Rating: 
Summary: A bit hagiographic and unbalance
Review: McCullough has written an interesting study of one of the most under appreciated founder of our county. A bit of a populist biographer, McCullough's book leans heavily to the personal history of Adams, concentrating his pen as much with Adam's kindred relationship with his wife, Abigail and his unabridged pride in his son, John Quincy as it does with the momentous and crucial roles Adams played as one of the integral members of the framers of the Declaration of Independence, liaison to France and Holland during the war and as the 2nd president of the United States. While bordering on a hagiographic account of Adams' life, it does have some redeeming qualities.
As a high school student, I was as intrigued and interested in Adam's life as I was with Washington. It seems that military heroes are invited to stand on the highest public pedestals while political heroes are allotted lesser heights. Adams' famous vanity and temper dulled the public's appreciation of his outstanding service to his country.
Adams was a fervent believer in independence, even before it was entirely fashionable. Indeed, many in the colonies during the early 1770s, while irritated and angry and heavy-handed English laws and rule, still felt that it would be imprudently foolish to cut the ties with the mother country. America was too weak, too endangered to take on the mightiest power on the globe. While Adams understood these arguments, he nevertheless felt that the colonists must take every advantage to position themselves for their independence that he felt was inevitable. A graduate of Harvard and a successful lawyer in Boston, Adams became a leading voice for independence along with Samuel Adams and Elbridge Gerry. Indeed, the New England contingent to the convention of 1774 spoke the loudest and strongest for independence, with Adams' voice leading the way.
During the writing of the Declaration, Adams was generally considered to be the most forceful and cogent voice on the debate floor. Through hours of speeches and oration, Adams remained the most dynamic and effective speaker. When Adams signed the document, he considered it one of the finest moments of his life and had the prescience to understand that if would probably not be surpassed in his lifetime.
During the war, Adams was assigned to France and Holland to encourage support for the Revolutionary cause. The trip to France aboard the Boston was a harrowing and difficulty journey that included a battle with a British warship. This trip was to remain an allegory of his life that Adams would refer to many times in future correspondence.
His time in Europe was not rewarding for Adams. His role at Paris was subjugated to Franklin and the two men were cool to each other at best. Adams, a man of constant toil and movement, was never comfortable with the social and class demonstrations that were so important to French life and crucial to commercial and political gain. Franklin, on the other hand, excelled on the social front and was adored by the French. As a result, Adams was eventually assigned to the Netherlands to gain loans from Dutch financiers. Though an arduous, difficult and lengthy task, Adams finally procured loans of more that $2M dollars, money that was essential to maintain America's resistance.
He later became the first American ambassador to England, a role that landed him in the icy world of post-Revolutionary Anglo-American relations. He did not receive a warm welcome in England, though he didn't have the style and charm to necessarily overcome the latent hostility he felt. Finally, after almost a decade overseas, he returned to America.
Adams' election in 1796 to the presidency was not explored in significant detail by McCullough and this is a weakness in the book. In fact, there are many important moments in Adams public life that McCullough gives only spotty perspective, generally because he relies so heavily on the letters between Adams and his wife, Abigail. Suffice it to say, Adams won the election over his one time friend and now political adversary, Thomas Jefferson.
Adams greatest accomplishments as President, in his mind, was averting war with France, strengthening the navy and denting Hamilton's power and influence by weakening the army. After losing re-election in 1800, in part due to Alexander Hamilton's behind-the-scenes effort to elect a stronger Federalist and Jefferson's clandestine work with newspaperman Thomas Calendar to cast dispersions upon Adams and his policies through the print media (where most of the campaigning in 1800 was done), Adams finally retired to his farm in Quincy, outside of Boston where he spent the rest of his life as a private citizen. His greatest accomplishment during this time was probably his reconciliation with Jefferson as the two re-ignited their correspondence after an almost 20 year hiatus. Abigail died of typhoid fever in 1816 while John Adams lived until 1926 when, in one of the great coincidences in history, he and Jefferson died on the same day, July 4th, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
While McCullough gives an interesting portrait of the man, his historical narrative seems shallow and not well-balanced. As mentioned before, he leans heavily on the massive letters Adams wrote, both professionally and personally, while skimming over much of the balance of writings about the man. He spends an inordinate amount of time exploring his relationship with Abigail and while she is a strong and focused light in his life, one senses that the amount of attention paid to the relationship as it pertains to Adams public role is not in proper perspective. Adams' well-known mercurial relationships with Jefferson, Franklin and others are discussed in detail, but not in great depth. This remains a most significant weakness of this biography.
