Decent book with a lack of style or deep insight.

John Adams, while not forgotten by any means, seldom comes first to mind when thinking of the Founding Fathers. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson tend to occupy the top branches of that tree, with Washington holding the highest perch. Adams is a titan in his own right though, according to John Ferling, and should be more well-known today than he is. It should be noted that this biography predates David McCullough's excellent book on Adams, which rekindled interest in him. And I am glad it does pre-date McCullough as Ferling repeatedly refers back to what previous biographers said about Adams in certain circumstances, and whether or not he agrees with their analysis.

Adams was one dour individual, and I think that might be one reason why he is not better remembered today. Instead of lofty writings about the potential for mankind, like Jefferson, Adams focused on the inherent flaws and baseness of people and how too much power in the hands of the people would be a bad thing. Adams went too far in this train of thought even in his own time, as he came close to wanting a almost a monarchy without the monarch. He also distrusted the general populace enough to only allow them limited ability to choose their own representatives. Given what has happened in the last several years here, I can't say that Adams was wholly incorrect.

Ferling reviews Adams from birth to death, devoting equal amounts of time to his professional and personal lives. He argues that Adams did not start out, unlike his cousin Samuel Adams, as a fervent patriot. Ferling believes that Adams's radicalism grew over time as Britain compounded snub after snub to the colonies. Adams then began a period where he frequently left his wife, Abigail, alone for long periods of time while he toiled first in Philadelphia, and then all over Europe. As Ferling notes on page 175: "Without realizing it, John Adams had grown to be a one-dimensional man.... He stood as the "first man" in the Congress... But his achievements had come at a high cost. By his middle years he was a man with little time for his family, a man given to incessant labor who disavowed virtually all earthly pleasures and distractions, an individual unable to function in certain social settings, a restricted human being whose goal was the solitary pursuit of self-fulfillment, a fulfillment that could only be realized through a popular recognition that John Adams was indeed a great man."

Ferling, while mostly even-handed in his treatment of Adams, generally holds a positive view of him. That does not mean that he shies away from Adams's flaws, of which there were many. He certainly documents them. But I don't think he ever went far enough in some of his criticism. A good example of this is Adams as a father. While it might be strange to say this given that John Quincy Adams ultimately became President too, Adams didn't do a very good job (that goes for Abigail too). Charles drank himself to death, leaving his wife and children to live with Adams in his later years. Thomas was an unsuccessful and unhappy man, weighed down by the pressure from his parents to amount to something big while also having an alcohol problem. Their only daughter, Nabby, had her life all screwed up by her parents as well. They shot down her first romantic interest because they thought her potential husband was feckless and would leave their daughter in straightened circumstances. So instead Abigail brings her to Europe with her, and then her and John subsequently encourage her to marry Stephen Smith, who turns out to be feckless, forever short on cash and blundering from one get-rich-quick scheme to another. She ended up staying with her parents once Adams retired.

And then there is John Quincy. While Ferling doesn't say this, both John and Abigail were scolds to him. He was weighed down with such lofty expectations that, unless he actually became President, he would view himself as a failure (and they may have thought so too). I don't want to say that Ferling doesn't touch on this, because he does. And I'm not saying he needed to dwell on it either. But I think it was a bigger issue than he made it seem.

Adams spent eight years as Vice President to Washington. During much of this time, he did not stay in the capitol of Philadelphia. He usually was only there when Congress was in session. Now, granted, he didn't have anything else to do under the Constitution. However, by removing himself from being near the seat of power, if Washington did want an opinion from him on a subject, he generally wasn't around to give it. Adams inexplicably did this while he was President as well: spend more time back home in Braintree (later Quincy) than in Philadelphia. Consequently, his administration suffered for his absent leadership as he allowed disloyal Cabinet officers to plot against him. Ferling, again, mentions this but does not really criticize Adams for not taking more of a forceful, in-person presence.

Ferling reviews Adams's relationships with some other major figures (Franklin, Washington) closely but then seems strangely uninterested in others (Samuel Adams, and even Jefferson to an extent). After losing to Jefferson in the 1800 election, Adams leaves town the morning of Jefferson's inauguration, refusing to witness the swearing-in ceremony or meeting with Jefferson at all that day. Ferling simply mentions this at the end of a chapter, but provides no commentary. How can you not comment on that? That sure seems like someone who is a sore loser and can't accept defeat with magnanimity.

Ferling finishes with a good epilogue reviewing Adams's life and career. I appreciate that he did not just end the book with Adams's death. One final note: there were numerous grammatical mistakes throughout the book. I was surprised that so many got through the editing process, and of a paperback edition no less.

Overall this is a judicious, objective review of a major figure in American history. I think McCullough made Adams out to be better than he probably was. Ferling does not go that far, but he is still positive about Adams despite usually (not always) recognizing his plethora of flaws.

