![]() But he doesn’t refrain from being critical when he felt that Adams was occasionally overly principled and inflexible, and at other times when he allowed himself to be cajoled, for example when he signed the infamous Alien and Sedition act. McCullough is clearly a great admirer of Adams that comes out in how he describes his integrity and character. McCullough is a great storyteller and his story of Adams was a great immersion experience into 18th century New England – leading up to, through, and after the revolutionary war. My Impressions: It’s a long and very worthwhile read. The final 20 percent of the book is about his life after the Presidency, his mentoring of his son John Quincy, and most notably his relationship with his political rival Thomas Jefferson. Summary in 3 sentences: It is a biography – about John Adams’ life – from birth until his death, at age 90 – but focuses largely on his efforts leading up to and during the American Revolution, the forming of the Republic afterwards, his time as Washington’s Vice President and then as President. McCullough’s bio of John Adams has a great (well deserved) reputation and had been on my shelf un-read for years. ![]() ![]() We selected him in part because we were approaching the 4th of July, and in part because several of the women in our group wanted to read more about Abigail Adams. Why this book: My literature reading group decided to select a topic rather than a book, and the topic for this session was John Adams. ![]()
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