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John Adams The American Presidents Series No 2 John Patrick Diggins Arthur M Schlesinger Books

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John Adams The American Presidents Series No 2 John Patrick Diggins Arthur M Schlesinger Books

As usual and expected for this series, this is not nearly a full biography of Adams. But it does have something that the full length biographies by McCullough and Ferling do not have. Diggins goes much more into the philosophical and political writings of John Adams and spends quite a bit of space explaining how they relate to Adams’ political actions and his presidency. That is a plus for the book. The downside is that the narration of Adams’ presidency and the overview of his life before and after does not flow well in places. I thought in some sections the exposition of Adams’ political and philosophical views was unnecessarily detailed. However, it depends what you are looking for. I read both McCullough’s biography as well as Ferling’s and highly recommend both. If the reader is looking for the theoretical underpinning of Adams’ actions, including why some Jeffersonians thought he wanted a U.S. monarchy, then this is the book. But the narration in the book is frequently broken by explanations of Adams’ theoretical writings.


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John Adams The American Presidents Series No 2 John Patrick Diggins Arthur M Schlesinger Books Reviews

Personally, I prefer more detailed biographies of historical figures as opposed to briefer ones. Hence, I really appreciated McCullough's detailed work on John Adams. Nonetheless, Diggins' book is a worthwhile addition to one's library. Especially for those who want a briefer, accessible biography, the Diggins' book would be a good investment.

First, unlike most books in The American Presidents series, there is considerable emphasis on the ideas of John Adams. This is most important, given that he had a more philosophical bent than most American presidents, and his writings are, in themselves, contributions to our understanding of American political thought. This alone makes this book most useful to those who are interested in the impact of presidents. In this case, his ideas are important to be aware of.

Second, it is a decent biography in its own right, given its brevity (a hallmark of this series). The book traces the arc of Adams' life from birth to death--a rich, long, full life. We see his friendship with Thomas Jefferson disintegrate and become enmity--only to have the friendship rekindled after the termination of Jefferson's political career. Their letters back and forth are intriguing, in exposing the very different political perspectives at stake in the early 19th century.

We get a sense of the special relationship between Adams and his wife, Abigail. We see his unique, and sometimes problematic, personality at work--desperate for respect and prickly enough. His role as diplomat in Europe. His service as Vice President under George Washington (describing the office as "The most insignificant office that ever man contrived"). His role as President, after having defeated Jefferson. While he had some bad moments (e.g., the Alien and Sedition Acts), he also showed some political, courage (e.g., not caving in to the demand for war against France). He was much aggrieved in his loss in the 1800 election to his archrival Jefferson. He retired to his native Massachusetts and the book describes his life as citizen. . . .

So, in the end, a worthwhile brief biography, that makes a nice contribution in describing Adam's political thinking.
The author was obviously biased in regards to the Adams and Jefferson conflict, as well as Adams time as president, however you can't deny how important Adams was to the revolution and the founding of America.

Adams wanting to install Plato's idea of an aristocracy is nice on paper, but so are all centralized forms of government.

Either way, good take on his life and presidency, just make sure you recognise when the author is defending as opposed to educating.
John Adams was one of America’s greatest statesmen--and one of its worst politicians. Adams was many things—bold, stubborn, a deeply profound thinker, fearless, vain, honest to a fault, indiscreet, and naive. It was his naivety that caused him tremendous heartache, and ultimately re-election as president. “John Adams” by John Patrick Diggins, is number two in The American Presidents series. Though relatively short (176 pages), it’s an insightful character study, first-rate history, and a think piece. Mr. Diggins may be a liberal, but I place him beside conservatives Garry Wills and Forrest McDonald as among our most penetrating writers of Early American history.

It’s debatable whether or not there would have been an American Revolution without the presence of John Adams at the Second Continental Congress. He berated fellow delegates day and night until they stepped up and declared what they believed in their hearts. It was Adams who picked Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence because, he said, the Virginian was a better writer. It was Adams too, working in conjunction with Benjamin Franklin and John Jay, who negotiated peace with England thereby assuring American independence. And it was Adams who negotiated three crucial loans with a consortium of Dutch financiers that kept the young republic financially afloat until the federal government took charge and made provision for the crushing war debt. Among the glittering array of Founding Fathers, we sometimes forget just how popular and well-respected Adams was in his time. In the 1789 election for president, Adams was runner-up to George Washington. Eight years later, in 1796, when Washington stepped down, Adams was elected over Jefferson to the highest office in the land. Ironically, it was as president that Adams’ considerable reputation began to erode.

Why Adams’ reputation did erode is mostly the subject of Diggins’ book. The author places much of the blame on Thomas Jefferson, who secretly orchestrated a savage newspaper campaign against him, labeling Adams a closet monarchist who favored the aristocracy. Jefferson leveled much the same charges against Alexander Hamilton, but the New Yorker orchestrated an equally savage newspaper campaign in retaliation. Adams had no stomach for such a fight, and naively believed that the facts would prevail over an obvious smear campaign. How wrong he was. The author makes the point that politics has no time for facts. “Many of those who voted against him accepted ‘word against evidence’ and thought they were ridding America of a monarchist, when they were actually deposing both a moralist and a modernist.” The author also places a fair amount of blame on Adams himself. Unlike Washington, Adams was not a consensus builder. He preferred working in isolation and rarely asked his cabinet for advice. On occasion he would take off for his home in Braintree, Massachusetts and be gone weeks and months at a time, leaving his cabinet in charge of the government. Adams also bore grudges instead of trying to shed them. He held one of his biggest grudges against Hamilton who, the author points out, had a great deal in common with Adams both politically and philosophically (they both advocated a strong federal government, favored a central bank, were against slavery, and were admirers of Scottish philosopher David Hume). One can’t help but think that had Adams buried his pride and made Hamilton a confidant—as Washington had done— his presidency would have proceeded more smoothly and he would have been reelected. As it was, nothing seemed to go well the XYZ Affair, the “Quasi War” with France, the Alien and Sedition Acts—all hurt Adams politically. Even so, in the 1800 election, Jefferson barely squeaked out victory.

Years later, after Jefferson had left office, the two buried the hatchet and began exchanging letters. However, Jefferson never could explain why he had labeled Adams a monarchist. In the turbulent 1790s, the Virginian cited Adams’ writings as the source, particularly his “Discourse on Davila.” John’s wife, Abigail, defied Jefferson to provide evidence, to cite exactly where it was Adams had written such nonsense. The Virginian had no answer. Had he been truly candid, Jefferson would have told Adams the election had not been about whether or not he was a monarchist; it had been about power. Adams had the power, and Jefferson wanted it. Five stars.
As usual and expected for this series, this is not nearly a full biography of Adams. But it does have something that the full length biographies by McCullough and Ferling do not have. Diggins goes much more into the philosophical and political writings of John Adams and spends quite a bit of space explaining how they relate to Adams’ political actions and his presidency. That is a plus for the book. The downside is that the narration of Adams’ presidency and the overview of his life before and after does not flow well in places. I thought in some sections the exposition of Adams’ political and philosophical views was unnecessarily detailed. However, it depends what you are looking for. I read both McCullough’s biography as well as Ferling’s and highly recommend both. If the reader is looking for the theoretical underpinning of Adams’ actions, including why some Jeffersonians thought he wanted a U.S. monarchy, then this is the book. But the narration in the book is frequently broken by explanations of Adams’ theoretical writings.