Grade: B+

Great book on John Adams

Wow, I learned so much about John Adams and th he times he loved in. Long read but worth it.

This book had a big impact on me. It's my second John Ferling and I absolutely love his style and the care and respect he has for the subjects of his books.

This is the second book in my presidential biography project, and I felt much more strongly about Adams than I did about Washington, which surprised me. Adams just felt like such a more flawed and interesting character. Whereas Washington was the irreproachable military hero, Adams was more insecure, prideful, quick to anger, and less calculated. His abandonment of Abigail and the kids was puzzlingly juicy to me. I had no idea that he developed such an enmity toward Franklin during their time together in France. His presidency was truly an act of public service: filling Washington's shoes, dealing with the newly burgeoning Federalist/Republican political parties, the feverish pro-French revolutionary sentiments which quickly turned into hawkish clamoring for war against France, the way his own cabinet and especially Hamilton undermined him ... I really felt for Adams and all he had to deal with. The Alien and Sedition Acts were obviously a lowlight of the presidency, but the fact that Adams kept the country out of war with France is really nothing short of miraculous.

I teared up at the end of the biography when Adams, solicited for his thoughts on the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of the declaration of independence said "independence forever." He dramatically held out until that day, and died on July 4th on the same day as Jefferson. I was EMOTIONAL.

I can't wait to read John Quincy Adams' biography, I liked everything I read about him here. Anyway, this biography was amazing and I have such a soft spot for this curmudgeonly Bostonian.

When considering early presidents, John Adams is hardly the most well know. Serving between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, Adams appears to be rather unremarkable as president. However, his life beyond that office is quite distinguished. From his early carreer as a lawyer to his overseas statesmanship, Adams was present for many of the events that shaped our young country.

John Ferling’s John Adams: A life is a well researched and detailed examination of who Adams was as a family man and stateman. Ferling examines his early upbringing, his relationship with his wife, shepherding his children, and later, his political writings and ambitions. This book reads like a narrative biography, not a text to be studied, but covers many key moments in Adams life such as his representation of the British during the Boston Massacre trial, and his service as dignitary to France and Brittan after the Revolutionary War.

I give John Adams: A life 3 out of 5 stars. While this does not read like a textbook, there is much information to unpack. At times, I felt as though the narrative was rushed, while others felt slow and repetitive. I did enjoy the author’s coverage of Adams’ personal relationships with the founding fathers and family members which gave the man more of a human feel and less like a myth only read about in books.

I would recommend this book for readers looking to learn more about our second or fourth presidents – John Quincy Adams’ early life and career are also recounted here as it pertains to his travels with his father and early diplomatic postings. I would also recommend this for those interested in the Revolutionary War – the author gives details about the motivations and insight into the patterns that brought loyalists like Adams to turn towards revolution.

I chose John Adams: A Life as my historical biography read for July. After spending 8 months reading about George and Martha Washington and several contemporaries, I am moving on to our second president. I am looking forward to reading Janet Whitney’s biography of Abigail Adams later this month to continue this trend!

3/5
Too Dry. Doesn’t get to who Adams was just tells the facts.

Very in depth look!

Very detailed look at a pivotal figure in American history. So much is forgotten from those who played a big role in gaining our independence. Well worth the read!

Excellent biography of John Adams. Ranks right up there with David McCullums.

A much better biography of Adams than the McCullough book. More in depth of the man who was our 2nd president. A complex, headstrong man who inwardly wanted the fame and glory but did not have the personality of his fellow founding fathers; Washington, Franklin and Jefferson.

It isn't as readable as Chernow's biography on Washington, but it also seems to present a less biased analysis of the Adams than the latter did of Washington. Full marks for thoroughness and the interesting analysis at the end. Off a star because it's quite dry.

John Adams smoked tobacco since he was eight. He received a Harvard education and after being a teacher for a short time, he became a lawyer. At one point, the wealthy John Hancock was put on trial for smuggling and John Adams represented him, succeeding in getting the charges dropped. He started courting his future wife Abigail when she was 15 and he was 25. He stopped seeing her, but they met again years later and married when he was 29 and she was 20.

Britain had a 173 million pound debt from the French and Indian War as well as three other wars fought on America's behalf and passed the Stamp Act to help pay this debt. While the colonists benefited from the wars, they didn't want to help pay for them and strongly opposed the Stamp Act.

John Adams wrote political essays against the Stamp Act, but he was also against his cousin Samuel Adams' violent demonstrations. When the Stamp Act was repealed in 1766, John gained some reputation, being elected selectman in his hometown of Braintree. His cousin Sam Adams meanwhile, founded the Whig party which launched a propaganda campaign to try to convince people Britain wanted to take away the colonists' freedom.

