Because Ideas Matter...
The faculty and staff of Butler University's College of Liberal
Arts and Sciences presents
Recommended Readings
John Adams
by David McCullough, Simon & Schuster, 2001
Reviewed by Richard McGowan
The Pulitzer prize-winning John Adams may
be the perfect book to read in this, an election year. While
certainly a history book, as the 67 pages of notes and bibliography
attest, John Adams is, perhaps more importantly, a story of
relationships.
McCullough has brought to life our widely literate second
president and his wife, the brilliant and influential Abigail
Smith. As McCullough states: "His marriage to Abigail Smith was the
most important decision of John Adams's life." The excerpts from
letters between "My Dearest Friend" and "Miss Adorable" alone make
the book worth reading-even if the two seem antiquated and quaint
in their devotion, love, sacrifice, and fidelity for and to each
other.
The book also shows Adams's relationships with other founding
fathers, among them Jefferson, Hamilton, Franklin, and Washington.
The account of friendship, estrangement, and reconciliation between
our second president and our third president is especially
compelling reading in an election year. The presidential contest
between the two was nothing if not a cantankerous, partisan,
'vicious' affair.
In those days, the candidates did no direct campaigning, so a
cluster of their friends demonstrated electioneering at its
worst.
Observations and detail abound: Adams thought "Franklin to be
lazy, neglectful of details, and not easy to work with" and Adams
referred to Hamilton as "another Bonaparte." But the heart of the
book is the likeable and brave man, John Adams, and his equally
likeable, well-matched collaborator, Abigail. Excellent
reading.
- Richard McGowan is Instructor of Business Ethics at Butler
University.