What do you think?
Rate this book
John Quincy Adams: American Visionary
“There is much to praise in this extensively researched book, which is certainly one of the finest biographies of a sadly underrated man. . . . [Kaplan is] a master historian and biographer. . . . If he could read this biography, Adams would be satisfied that he had been fairly dealt with at last.” —Carol Berkin, Washington Post
In this fresh and illuminating biography, Fred Kaplan, the acclaimed author of Lincoln, brings into focus the dramatic life of John Quincy Adams—the little-known and much-misunderstood sixth president of the United States and the first son of John and Abigail Adams—and reveals how Adams' inspiring, progressive vision guided his life and helped shape the course of America.
Kaplan draws on a trove of unpublished archival material to trace Adams' evolution from his childhood during the Revolutionary War to his brilliant years as Secretary of State to his time in the White House and beyond. He examines Adams' myriad the public and private man, the statesman and writer, the wise thinker and passionate advocate, the leading abolitionist and fervent federalist. In these ways, Adams was a predecessor of Lincoln and, later, FDR and Obama. This sweeping biography makes clear how Adams' forward-thinking values, his definition of leadership, and his vision for the nation's future is as much about twenty-first-century America as it is about Adams' own time.
Meticulously researched and masterfully written, John Quincy Adams paints a rich portrait of this brilliant leader and his vision for a young nation.
In this fresh and illuminating biography, Fred Kaplan, the acclaimed author of Lincoln, brings into focus the dramatic life of John Quincy Adams—the little-known and much-misunderstood sixth president of the United States and the first son of John and Abigail Adams—and reveals how Adams' inspiring, progressive vision guided his life and helped shape the course of America.
Kaplan draws on a trove of unpublished archival material to trace Adams' evolution from his childhood during the Revolutionary War to his brilliant years as Secretary of State to his time in the White House and beyond. He examines Adams' myriad the public and private man, the statesman and writer, the wise thinker and passionate advocate, the leading abolitionist and fervent federalist. In these ways, Adams was a predecessor of Lincoln and, later, FDR and Obama. This sweeping biography makes clear how Adams' forward-thinking values, his definition of leadership, and his vision for the nation's future is as much about twenty-first-century America as it is about Adams' own time.
Meticulously researched and masterfully written, John Quincy Adams paints a rich portrait of this brilliant leader and his vision for a young nation.
1075 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 6, 2014
294 people are currently reading
2928 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews
March 10, 2023
“From the start, [John Quincy Adams] had believed in the value of knowledge for itself and as a tool for virtuous action. He had learned that they both required hard work, as if work combined both prayer and advancement…As a rationalist, he worked his way through or around theological disputes to the ethical core that he believed sustained religious values and transcended sectarian commitments, though he could not imagine a moral order not based on ‘a responsible hereafter.’ Without that, ‘right and wrong have no meaning.’ By temperament and, he would argue, by experience, his life consisted mostly of disappointments, the existence of ‘another world’ ‘indispensable…to reprieve the injustice of this…’ Believing that he had been more sinned against than sinning, he needed to believe in a justice that transcended the limitations of this world…”
- Fred Kaplan, John Quincy Adams: American Visionary
One can be forgiven for knowing next to nothing about John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. Aside from a cameo appearance in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, where he was portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, Quincy Adams has mostly occupied that strange netherworld of forgotten Chief Executives, where he lingers with Benjamin Harrison and Millard Fillmore and Martin Van Buren, among others, who have reached the pinnacle of political success and received obscurity as their reward.
It was not too long ago that Quincy Adams’s father, John, was in much the same boat. Despite being an important figure during the American Revolution, John Adams was mostly remembered as a one-term flameout sandwiched between two legends, Washington and Jefferson. Then David McCullough came along and did for Adams père what he had already done for Truman, providing a full-scale reevaluation that changed his popular perception.
Fred Kaplan’s John Quincy Adams: American Visionary is not quite so ambitious. Quincy Adams was not a great president. Nothing can change that fact. His lack of greatness is not a personal failing; rather, it is a function of presiding over a period of peace and prosperity. Quincy Adams did not occupy the presidency during an epochal moment in American history. He was not faced with a transformational moment or have to make world-altering decisions. He did his job, lost his job, and left office without even a scandal to remember him by.
Instead, to Kaplan, Quincy Adams was a moral visionary, a man of ethics and ideals who loved his country, served his country all his life, but saw the necessity of improvement, stating that he would “disclaim as unsound all patriotism incompatible with the principles of eternal justice.”
At 570 pages of text, this is a pretty big book on an extremely full life. Adams lived in a transitional moment, the son of a Founder who lived to see an America entirely separated from those men and women who gave her birth. He served as a U.S. Minister to Russia, the U.K., the Netherlands, and Prussia, as a U.S. Senator, as Secretary of State, and as President. Instead of retiring, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a congressman from Massachusetts. He literally served in that position till his final day, when he collapsed at his desk and died shortly thereafter in the Capitol Building.
Kaplan presents Quincy Adams’s life in chronological fashion. With space at a premium, the wider context of his times gets short shrift. In a way, I don’t think this matters too much, considering the subject matter. While Quincy Adams did enough to fill a thousand lives, he does not have lasting historical feats on his resume. He did not lead great armies, win any battles, draft any defining legislation, or add huge chunks of territory to the United States. He had a conception of what this county could and should be, but his legacy is not in effecting that transformation, but in laying the ideological framework. His was a life of the mind, and accordingly, this is an intimate biography, focused on the inner man.
