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I highly recommend John Ferling’s book, “John Adams: A Life”. Both because of the quality of Ferling’s writing and because of his subject.
Adams’ had a long and excessively full life and Ferling’s covered every part of his life well. He doesn’t paint the picture of a perfect man, but he explains well, and fairly, what made the man who he was. With any biography there is always a degree of speculation, but Ferling does this carefully and only when he had good reason.
I am looking forward to reading to more books by Ferling.
As for the subject, John Adams, although he is well-known, I think he is overlooked. As the second president of the United States he holds a unique position in world history, but his impact both preceded and followed his time in office. However, preceded in the office by the mighty George Washington and then followed by Thomas Jefferson I think he doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
It seems he came to his position on fighting to separate from England slowly, but once his decision was made, he did more than almost any other to mold the political and philosophical positions that make up the DNA of the USA.
My greatest criticism of him would be his long absences from his wife and children. Something he greatly regretted later in life. But, would the US be what it is today if he had not made some of the sacrifices he did? Later in life he tried to put right where he had been deficient with his family, and that is commendable.
His time in Europe I think influenced his thinking about the position of some kind of unelected governing body. However, it seems some of his beliefs were misrepresented by opponents.
He and a handful of others were wrestling with great questions of politics, human nature, theology, economy, and military in a way few have in history. That they did not get things 100% the way we would prefer with 250 years of reflection is to be expected. As another author has put it, when they first started out, liberty as a nation was their goal, but the trumpets were blowing in the distance.
I was impressed with Ferling’s writing, and very impressed with Adams.
One final note. The audio book version I listened to was 99% great, but repeatedly kept a deep inhaling breath. I haven’t noticed this in other audio books and it was a little off-putting. But, maybe I’m just being unreasonable for being annoyed by people breathing.
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