Adams referred to himself as short, thick, and fat, although he was likely average height. He often had red watery eyes, likely due to chronic allergies. He was pallid due to spending so much time indoors. He had a volcanic temper. He was cold to strangers, but warm with friends and he preferred solitude.

Due to protests against taxes, British soldiers were sent to Boston. Tension increased as the soldiers took part-time jobs away from the colonists and also dated their women. Several violent encounters erupted between soldiers and colonists. In 1770, soldiers killed five Bostonians in what was called the Boston Massacre. Adams defended the soldiers, despite not being on their side and the possibility rioters would go after him. Why? No one knows for sure, but he was given a seat in Boston's legislature three months later, so perhaps Samuel Adams promised him political office. He won the trial and his reputation didn't suffer either. In fact, Britain recalled their troops and did away with most of the taxes (except for one on tea).

John Adams decided he didn't like politics and didn't seek reelection. His law practice was booming. He covered a wide variety of cases from commercial transactions, criminal defense, property disputes, defamation of character cases, tax cases, divorce, and served as counsel for slaves who sought their freedom.

The East India Company, the largest Mercantile firm in the British Empire, was nearly bankrupt through mismanagement. If it failed, there would be a general economic collapse. To prevent this from happening, Parliament passed the Tea Act, giving the East India Company a monopoly on tea in the colonies and keeping the tea tax already in place. It actually made the price of tea lower by cutting out the middleman.

The fading independence movement was waiting for something to rebel against and latched onto this. They said this would lead to other taxes and that the monopoly would hurt American businesses. Boats bearing tea were not permitted to dock in New York and Philadelphia. South Carolina prevented the tea from being sold. In Boston, the rebels destroyed 1 million dollars worth of tea in today's dollars at their "tea party". Adams didn't take part, but praised the event.

Parliament retaliated against Boston with the Coercive Acts. The port in Boston would be closed until the tea was paid for. Town meetings were restricted and the elected council would be replaced with a Crown-appointed one. The colonists responded with a trade embargo against Britain knowing it would likely lead to war. In 1775, the British attempted to suppress the rebellion by force and tried to seize the leaders of the rebels. 73 British and nearly 100 colonists died in Concord and Lexington.

Adams was a key player in the first two Continental Congresses. They raised an army against Britain with Washington as general. King George III declared them in a state of rebellion. The Earl of Dunmore, the governor of Virginia, offered to free all slaves who joined the British side. There were still some in Congress hoping to reconcile with Great Britain. Adams worked to change votes and on July 2, 1776, no state voted against independence. Congress made some changes to Jefferson's Declaration of Independence which was ready by July 4th.

In his writings, Adams often expressed his wish to be a soldier, yet when the opportunity arose, he came up with excuses not to. He did however become the de facto Secretary of War, working from 4 AM to 10 PM on logistical problems, promotions, appointments, recruitment, and treatment and exchange of prisoners of war.

Abigail Adams became a talented farmer while John was away, which was often. She told him to "Remember the Ladies" as Congress discussed the rights of Americans since men were "Naturally Tyrannical" women must be protected from men's "unlimited power". However, John didn't take her seriously. Like John, she was opposed to slavery. He didn't talk about slavery politically, though, since slave holders had a lot of power and influence.

After leaving Congress, Adams spent a bit of time at home before leaving again as a diplomat to France, which had been providing supplies and soldiers to America. While in France, he lived under the same roof as fellow diplomat Benjamin Franklin, but grew to hate him. Adams was highly intelligent, but made a bad diplomat as small talk wasn't his strong point. 

He returned to Braintree after a year and wrote the first draft of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780. Congress then voted to make him minister plenipotentiary, to negotiate an end of the war with Great Britain. Once again, he set out for France and left Abigail behind, but brought his sons Charles, almost ten, and John Quincy, now twelve. He lived far away from Franklin this time. 

By 1780, the war was five years old with no end in sight, although Spain and France were now at war with Britain as well. There were a couple instances where the British could have won if they'd pressed their attack instead of delaying.

Adams felt France wasn't doing enough to bring the war to a close and ended up going to The Netherlands to get their support. He didn't have much success until the Americans and French got a stunning victory at Yorktown, capturing the army of Cornwallis. The Dutch then supported America with a much-needed loan. Britain was ready to talk peace by this point and Adams was one of the negotiators.

While John was away, Abigail flirted with congressman James Lovell via letters. John wrote to her less frequently and dissuaded her from joining him until peace was declared, then he asked her to come join him in Europe.

After the peace treaty was signed, he was named one of the diplomats to negotiate commerce with Britain in 1783. Abigail brought their daughter Nabby with her, leaving their two youngest sons in the care of a friend. Nearly 19, Nabby was brought along to keep her from marrying a suitor John didn't like, although he changed his mind and said she could marry, but his letter didn't reach them until after they'd gotten on the boat.