Still, at the end of the book, I had a sense of who Adams was as a man and I empathized with the life choices he made and the successes and disappointments laid at his feet both publicly and privately. Since he outlived many in his family, including three of his children, his life was a mosaic of varied richness. McCullough's greatest accomplishment is to draw a human face on this complicated and varied man.
Rating: 
Summary: David McCullough helps us rediscover John Adams
Review: I have always been an admirer of John Adams and his family ever since I saw "The Adams Chronicles" and the musical "1776," so I was not surprised that the time has come once again to rediscover the man. In "1776" the Adams character points out, and is told, that he is "obnoxious and disliked," and one of the chief virtues of David McCullough's biography is that it dispels in part the truth of that statement with regards to the Second Continental Congress. The comment was written by Adams years later and has been imposed on his entire career. Over the course of this biography McCullough finds some evidence to support the idea, but on balance his subject certainly comes out ahead.Of course, the chief obstacle to the enshrinement of John Adams on the popular consciousness has always been that he had the grave misfortune of not only having followed George Washington in the Presidency but to have been supplanted by Thomas Jefferson. McCullough deals with these two fatal comparisons by totally different tacks: Washington is relegated to an imposing but relatively silent figure while Jefferson is repeatedly hoisted on the petard of his own secret correspondence. Jefferson's reputation has been in decline in recent years, mainly because of the genetic evidence proving he fathered children by one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings (McCullough touches on this and mentions the fact that Hemmings was purported to be the half-sister of Jefferson's late wife and who looked remarkably like her, aspects of the relationship that I think may well be quite significant, but which have been largely ignored). In this biography Jefferson suffers because of his blind support for the murderous excesses of the French Revolution and his constant mischaracterization of Adams's actions as President. Without doubt the most sickening aspects of this political history have to do with the birth of political parties in this country and it is impossible not to have strong feelings of disgust for Jefferson's Republicans and Hamilton's High Federalists. All this further serves to enhance the reputation of Adams, who was certain embroiled in the political divisions as President but whose behavior in office was remarkable and consistently patriotic. How the Republicans could claim Adams favored war with France in the face of the specific actions he took as President is a maddening question that further ennobles Adams. But the patriarch of the Adams family is not the only star who emerges from these pages. The biggest understatement in the volume is when McCullough declares: "That he had been blessed in an partnership with one of the most exceptional women of her time, Adams never doubted." In addition to Abigail Adams, son John Quincy Adams fares well in these pages as well. Obviously the stars are quite auspicious for a reconsideration of this particular trio. Think about it: This is the story of a President who has a wife considerably more beloved than himself, who is voted out of office after only one term, and who sees his son, who has the same first name but a different middle name, become President in an election in which he loses the popular vote but wins the electoral college. Even if you remember history, you sometimes find it repeats itself. McCullough makes excellent use of the 608 reels of microfilm containing the national treasure that is the Adams Papers. The core of this biography is cutting and pasting together choice excerpts from these papers, with relatively little commentary. The strength of this biography is that McCullough does not overwhelm his subject, but instead reveals him through Adams's own words and actions. However, despite the scholarship involved in writing this tome it avoids being a dry read. Anyone with any interest in the formative years of the Republic will find this book to be of value.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best stories I've read!
Review: I'm definitely not an American history buff, and it was with a bit of trepidation that I undertook this long read. I am so glad I did! This is one of the best nonfiction books I've ever read. I was totally drawn in to the life and times of John Adams. Not only did I learn all about Adams, but his brillant wife Abigail, his son John Quincy, and his sometimes tempestuous relationship with both Bejamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Adams was a great man,and he sacrificed so much for his country. McCullough, like Barbara Tuchman (Guns in August) knows how to tell a story. Absolutely captivating.
Rating:
Summary: almost...
Review: the title of this review is almost because the book is almost exhaustive, but not quite. What i gained from this reading was the hunger to find out about the history not mentioned in this broad rendering of the nations first Veep. More on his letters, more on his religious life, more on his family. I am sure to be truly exhaustive would require a multi-volumed work the likes of which Mr Adams would surely enjoy to read. The book also started me on a fascination of classical antiquity and literature and made me want to learn greek and latin and brush up more on my french. That is what history should do, show you want the historicals did and so you can imitate their actions and find history yourself.