Kaplan is helped in this endeavor by Quincy Adams himself, an inveterate diarist who started keeping detailed accounts of his days starting at age eleven. There is no way to overstate how valuable these entries are in forming an idea of Quincy Adams as a person. Recently, I finished John Boles’s bio of Thomas Jefferson. For all the research Boles put into his work, he could not quite overcome Jefferson’s refusal to leave any personal accounts of his day-to-day thoughts, feelings, and interactions. At the end, I had a grasp on the historical Jefferson, and what he meant to his nation. The personal Jefferson, however, remained ephemeral, his contradictions fated to remain un-resolvable.
With Quincy Adams, though, we are privy to his innermost feelings. We see a young JQA bemoaning the elusiveness of female companionship. We see a middle-aged JQA struggling with the failures of his children George and John, both of whom succumbed to alcoholism. In the end, we see an aged and increasingly fragile JQA attempting to reconcile the chasm between his aspirations and his accomplishments.
The most notable aspect of Quincy Adams’s character was his vociferous opposition to slavery. He refused to be labeled an abolitionist, but he worked diligently for the cause. He famously took part in the case of the Amistad captives, arguing a portion of the case before the U.S. Supreme Court (I will add that I did not find Kaplan’s presentation of this important moment to be all that inspired or critical). As a congressman, he took part in the fight over the gag rule, grandly standing up for the people’s right to petition the government, even while southern politicians attempted to squelch any debate about their peculiar institution. The Virginia representative (and later Confederate general) Henry A. Wise called him “the acutest, the astutest, the archest enemy of Southern slavery that ever existed.” As far as epigraphs go, that’s not a bad one.
Kaplan ends his biography at the moment of Quincy Adams’s death. He does not add a chapter that attempts to sum up the man or his meaning. He leaves that to the reader. For me, I am left with John Quincy Adams’s bracing moral clarity. When you read about Washington, about Jefferson, about Madison and Monroe, and about Jackson, you have to clamber through the briars of their hypocrisy, their paradoxical beliefs, and their support for evil systems. That is not necessary with Quincy Adams. He was not a perfect man by any means. But he saw right from wrong; he advocated for the right, no matter the cost; he voted and argued his conscience, regardless of party affiliation; and he stands out as an unshakeable bulwark in an era of unfortunate compromises and soul-selling.
On June 6, 1778, an eleven year-old John Quincy Adams wrote in his diary: “We are sent into this world for some end. It is our duty to discover by close study what this end is and when we once discover it to pursue it with unconquerable perseverance.”
There will never be great monuments to this man. He will never have his face carved into a mountain. But he is worthy of remembrance. He did what he set out to do when he was only a child. Throughout his life, his ideals and his actions were close companions.
It is hard to gauge how much he changed his own world; but he can certainly serve as an inspiration in ours.
- Fred Kaplan, John Quincy Adams: American Visionary
One can be forgiven for knowing next to nothing about John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. Aside from a cameo appearance in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, where he was portrayed by Anthony Hopkins, Quincy Adams has mostly occupied that strange netherworld of forgotten Chief Executives, where he lingers with Benjamin Harrison and Millard Fillmore and Martin Van Buren, among others, who have reached the pinnacle of political success and received obscurity as their reward.
It was not too long ago that Quincy Adams’s father, John, was in much the same boat. Despite being an important figure during the American Revolution, John Adams was mostly remembered as a one-term flameout sandwiched between two legends, Washington and Jefferson. Then David McCullough came along and did for Adams père what he had already done for Truman, providing a full-scale reevaluation that changed his popular perception.
Fred Kaplan’s John Quincy Adams: American Visionary is not quite so ambitious. Quincy Adams was not a great president. Nothing can change that fact. His lack of greatness is not a personal failing; rather, it is a function of presiding over a period of peace and prosperity. Quincy Adams did not occupy the presidency during an epochal moment in American history. He was not faced with a transformational moment or have to make world-altering decisions. He did his job, lost his job, and left office without even a scandal to remember him by.
Instead, to Kaplan, Quincy Adams was a moral visionary, a man of ethics and ideals who loved his country, served his country all his life, but saw the necessity of improvement, stating that he would “disclaim as unsound all patriotism incompatible with the principles of eternal justice.”
At 570 pages of text, this is a pretty big book on an extremely full life. Adams lived in a transitional moment, the son of a Founder who lived to see an America entirely separated from those men and women who gave her birth. He served as a U.S. Minister to Russia, the U.K., the Netherlands, and Prussia, as a U.S. Senator, as Secretary of State, and as President. Instead of retiring, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a congressman from Massachusetts. He literally served in that position till his final day, when he collapsed at his desk and died shortly thereafter in the Capitol Building.
Kaplan presents Quincy Adams’s life in chronological fashion. With space at a premium, the wider context of his times gets short shrift. In a way, I don’t think this matters too much, considering the subject matter. While Quincy Adams did enough to fill a thousand lives, he does not have lasting historical feats on his resume. He did not lead great armies, win any battles, draft any defining legislation, or add huge chunks of territory to the United States. He had a conception of what this county could and should be, but his legacy is not in effecting that transformation, but in laying the ideological framework. His was a life of the mind, and accordingly, this is an intimate biography, focused on the inner man.