Adams returned to America in 1788 and wanted to be vice president. Some were worried he might get more votes than Washington, so Alexander Hamilton secretly took some of his votes away to ensure Washington would win. (In this book, Hamilton is presented as the power behind the throne, being Washington's main advisor during his presidency and manipulating Adams through members of his cabinet during Adams' presidency.) While Adams was vice president, Washington rarely sought his opinion, but he did cast the tie breaking vote in the Senate at least 31 times, often to strengthen the federal government.

When Adams became president, he bought some furniture off Washington who didn't want to take it all with him. However, he declined to buy a couple horses Washington was trying to sell, thinking Washington was trying to swindle him. He was right. Washington confided to a friend that the horses were older than he had said they were. (So much for Washington not being able to tell a lie.) To add further insult, when Adams moved into the President's House in Philadelphia, he found it hadn't been cleaned and Washington's servants had damaged some of the furniture in a drunken stupor.

When Adams took office, England and France were at war and both were seizing American ships. Washington remained neutral rather than entering the war and Adams did as well, although he prepared for war by creating an army, strengthening the navy, and giving a lot of pro-war speeches.

The XYZ affair happened in 1798. France refused to speak to US delegates and had even asked for bribes, an extension of a loan, and for Adams to apologize for allegedly making anti-French statements. The diplomats' report was made public and many people called for war with France and feared France would invade America. Adams' party, the Federalists, were anti-French and wanted war, while Vice President Jefferson's party, the Democratic-Republicans, were pro-French and wanted peace.

Since immigrants tended to be Democratic-Republicans, the Federalist Congress and Adams passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. Immigrants now had to wait 14 years before becoming citizens with the right to vote. The president now had the power to deport aliens (although Adams never ended up deporting anybody). Also, the Sedition Act made it illegal for the press to conspire to thwart federal law or make false statements about federal officials, quashing free speech and dissent. It was passed in order to silence the anti-war critics in the opposing party. In a blow to free speech, 14 reporters were indicted for sedition, definitely one of the worst things Adams did.

The cold war with France was called the Quasi-War. Even though his political party wanted war and Adams spoke out in favor of war, he eventually chose peace. His own party was furious at him, writing angry editorials and even death threats. Alexander Hamilton was in favor of war so the US could take over Florida and Louisiana. Hamilton also wanted to become a famous general like Washington.

Towards the end of his term, Adams got rid of a couple of his cabinet members who were secretly working for Hamilton, and demobilized the army Hamilton was in charge of. He also pardoned three tax protestors who had been sentenced to death on charges of treason. The capital of the US was moved from Philadelphia to Federal City which people were calling Washington. 

Adams lost the election of 1800 to Jefferson, and learned the news of his alcoholic son Charles' death right before the electors met. John had forced Charles into a legal career even though he wasn't suited to it. His son Thomas also was unhappy being a lawyer and also became an alcoholic.

Adams was raised as a Calvinist and became a ecumenical Christian as a young adult, before finally becoming a Unitarian in his final years. He believed in a Supreme Creator and a non-eternal afterlife, but denounced institutional Christianity and rejected the notion of Jesus' divinity. He believed Christianity was the cause of much pain and suffering, but he did like the teachings of Jesus.

He lived to see his son John Quincy elected president when he was 89. He outlived his much younger wife as well as his daughter who died of cancer. The longest-lived president before Reagan, Adams finally died on the same day as Thomas Jefferson, July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. He even rekindled his friendship with Jefferson, exchanging over a hundred letters with him during his long retirement.

I believe the best way to judge a president is comparing how many lives they saved versus how many died because of their actions. On the plus side, Adams saved an unknown number of lives by avoiding war with France (thousands maybe?) While silencing freedom of speech with the Sedition Act was bad, he at least doesn't seem to be responsible for any deaths (unlike Washington who massacred Native Americans and was responsible for starting the French and Indian War). The fact Adams was opposed to slavery also makes him a better president than Washington. (Except for John and his son John Quincy, the first twelve presidents of the United States were all slave holders.)

Washington is generally ranked higher than Adams when you see lists of the best presidents, but this is largely due to the fact he has greater name recognition due to being the first. Unless this biography left something out, I think a good argument could be made for Adams being the better president of the two simply because he wasn't responsible for any deaths. Adams was an angry person and didn't treat his sons very well. He also nearly went to war with France, so I'm not saying he was a great person or that great of a president, but at least he didn't kill anybody.

Excellent look at John Adams

Our second President was an interesting man who made real contributions to the founding of our country and its early years. His talent lay in hard work, depriving himself of his family and home for years at a time to pursue his ambitions. As President, subverting an imminent war with France did much to maintain the integrity of our early country. This was well written and very balanced. Highly recommend.