John Adams by David McCullough

John Adams by David McCullough is masterpiece that intertwines the great art of history, storytelling, and adversity. David McCullough does what John Adams was never able to accomplish. Although John Quincy Adams tried to influence his father, McCullough unravels a genuine gem, which seriously needed to be told. A story of love, lust, and lies, Adams dealt with every day of his life. Not so much for Adam’s love for Abigail… but for his country.
John Adams Jr was born on October 30th, 1735 eldest of three brothers in Braintree, Massachusetts to John and Susanna Boylston Adams. His father, a farmer, also named John (1690-1761), was a fourth-generation descendant of Henry Adams, who immigrated from Barton St. David, Somerset, England, to Massachusetts Bay Colony in about 1636. Writing was a hobby that carried throughout his life and as a young boy he wrote, “Of making and sailing boats…swimming, skating, flying kites, and shooting marbles, bat and ball, football…wrestling and sometimes boxing”. His father being a deacon, Adams naturally only really had two career choices; a deacon or a lawyer. Adams obviously talking the latter, Adams attended Harvard University at the age of 15. Taking becoming a lawyer into strong consideration, and with his Harvard years ended, he traveled 60miles from Braintree to Worcester to be taken into office of a practicing attorney who would charge a fee and to teach. But soon returning to his original passion, Adams started to write professional, whether it be newspaper columns, pamphlets, or just in his diary. Not as popular as current celebrates of the time, such as Samuel Adams or Benjamin Rush; Adams was slowly gaining popularity.
In 1764, Adams married Abigail Smith (1744–1818), the daughter of a Congregational minister, at Weymouth, Massachusetts. Their children were Abigail (1765-1813); future president John Quincy (1767-1848); Susanna (1768–1770); Charles (1770-1800); Thomas Boylston (1772-1832); and Elizabeth (1775) who died at birth. Adams was ready to start his new life, and so was America. Adams wanted to secure approval from the public, and he saw his chance in the British/colonial conflict. He became well known for his essays and energetic resolutions against British taxation and regulation. In 1774 Massachusetts sent him to the Continental Congress . In 1775 war broke out between the colonies and Great Britain. Adams was one of the first few delegates to recognize that a compromise with the British was pointless. In 1776 he and the “Committee of 5” worked hard to break away from Britain by using a formal declaration of independence. On July 2, 1776 Congress voted for the resolution, "these colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states." Two days later, they passed the Declaration of Independence . And a couple of months later on July 2nd May 27th, and August 2nd….. not July 4th; the Thirteen Colonies were now free.
Being alone from his family, on various British explorations, Adams and Abigail’s marriage was tested. While Washington was the unanimous choice for president, Adams came in second in the Electoral College and became Vice President in the presidential election of 1789. He played a minor role in the politics of the early 1790s and was reelected in 1792. Washington never asked Adams for input on policy and legal issues. One of the best known Adams quotes concluded of the institution of the Vice Presidency: This is the most unimportant position human ever made. In the first year of Washington's administration, Adams became deeply involved in a month-long Senate controversy over what the official title of the President would be, favoring grandiose titles such as "His Majesty the President" or "His High Mightiness" over the simple "President of the United States" that won the issue. The pomposity of Adam's stance, and his being overweight, led to the nickname "His Rotundity." It was expected that Adams would dominate the votes in New England, while Jefferson was expected to win in the Southern states. In the end, Adams won the election by a narrow margin of 71 electoral votes to 68 for Jefferson (who became the vice president).
As President, he was frustrated by battles inside his own Federalist party against a faction led by Alexander Hamilton, but he broke with them to avert a major conflict with France in 1798, during the Quasi-War (Half) crisis. He became the founder of an important family of politicians, diplomats and historians, and in recent years his reputation has been good. Forced to put his trust in the Jay Treaty, fueled by the XYZ Affair brought upon more negative scrutiny. Not being reelected in 1800, John Adams settled back into his old homestead, enjoying months on end with seemingly endless meetings with friends and family, bad luck took its toll. Close friends and family started to die slowly, Nabby developed cancer, and Abigail Adams passed away. With nothing else to life for John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day, July 4th 1826. “These are times in which a genius would wish to live. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed.”

– Abigail Adams