Kaplan is helped in this endeavor by Quincy Adams himself, an inveterate diarist who started keeping detailed accounts of his days starting at age eleven. There is no way to overstate how valuable these entries are in forming an idea of Quincy Adams as a person. Recently, I finished John Boles’s bio of Thomas Jefferson. For all the research Boles put into his work, he could not quite overcome Jefferson’s refusal to leave any personal accounts of his day-to-day thoughts, feelings, and interactions. At the end, I had a grasp on the historical Jefferson, and what he meant to his nation. The personal Jefferson, however, remained ephemeral, his contradictions fated to remain un-resolvable.
With Quincy Adams, though, we are privy to his innermost feelings. We see a young JQA bemoaning the elusiveness of female companionship. We see a middle-aged JQA struggling with the failures of his children George and John, both of whom succumbed to alcoholism. In the end, we see an aged and increasingly fragile JQA attempting to reconcile the chasm between his aspirations and his accomplishments.
The most notable aspect of Quincy Adams’s character was his vociferous opposition to slavery. He refused to be labeled an abolitionist, but he worked diligently for the cause. He famously took part in the case of the Amistad captives, arguing a portion of the case before the U.S. Supreme Court (I will add that I did not find Kaplan’s presentation of this important moment to be all that inspired or critical). As a congressman, he took part in the fight over the gag rule, grandly standing up for the people’s right to petition the government, even while southern politicians attempted to squelch any debate about their peculiar institution. The Virginia representative (and later Confederate general) Henry A. Wise called him “the acutest, the astutest, the archest enemy of Southern slavery that ever existed.” As far as epigraphs go, that’s not a bad one.
Kaplan ends his biography at the moment of Quincy Adams’s death. He does not add a chapter that attempts to sum up the man or his meaning. He leaves that to the reader. For me, I am left with John Quincy Adams’s bracing moral clarity. When you read about Washington, about Jefferson, about Madison and Monroe, and about Jackson, you have to clamber through the briars of their hypocrisy, their paradoxical beliefs, and their support for evil systems. That is not necessary with Quincy Adams. He was not a perfect man by any means. But he saw right from wrong; he advocated for the right, no matter the cost; he voted and argued his conscience, regardless of party affiliation; and he stands out as an unshakeable bulwark in an era of unfortunate compromises and soul-selling.
He had seen a great deal. And his days of strife and sorrow had been many. But the strife had been on behalf of deeply held ideals about his own and his nation’s moral life, about justice and the American future. For decades he had been anticipating a better future, a unified nation without slavery, though he believed it would come only after a dark and bloody passage. All he asked for himself is that when he came, in his mind or in some future state, before his nation and his God, he would be judged by the values by which he had lived.
On June 6, 1778, an eleven year-old John Quincy Adams wrote in his diary: “We are sent into this world for some end. It is our duty to discover by close study what this end is and when we once discover it to pursue it with unconquerable perseverance.”
There will never be great monuments to this man. He will never have his face carved into a mountain. But he is worthy of remembrance. He did what he set out to do when he was only a child. Throughout his life, his ideals and his actions were close companions.
It is hard to gauge how much he changed his own world; but he can certainly serve as an inspiration in ours.
July 3, 2019
”If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams at age 29 by John Singleton Copley. JOHN HAD HAIR!
I don’t know if there has ever been a better son in the history of sons of famous people. His mother Abigail was always worried about his immortal soul. He knew exactly the right things to say to reassure her, especially when he was in that den of iniquity (Europe). His father John Adams, second President of the United States, was a man of passions, often feeling untolerated and intolerable. He made enemies easier than friends and would never toe the party line. To be his son, his eldest son especially, it must have been like being born in a tea kettle on full burn. JQA spent long hours every day working at his studies because his father wanted him to. He was supplied with tutors and never did attend regular public school.
Somehow he handled his father when others found him impossible.
When John Adams is dispatched to Europe to help negotiate treaties and try to convince foreign powers to lend the burgeoning United States money, 11 year old JQA accompanied him. JQA went to France, Netherlands, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. He spent very few of his formative years in America. It was funny, but he made a note of the pretty girls of Sweden who made his heart go pitter patter. When I say he made a note, what I really mean is he made a journal entry. In 1779, he started keeping a journal and kept adding his daily observations until right up just before he died in 1843. This journal is 50 volumes of pure gold to researchers not only about his life, but also about the times he lived in.
He picked up languages very quickly and became a scholar of Latin and Greek. He translated Juvenal for fun, even though it was a bit racy for him. He also later read Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which made me laugh out loud because I’m sure there was plenty of squirming in his seat and tsk tsks muttering from his moralistically bent mind. I have to believe the way that he sought works like this out over the space of his life that he may doth protest their inappropriateness a bit too much.
JQA was a poet. ”A man who writes so well in prose perhaps should have no need to be a poet. But Adams did.” Here is an example of him having fun when a servant girl is found to be with child...well after she has the baby.
Poor Betsey was a maiden pure
Declined in years, but so demure
That Man was her aversion;
And night by night her door she barred
With treble bolts, her fame to guard
From Slander’s foul aspersion.
