as some of the other history I've read lately (Rubicon). Did however lead me to buy a Franklin book and a French Revolution book, based on the number of references.

As I start on my goal of reading a biography on each U.S. president, I’ve decided to write lengthier reviews on each of the books. They will be reviews on the books as well as the men they are written about. They are more for my own records to look back on each of the biographies.

The early chapters of the book, spanning the years of Adam’s life leading up to the war primarily discuss his work to grow his law practice, not stopping much to discuss Adams’ family life. Although Adams himself often seemed to ignore his family, leaving Abigail and the kids while he was off with work. So what Ferling emphasizes in this section seems to reflect what Adams emphasized himself during this stage of life. Ferling writes at length about the political scene of Boston in the several years prior to the war, placing Adams in the story where he fits. This section actually flows very well and is easy to read. It gives a good overview of the British Government’s rule of the colonies and primarily Boston’s response to the legislation. I found that these parts did not drag and were quite educational.

For many of the war years, John was away in Europe, acting as a diplomat to France, Holland, and Great Britain. Ferling provides a good overview of the political negotiations between the young nation of the United States and the Central European powers, with Adams at the center. The main thing that stood out during this section of the book was his seperation from Abigail and the pain it caused her. This, along with his growing self ambition and pride, soured my opinion of Adams as a man. He did seem to change in this aspect though once Abigail came out to be with him in Europe and spent the rest of his years more devoted to her and his family. However, I can’t help but wonder whether his two younger sons would have lived much different lives had their father been much more involved with them.

The book does not devote many pages to discussing Adams, the Vice President. He famously complained of the pointlessness of the position and spent most of his time back in Massachusetts so again, Ferling seems to emphasize the parts of Adams’ life that he himself emphasized.

His 4 years as President were dominated by the quasi war with France and Ferling describes the events very well. I personally think that this is a part of history that is under appreciated and Adams is often not recognized enough for keeping America from going to war with France. Ferling recognizes this too and dedicates a few pages to appreciating Adams in this regard. Overall I think Adams’ tenure as President were successful, primarily for his ability to stay somewhat centered among the political factions forming at the time. He had big shoes to fill, following Washington but I believe he did a respectable job in his own right.

Overall, this biography gives a good overview of Adams’ life, hitting on the high points and not covering up the low points. I would’ve liked if Ferling included more quotes from Adams as he was known to be fiery and passionate, and this was somewhat missing from the book. Biographies of other figures from the era often include these quotes because of the outlandish comments he made about other people, none more so than Hamilton, and I would’ve liked more of these included. But all in all, I really enjoyed this biography.

This is a wonderful account of the life of John Adams. Before reading this book, I had a rather dim view of our second President, and I was unaware of the influence he had during the early years of the country. John Ferling does an excellent job of uncovering the inner thoughts of Adams, and Ferling demonstrates the important role Adams played in the events of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. If you're looking for a biography of Adams, this is a solid choice.

This is the best Adams biography I've read, significantly better than the David McCullough book, and very readable for an academic work.

Ferling's biography is fascinating and wonderfully written. I think he paints a more complete picture than David McCullough of both Adam's personality and his relationships with family, friends and associates.


After I finished McCullough's book I remember being particularly impressed with the level of Adam's education, the decades-long pivotal role he played in the founding of our country and the rich written record he left behind. As I read Ferling's biography I was interested in the similarities and differences between his times and ours. He lived with Abigail continuously for only four years of their marriage until after he retired from the presidency. He was a largely absentee husband and father. Over the years, Abigail became increasingly independent and grew to appreciate her autonomy. Interestingly, Adams did no campaigning. This was common in those days but he also felt it was beneath his dignity. Despite this fact that he did not actively campaign, mudslinging and negative campaigning were widespread back then. Although he made many good decisions, Adams was also party to some very regrettable legislation. The Alien and Sedition Act, passed during his presidency, looked very much like G.W. Bush's Patriot Act. Even in the late 1700's politicians used patriotism and military spending to retain power. And some businessmen-turned-politicians (not Adams) used lucrative military contracts to selfishly enrich themselves (Dick Cheney/Haliburton). In spite of his shortcomings and mistakes Adams was a "near-great president," perhaps because he had great integrity. I'm so hoping that Obama's presidency will resemble Adams' in this very important way.

A wonderfully engaging and readable biography that paints a vivid picture of Adams.

As others have pointed out, go to https://bestpresidentialbios.com for a full review of this book as well as many other presidential biographies.

Adams—like Hamilton and in contrast to Washington and Jefferson, who were more guarded both in deed and word—reminds us that our founding fathers were not the demigods they are sometimes made out to be, but simply men, albeit great men, thrust into a turning point in history. Like all men, they could be petty and they could be cruel.