Rating:
Summary: McCullough as Messenger
Review: Mr. McCullough is the messenger for John and Abigail Adams in this book. The Adamses deliver their messages in their own words (through their letters) with Mr. McCullough filling in gaps with interesting paragraphs and setting scenes for the next message from these wonderful people. We in American are very fortunate to have had such people to commence our republic and Mr McCullough does us a great favor by reminding us with this wonderful tome. As an aside, I am not a frequent reader of biographies or history but "John Adams" by David McCullough is a terrific book about an incredible time and fantastic people. Buy it and share it with your friends and co-workers.
Rating:
Summary: Good story, bad historian
Review: This biography must be commended for taking into consideration the many aspects of a very complicated man. John Adams was not a president to be forgotten, nor a man to take for granted. Mr. McCullough has researched completely every aspect of Adams' life. But what the author fails to do is analysis the significant actions of this man's life. He is telling a story, not looking at history for its importance nor its meaning. Why did Adams think the way he did, and how was that important to the future. This book tells a nice story, but fails to challenge the mind of the reader or the misconceptions of history.
Rating:
Summary: Superb biography that reads like a novel
Review: I received this book for Christmas this past year and was intrigued because of the amount of buzz surrounding it. I have always had an interest in the history of the American Revolution, but I had never taken much time to truly look into the life of our 2nd President, John Adams. After finishing David McCullough's book, I came to a newfound and deep appreciation for John Adams (especially since he was a fellow New Englander). I simply cannot remember the last time I read a biography of such heft that was so incredibly difficult to put down for more than an hour or two. While Thomas Jefferson receives a great deal of praise due to his writing eloquence and Washington is the acknowledged "father of our country", this book begins to reveal how the strength of Adams' character pulled the fragile rebel colonies and early republic forward during some of its darkest times. Interestingly enough, the book does an excellent job showing the human side of Adams' own pride, for he often worried he would not be given the credit he felt he deserved. I think Mr. Adams would be most pleased with David McCullough's thoughtful, cleanly-written and compelling work. . . for maybe John Adams can now be given the credit he is due as one of the first great Americans.
Rating:
Summary: Hagiography of a Tyrant
Review: As depicted in 'Adams,' John Adams was a simple farmer, honest and dependable, swept into politics by chance, and landing in the Presidency through the back door ' the office of Vice President. In other words ' he's just like Truman! Despite McCullough's best efforts in this easy-to-read hagiography to depict him as such, Adams was neither simple nor honest, and 'Adams' robs its namesake of his complexities and ultimately his character. Some interesting points about the book: Despite McCullough's repeated assurances that Adams was not vain, pretentious, and hysterical, the letters and writings of Adams and his wife (though heavily edited and taken from questionable sources) drip with prudery and vanity. I found the couple to be extremely unlovable, what with all the moralizing they did about their neighbors, follow revolutionaries, and politicians. There's a lot of stuff taking place outside the scope of McCullough's book, and it has only made me want to find a more thorough and merciless account of the two. McCullough's justification of our nation's most shameful piece of legislation ' the Alien and Sedition Acts ' sounds eerily like the Bush administration's rhetoric supporting its own repressive legislation cracking down on the rights of immigrants in the wake of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center. Surely the current tribunals and seizing of foreign nationals will be as vilified as the Alien and Sedition Acts. Also, McCullough glosses over Adams role in executing these reprehensible Acts. In 'Adams,' the President was only a reluctant participant in the repression that occurred as a result. In reality, he seems to have enjoyed using the Acts to crack down on any public criticism of his own administration ' which seems to fit with his over-sensitive and vindictive nature. Lastly, McCullough uses much of 'Adams' to vilify Thomas Jefferson. Although the rumors of Jefferson's affairs with his slave, Sally Hemming, are generally discounted by serious scholars, McCullough drags Hemming back onto center stage to smear Jefferson. McCullough also has a bizarre fascination with the state of Jefferson's finances and repeatedly makes reference to his debts, though they have little or no relevance to the life of John Adams. These and other things make 'Adams' a strange book. It almost feels as if McCullough purposefully and knowingly omitted information and distorted facts to make his subject shine. I can't think why.
Rating:
Summary: Best Book Read in 25 Years
Review: This is certainly one of the 10 best books I've ever read. I have recommended it to several friends and they unanimously concur. It magnificantly presents how a marriage can endure great adversity and hardship when the partners are both so dedicated to the same cause. I fell in love with Abigail!
Rating:
Summary: A great biography for a truly remarkable individual...
Review: I agree with the review by "jraussen". We never learned much about Adams in American history in gradeschool and highschool, which was a total shame. This man was truly a visionary, and both honest and incorruptable. If you're a fan of American history, even world history, this is a truly great read. I felt as if I knew John and Abigail after I got done reading it!
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