When lo! all in the dead of Night
Came Mary, breathless with a affright
Wringing her hands and crying
“Oh! Mistress! Mistress! Rouse! Awake!
To Betsey come, for Heaven’s sweet sake!
Poor Betsey!--She’s a dying!”
The Lady, tender and humane,
Starts from her bed, and flies amain,
The wonder to unravel.--
Flies to where Betsey lays and moans
And straight perceives what caused her groans
--Poor Betsey!--was--in travel!!
JQA had the soul of a poet, and if he had been a different man’s son, he may have been a poet, but if there was ever a man born and bred to be a politician, it was John Quincy Adams. Here is his version of a European tour.
He is nominated to go to the Netherlands as a diplomat by George Washington from 1794-1797.
He married Louisa Johnson in 1797. She is the daughter of an American merchant with dubious financial difficulties. She will later become the only foreign born first lady of the United States.
He is nominated to go to Prussia by his father and then president John Adams from 1797-1801. They accused the Adam’s family of nepotism, of course, but frankly there wasn’t a better qualified person in America than JQA to represent us overseas.
He is nominated to go to Russia by James Madison from 1809-1814, then to London from 1814-1817.
He was a man that desperately wanted to come home.
John Quincy Adams looking a bit more portly and bookish.
From 1817-1825, he was Secretary of State for Monroe. He is considered by most historians as the greatest Secretary of State in the history of that office. In what will be only one of a long list of important documents that he will be entrusted to compose in his lifetime, his most long reaching one was when he wrote the Monroe Doctrine. “It became a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States and one of its longest-standing tenets, and would be invoked by many U.S. statesmen and several U.S. presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and others.”
John Quincy Adams White House Portrait by GPA Healy.
It is a good thing that the 1824 Presidential election was not decided in the boxing ring, or by pistols at dawn, or by the flashing of clashing sabers for John Quincy Adams was pitted against the fiery, strong willed, strong armed, hero of New Orleans, made of Old Hickory, the one and only Andrew Jackson.
Jackson won the popular vote and the electoral vote helped by the three-fifths compromise which boosted Southern seats in Congress by counting each slave as three-fifths of a man. Jackson was measuring the oval office for drapes and rugs and looking for the best place to keep his drubbing cane near to hand. He did not win the majority of electoral votes so the decision is passed to the House of Representatives. They were to choose between the top three candidates Adams, Jackson, and Crawford. Now Henry Clay came in fourth and was not allowed to be on the ballot, but as speaker of the house, he was “clothed in immense power.” (Okay I stole that from the Lincoln movie, but man I love that line.) Clay swung the vote to Adams, and Adams promptly nominated him for Secretary of State which in those days was saying this is the next President of the United States.
Jacksonites went berserk. Jackson probably spent more than a few nights howling at the moon between furious bouts of scribbling out his enemies list in blood. It was in many ways a stolen election, and even though I like Jackson, despite my disagreements with many of his policies, I couldn’t help but feel vindication for the 5’7” scholar from Massachusetts.
Maybe good, old dad said: “Son, I’m so proud that you finally made something of yourself.” *Sigh*.
One point I really want to make about this situation: Jackson was wildly popular and certainly could have initiated a coup, justifiable in his mind by thinking it is really just a coup for a coup. It didn’t happen. When things were hinky with the Rutherford B. Hayes election...no coup attempt. Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 and was, in my opinion, denied his rights to a recount in Florida. He conceded (best speech of your life Al) with grace and dignity. New Hampshire, don’t think I’m not still casting a disappointed look at you over those 2000 election results. There were angry people over the results, but no armed insurrection (and believe me, here in the states we are armed to the teeth). Somehow, even when we know things aren’t right with our political system, we still trust that it will all work out eventually.
Well, JQA, being the practical man he is, decided to stop the practice of patronage with government positions. He wanted people judged by their ability not their political affiliation. Both he and his father were becoming less than enamoured with political parties.
”There is not a party in this country with which an honest man can act without blushing, and I feel myself rather more strongly attached to my principles than to the ambition of any place or power in the gift of this Country.”
That was senior saying that, but for reelection in 1828 JQA would need all the help he could get. He certainly would have increased his chances if he had packed all the government jobs with his own loyal following, but more than likely, Jackson would have still won.
Speaking of political affiliations, JQA did struggle mightily with party politics. He started out life as a Federalist, like his father, until 1808. From 1808-1830, he was a Democratic-Republican. From 1830-1834, he was a National Republican. From 1834-1838, he was Anti-Masonic. He ended his career a Whig. Talk about a guy finding it hard to find a political home. I really identified with this part of his nature because I have always found it hard to join any organization.
A couple of comments on his presidency. He is ranked anywhere from 11th to 25th (really WSJ?) on presidential rankings, and with averaging out all the 18 polls he came out 17th. He cut the national debt from $16 million down to $5 million which allowed his successor Jackson to completely eliminate the National Debt. He was a proponent of government led research and education that would benefit all. He also passed the 1828 Tariff Bill which almost started the Civil War early. There was this problematic state...hmmm...let me remember which one...oh yes...SOUTH CAROLINA who passed a bill choosing to ignore the Federal Tariff law and decided to negotiate their own terms with foreign nations. They also arrested black sailors from British ships because they didn’t want any free black people walking around their state.