Ferling’s academic background shows in a way I find quite wonderful. When he comes to some particular facet of the many-faceted man under his microscope, the interpretation of which is in contention between vying historians, Ferling gives quick summaries of the position of each. One of the joys of post-grade school study of history, for me, was the discovery that history was not immutable, that it was something for continuous discovery and debate. Ferling recognizes and validates this. Unfortunately, he abandons this technique before he gets to Adams’s presidency.

Plenty of attention is shown to Adams’s role as a young lawyer in a series of events that helped lead to the American Revolution. The experience of one of Adams peers shows how easily Adams might have gone another way. Jonathan Sewell came from an almost identical background, but each was led in a different directions by their respective legal mentors.

Adams served as a leader in the Continental Congress, including as almost a de facto Secretary of War, and served most of the interval between the Declaration of Independence and the framing of the Constitution as a diplomat in Europe.

Ferling does not examine the relationship Adams had with in depth, but he provides sufficient information for the reader to come to some conclusions of their own. Adams’s dedication and ambition kept him away from his family for extended periods of time, but he also went curiously long intervals without writing many members of his family. His relationship with Abigail was particularly complex and evolved over time; Ferling fittingly gives it greater attention.

Adams had strange thoughts on monarchy. Like many Federalists, his experiences during the Revolution and immediately after tempered his radicalism (such as it ever was). Ferling sees Adams as holding, during Washington’s presidency, an ideal middle ground between conservatives biased toward the rich such as Hamilton and populists biased toward the poor such as Jefferson. But Ferling’s comments on Hamilton’s financial plan seem to suggest a poor understanding of the underlying economics (the incredible importance of Hamilton’s insistence that the federal government honor the bonds purchased from veterans by speculators is disregarded).

But then Ferling obviously subscribes to the exceedingly negative opinion of Hamilton. He loses a proper biographical detachment in the section on the Adams presidency, especially whenever he talks about Hamilton. Ferling gives an unfair impression of the man by stating very strongly all the negative things so many thought about Hamilton, and stating very weakly the lack of evidence for it and without mention of evidence those rumors were planted by Hamilton’s enemies. Ferling sees Hamilton as the sort of chess master often seen in fiction but rarely in reality. He goes so far as to believe “devious machinations by treacherous men” only driven by “electioneering” purposes almost led to war with France. Despite long since establishing Adams’s unreliability, Ferling recounts conversations between Adams and Hamilton as told by Adams without giving a reader not conscientious enough to check the footnote any reason to believe there may be reason for doubt.

Ferling is an academic by trade, but his prose is lively. He does work too hard at showing off his expansive vocabulary. I don’t believe ‘the tramontane west’ really the best way to describe the lands across the Appalachian Mountains, nor do I warranted using a half dozen or more times.

This review is of the Kindle edition. There were a handful of typos. Reading a book like this with endnotes on the Kindle has certain advantages; you can easily jump back and forth between the text and the endnote. Given Ferling’s word choice, the Kindle’s excellent dictionary is both handy and extremely convenient as well.

This book chronicles the career and life of one of America’s most under-praised founding fathers. Presenting a balanced view of Adams’ triumphs and failures, the author presents a captivating narrative of a man who believed deeply in the power and liberty of the individual, who was weary of aristocratic elites, and who sacrificed much of his personal life in pursuit of a strong, independent nation.

The atrabilious Adams is on display throughout John Ferling's admiring yet sober biography. This is the enfant terrible of the Founding Fathers, a man dedicated to his principles and rambunctious in their defense.

Ferling nicely illuminates that critical juncture in American history: that post-honeymoon period when the regal majesty of Washington began to fade and the gritty task of defining the newborn republic's character was at hand. As it should be, much of the text is devoted to careful study of Adam's political ideas. Adams is portrayed as the cautious populist, a man dedicated to putting power in the hands of a people he did not entirely trust. The contradictions of his ideas go well with the contrarian nature of the man that Ferling portrays so well.

However, those ideas lack some context. There is very little recognizable narrative to the political aspect of the story; Ferling seems more interested in Adams as a private individual than as a player in the greater drama of nation-making. To that end, Adams's relationship with his wife is addressed in considerable detail, with much valuable information.

This more personal perspective, I felt, was not well suited to Ferling. Ferling is not a storyteller but a theoretician. His critical attitude towards Adams makes the man's relationships, hopes, ambitions and ideas seem a little calculated and inhuman. This is two books in one, and one of the books had better had another author.
Still, when Ferling plays his game- the analysis of politics and politicians, civics and civil affairs- the insights are well worth bearing up under the load of the less well-executed part of the book.

“It is universally admitted that Mr. Adams is a man of incorruptible integrity, and that the resources of his mind are equal to the duties of his station.”

I mean history is right Washington was cooler than Adams. But it was interesting to see the two opposing backgrounds and motivations (and circumstances) that created and pushed these men to become President.

I didn't quite finish this one because it's quite difficult to read. Did not enjoy.