We always talk about the great work that Jimmy Carter has done after his presidency, but few people know that JQA did something no other president has done. He continued to serve in public office. He served a stint as a Senator, but then found a better place for himself in the raucous halls of the House of Representatives. His remaining son Charles was mortified. It was unseemly. It was frustrating for JQA, but also invigorating. He was a great writer and orator. He gave all party affiliates, including his own of the moment, more trouble than they wanted.
He also famously took on the Amistad case after several high profile lawyers found themselves too busy to participate. JQA had become a more and more outspoken abolitionist as he aged. Even though he felt he was a little past his prime in 1841, he spoke for four hours in the defense of the free blacks and won the case.
As if I didn’t like him enough, JQA also was a tree guy. He would extort every ambassador going abroad to bring him back seeds of local trees. He planted over two hundred trees at the White House and devoted hundreds of his acres in Quincy to hardwoods. I have had to settle with more modest goals. I do have a corner lot and have managed to sandwich 15 trees onto my property. JQA was a reader, not a socializer. He continued to devote large amounts of time to learning throughout his lifetime. He was too practical and too much his own man to ever be a great politician.
JQA in 1843.
He suffered substantial tragedy with two younger brothers consumed by alcohol, debt, and shortened lives. He and Louisa had numerous miscarriages and two dear sons, George and John, perish as young men. He had several genetic eye complaints which were excruciating for him because they took him away from his books and writing. He hurt his hand in a pistol accident and couldn’t use it to write until it healed. Louisa had to, during his recovery, record his journal entries and wrote down his latest thoughts of the current political situation. His work ethic was remarkable, even putting my own to shame. He served his country to the end, dying on the job at the House of Representatives at the age of 80.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams at age 29 by John Singleton Copley. JOHN HAD HAIR!
I don’t know if there has ever been a better son in the history of sons of famous people. His mother Abigail was always worried about his immortal soul. He knew exactly the right things to say to reassure her, especially when he was in that den of iniquity (Europe). His father John Adams, second President of the United States, was a man of passions, often feeling untolerated and intolerable. He made enemies easier than friends and would never toe the party line. To be his son, his eldest son especially, it must have been like being born in a tea kettle on full burn. JQA spent long hours every day working at his studies because his father wanted him to. He was supplied with tutors and never did attend regular public school.
Somehow he handled his father when others found him impossible.
When John Adams is dispatched to Europe to help negotiate treaties and try to convince foreign powers to lend the burgeoning United States money, 11 year old JQA accompanied him. JQA went to France, Netherlands, Russia, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark. He spent very few of his formative years in America. It was funny, but he made a note of the pretty girls of Sweden who made his heart go pitter patter. When I say he made a note, what I really mean is he made a journal entry. In 1779, he started keeping a journal and kept adding his daily observations until right up just before he died in 1843. This journal is 50 volumes of pure gold to researchers not only about his life, but also about the times he lived in.
He picked up languages very quickly and became a scholar of Latin and Greek. He translated Juvenal for fun, even though it was a bit racy for him. He also later read Les Liaisons Dangereuses, which made me laugh out loud because I’m sure there was plenty of squirming in his seat and tsk tsks muttering from his moralistically bent mind. I have to believe the way that he sought works like this out over the space of his life that he may doth protest their inappropriateness a bit too much.
JQA was a poet. ”A man who writes so well in prose perhaps should have no need to be a poet. But Adams did.” Here is an example of him having fun when a servant girl is found to be with child...well after she has the baby.
Poor Betsey was a maiden pure
Declined in years, but so demure
That Man was her aversion;
And night by night her door she barred
With treble bolts, her fame to guard
From Slander’s foul aspersion.
When lo! all in the dead of Night
Came Mary, breathless with a affright
Wringing her hands and crying
“Oh! Mistress! Mistress! Rouse! Awake!
To Betsey come, for Heaven’s sweet sake!
Poor Betsey!--She’s a dying!”
The Lady, tender and humane,
Starts from her bed, and flies amain,
The wonder to unravel.--
Flies to where Betsey lays and moans
And straight perceives what caused her groans
--Poor Betsey!--was--in travel!!
JQA had the soul of a poet, and if he had been a different man’s son, he may have been a poet, but if there was ever a man born and bred to be a politician, it was John Quincy Adams. Here is his version of a European tour.
He is nominated to go to the Netherlands as a diplomat by George Washington from 1794-1797.
He married Louisa Johnson in 1797. She is the daughter of an American merchant with dubious financial difficulties. She will later become the only foreign born first lady of the United States.
He is nominated to go to Prussia by his father and then president John Adams from 1797-1801. They accused the Adam’s family of nepotism, of course, but frankly there wasn’t a better qualified person in America than JQA to represent us overseas.
He is nominated to go to Russia by James Madison from 1809-1814, then to London from 1814-1817.
He was a man that desperately wanted to come home.
John Quincy Adams looking a bit more portly and bookish.
From 1817-1825, he was Secretary of State for Monroe. He is considered by most historians as the greatest Secretary of State in the history of that office. In what will be only one of a long list of important documents that he will be entrusted to compose in his lifetime, his most long reaching one was when he wrote the Monroe Doctrine. “It became a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States and one of its longest-standing tenets, and would be invoked by many U.S. statesmen and several U.S. presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and others.”
John Quincy Adams White House Portrait by GPA Healy.
It is a good thing that the 1824 Presidential election was not decided in the boxing ring, or by pistols at dawn, or by the flashing of clashing sabers for John Quincy Adams was pitted against the fiery, strong willed, strong armed, hero of New Orleans, made of Old Hickory, the one and only Andrew Jackson.
Jackson won the popular vote and the electoral vote helped by the three-fifths compromise which boosted Southern seats in Congress by counting each slave as three-fifths of a man. Jackson was measuring the oval office for drapes and rugs and looking for the best place to keep his drubbing cane near to hand. He did not win the majority of electoral votes so the decision is passed to the House of Representatives. They were to choose between the top three candidates Adams, Jackson, and Crawford. Now Henry Clay came in fourth and was not allowed to be on the ballot, but as speaker of the house, he was “clothed in immense power.” (Okay I stole that from the Lincoln movie, but man I love that line.) Clay swung the vote to Adams, and Adams promptly nominated him for Secretary of State which in those days was saying this is the next President of the United States.
Jacksonites went berserk. Jackson probably spent more than a few nights howling at the moon between furious bouts of scribbling out his enemies list in blood. It was in many ways a stolen election, and even though I like Jackson, despite my disagreements with many of his policies, I couldn’t help but feel vindication for the 5’7” scholar from Massachusetts.
Maybe good, old dad said: “Son, I’m so proud that you finally made something of yourself.” *Sigh*.
One point I really want to make about this situation: Jackson was wildly popular and certainly could have initiated a coup, justifiable in his mind by thinking it is really just a coup for a coup. It didn’t happen. When things were hinky with the Rutherford B. Hayes election...no coup attempt. Al Gore won the popular vote in 2000 and was, in my opinion, denied his rights to a recount in Florida. He conceded (best speech of your life Al) with grace and dignity. New Hampshire, don’t think I’m not still casting a disappointed look at you over those 2000 election results. There were angry people over the results, but no armed insurrection (and believe me, here in the states we are armed to the teeth). Somehow, even when we know things aren’t right with our political system, we still trust that it will all work out eventually.
Well, JQA, being the practical man he is, decided to stop the practice of patronage with government positions. He wanted people judged by their ability not their political affiliation. Both he and his father were becoming less than enamoured with political parties.
”There is not a party in this country with which an honest man can act without blushing, and I feel myself rather more strongly attached to my principles than to the ambition of any place or power in the gift of this Country.”
That was senior saying that, but for reelection in 1828 JQA would need all the help he could get. He certainly would have increased his chances if he had packed all the government jobs with his own loyal following, but more than likely, Jackson would have still won.
Speaking of political affiliations, JQA did struggle mightily with party politics. He started out life as a Federalist, like his father, until 1808. From 1808-1830, he was a Democratic-Republican. From 1830-1834, he was a National Republican. From 1834-1838, he was Anti-Masonic. He ended his career a Whig. Talk about a guy finding it hard to find a political home. I really identified with this part of his nature because I have always found it hard to join any organization.
A couple of comments on his presidency. He is ranked anywhere from 11th to 25th (really WSJ?) on presidential rankings, and with averaging out all the 18 polls he came out 17th. He cut the national debt from $16 million down to $5 million which allowed his successor Jackson to completely eliminate the National Debt. He was a proponent of government led research and education that would benefit all. He also passed the 1828 Tariff Bill which almost started the Civil War early. There was this problematic state...hmmm...let me remember which one...oh yes...SOUTH CAROLINA who passed a bill choosing to ignore the Federal Tariff law and decided to negotiate their own terms with foreign nations. They also arrested black sailors from British ships because they didn’t want any free black people walking around their state.
We always talk about the great work that Jimmy Carter has done after his presidency, but few people know that JQA did something no other president has done. He continued to serve in public office. He served a stint as a Senator, but then found a better place for himself in the raucous halls of the House of Representatives. His remaining son Charles was mortified. It was unseemly. It was frustrating for JQA, but also invigorating. He was a great writer and orator. He gave all party affiliates, including his own of the moment, more trouble than they wanted.
He also famously took on the Amistad case after several high profile lawyers found themselves too busy to participate. JQA had become a more and more outspoken abolitionist as he aged. Even though he felt he was a little past his prime in 1841, he spoke for four hours in the defense of the free blacks and won the case.
As if I didn’t like him enough, JQA also was a tree guy. He would extort every ambassador going abroad to bring him back seeds of local trees. He planted over two hundred trees at the White House and devoted hundreds of his acres in Quincy to hardwoods. I have had to settle with more modest goals. I do have a corner lot and have managed to sandwich 15 trees onto my property. JQA was a reader, not a socializer. He continued to devote large amounts of time to learning throughout his lifetime. He was too practical and too much his own man to ever be a great politician.
JQA in 1843.
He suffered substantial tragedy with two younger brothers consumed by alcohol, debt, and shortened lives. He and Louisa had numerous miscarriages and two dear sons, George and John, perish as young men. He had several genetic eye complaints which were excruciating for him because they took him away from his books and writing. He hurt his hand in a pistol accident and couldn’t use it to write until it healed. Louisa had to, during his recovery, record his journal entries and wrote down his latest thoughts of the current political situation. His work ethic was remarkable, even putting my own to shame. He served his country to the end, dying on the job at the House of Representatives at the age of 80.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
September 12, 2019
I recently read a review of Kaplan’s John Quincy Adams American Visionary by GR’s follower Robin. I was impressed with his review and decided to read Kaplan’s book. I had read Harlon Giles Unger’s “John Quincy Adams” in August 2014. Unger’s book took ten hours to read and Kaplan’s is twenty-seven hours and thirty-nine minutes or 672 pages.
The book is well written and researched. Kaplan provides an in-depth view of the life of JQA. Not only does Kaplan review the history of the times but also covers an inside look at politics of the era. JQA was a most interesting man. He had a brilliant mind and spoke seven languages. JQA was the first president elected by winning the electoral college and losing the popular vote. I found Adams’ view of political parties on the mark. Kaplan covers Adams’ role in the fight for universal education insightful. Our battle over universal health care is only a continuation of Adams’ battle about the basic fundamental view/belief in what are or not human rights. Adams stated without an educated electorate democracy will fail. The author also describes Adams’ critical role in the creation of the Smithsonian Institution. I have been interested in the Adams’ family and have read extensively about them. Kaplan provides a thorough look at the life of JQA. This is an excellent read.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is twenty-seven hours and thirty-nine minutes. Eric Jason Martin does an excellent job narrating the book. Martin has won both an Earphone Award and the Audie Award.
The book is well written and researched. Kaplan provides an in-depth view of the life of JQA. Not only does Kaplan review the history of the times but also covers an inside look at politics of the era. JQA was a most interesting man. He had a brilliant mind and spoke seven languages. JQA was the first president elected by winning the electoral college and losing the popular vote. I found Adams’ view of political parties on the mark. Kaplan covers Adams’ role in the fight for universal education insightful. Our battle over universal health care is only a continuation of Adams’ battle about the basic fundamental view/belief in what are or not human rights. Adams stated without an educated electorate democracy will fail. The author also describes Adams’ critical role in the creation of the Smithsonian Institution. I have been interested in the Adams’ family and have read extensively about them. Kaplan provides a thorough look at the life of JQA. This is an excellent read.
I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is twenty-seven hours and thirty-nine minutes. Eric Jason Martin does an excellent job narrating the book. Martin has won both an Earphone Award and the Audie Award.
November 30, 2015
So, what was John Quincy Adams like?
Well, he was a reader. His favorites were Cicero (in Latin), Shakespeare and Laurence Sterne. Would it be so bad to have a Shandian as President? He grew to love gardening. He grafted a pear branch to an apple tree. While President, he planted over two hundred trees of more than twenty varieties at the White House. He wrote to one of his sons, "Dendrology has become to me precisely what Uncle Toby's fortifications were to him." (If you haven't read The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman then you can't appreciate just how wonderful that thought is.)
He was a writer. He wrote every day. He obsessively kept a journal from his adolescence to his last days. He wrote letters, essays, arguments. He wrote poetry, a lot of poetry, in his journal but also to people as a thank you or a condolence. Of one such effort, his biographer here offers the critique: Whatever good it did the grieving mother, as poetry it had to make do with the merit of sincerity and good intentions. Yet he never stopped, his last journal entry a four line poem in a trembling hand. His prose read like poetry though, and our author speaks to the reader by taking one such entry and formatting it as an italicized poem, with wonderful results.
And when he read, and when he wrote, he thought about how the language of ideas shed a light on the issues of the day. There was no greater issue than Slavery. So Adams became obsessed with Othello. He was not alone. South Carolina's John Henry Hammond wrote, "Slavery can never be abolished. . . .I believe it to be the greatest of all the great blessings which Providence has bestowed upon our glorious region." Why, if abolitionists had their way, Hammond imagined, "some Othello . . . gifted with genius and inspired by ambition" might someday "wield the destinies of this great republic." How prescient.
Speaking of Providence, Adams was a Congregationalist, but would accept the fellowship of any Christian service. He was not, though, our biographer tells us, a literalist reader:
He was once asked if Scripture was inspired. "Yes, I believe the scripture was inspired," Adams replied, "and also the Iliad of Homer."
Oh, you know the Wiki-story: Adams traveled extensively in Europe as a child; he was a U.S. Senator and a Minister to Russia and England. As Secretary of State, his ideas became the Monroe Doctrine, the boss then as now being the one to get the credit. He was President, of course, like his father before him serving a single term.
But, carefully and meticulously examining the treasure trove of the writings of Adams and others, Fred Kaplan gives us much more than a curriculum vitae. Like this: Adams, like all poets, fell in love as a young man. Hard. Her name was Mary Frazier. He wanted to marry her, but his parents said No, that he had too much work to do. He obeyed. Fifty years later he still wrote about Mary in his journal. Walking though a graveyard he sees a stone. Mary's daughter has died at age 31. His tears flowed. Later that night he wrote of "the most beautiful and beloved" of women. And, "I imagined to myself what would have been her fate and mine, had our union been accomplished." As I said, he fell hard.
Which is not to say he didn't love his Louisa. Their marriage would last fifty years. She was sickly and often pregnant. Only three sons would be born though - she miscarried often - and only one of them would outlive John Quincy and Louisa. Louisa's story, embedded in this one, is itself a passion play.
Adams was issue-driven, not Party-driven. He and Andrew Jackson would be natural enemies. And Adams was prone to stubbornness; his writing prone to satire (read sarcasm). So he garnered more enemies than just Jackson. He hated the party system. "Whatever vices there are, Federalism and Republicanism will cover them all." Some things don't change.
He was a lawyer - once again his parents made him - but he hated the practice of law. Still, late in life, he agreed to argue the Armistad case before a U.S. Supreme Court dominated by pro-slavery associates and Chief Justice Roger Taney. Arguing a single evidentiary point with eloquence, he won.
So then, what to do upon retirement (or being un-elected)? What to do when writing poetry, planting trees and vegetables, delivering orations, being a grandfather and securing the release of 53 slaves isn't enough? This is the best part, for me, maybe of all American biography. John Quincy Adams became a stinker. He was elected to the House of Representatives, a mere congressman. In what is the greatest civics lesson, John Quincy Adams got up every Monday and offered petitions from his constituents. Many of these dealt with Slavery issues. It drove the Southern congressmen nuts. They sought to administratively gag him. With parlimentary savvy he befuddled his opponents. (On this segment of Adams' life, I heartily recommend Arguing About Slavery by William Miller which does the seeming impossible in making a staid 19th Century American Whig hilarious.)
John Quincy Adams died at his House desk. Working. Building fortifications, Uncle Toby, until the end.
Well, he was a reader. His favorites were Cicero (in Latin), Shakespeare and Laurence Sterne. Would it be so bad to have a Shandian as President? He grew to love gardening. He grafted a pear branch to an apple tree. While President, he planted over two hundred trees of more than twenty varieties at the White House. He wrote to one of his sons, "Dendrology has become to me precisely what Uncle Toby's fortifications were to him." (If you haven't read The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman then you can't appreciate just how wonderful that thought is.)
He was a writer. He wrote every day. He obsessively kept a journal from his adolescence to his last days. He wrote letters, essays, arguments. He wrote poetry, a lot of poetry, in his journal but also to people as a thank you or a condolence. Of one such effort, his biographer here offers the critique: Whatever good it did the grieving mother, as poetry it had to make do with the merit of sincerity and good intentions. Yet he never stopped, his last journal entry a four line poem in a trembling hand. His prose read like poetry though, and our author speaks to the reader by taking one such entry and formatting it as an italicized poem, with wonderful results.
And when he read, and when he wrote, he thought about how the language of ideas shed a light on the issues of the day. There was no greater issue than Slavery. So Adams became obsessed with Othello. He was not alone. South Carolina's John Henry Hammond wrote, "Slavery can never be abolished. . . .I believe it to be the greatest of all the great blessings which Providence has bestowed upon our glorious region." Why, if abolitionists had their way, Hammond imagined, "some Othello . . . gifted with genius and inspired by ambition" might someday "wield the destinies of this great republic." How prescient.
Speaking of Providence, Adams was a Congregationalist, but would accept the fellowship of any Christian service. He was not, though, our biographer tells us, a literalist reader:
He was once asked if Scripture was inspired. "Yes, I believe the scripture was inspired," Adams replied, "and also the Iliad of Homer."
Oh, you know the Wiki-story: Adams traveled extensively in Europe as a child; he was a U.S. Senator and a Minister to Russia and England. As Secretary of State, his ideas became the Monroe Doctrine, the boss then as now being the one to get the credit. He was President, of course, like his father before him serving a single term.
But, carefully and meticulously examining the treasure trove of the writings of Adams and others, Fred Kaplan gives us much more than a curriculum vitae. Like this: Adams, like all poets, fell in love as a young man. Hard. Her name was Mary Frazier. He wanted to marry her, but his parents said No, that he had too much work to do. He obeyed. Fifty years later he still wrote about Mary in his journal. Walking though a graveyard he sees a stone. Mary's daughter has died at age 31. His tears flowed. Later that night he wrote of "the most beautiful and beloved" of women. And, "I imagined to myself what would have been her fate and mine, had our union been accomplished." As I said, he fell hard.
Which is not to say he didn't love his Louisa. Their marriage would last fifty years. She was sickly and often pregnant. Only three sons would be born though - she miscarried often - and only one of them would outlive John Quincy and Louisa. Louisa's story, embedded in this one, is itself a passion play.
Adams was issue-driven, not Party-driven. He and Andrew Jackson would be natural enemies. And Adams was prone to stubbornness; his writing prone to satire (read sarcasm). So he garnered more enemies than just Jackson. He hated the party system. "Whatever vices there are, Federalism and Republicanism will cover them all." Some things don't change.
He was a lawyer - once again his parents made him - but he hated the practice of law. Still, late in life, he agreed to argue the Armistad case before a U.S. Supreme Court dominated by pro-slavery associates and Chief Justice Roger Taney. Arguing a single evidentiary point with eloquence, he won.
So then, what to do upon retirement (or being un-elected)? What to do when writing poetry, planting trees and vegetables, delivering orations, being a grandfather and securing the release of 53 slaves isn't enough? This is the best part, for me, maybe of all American biography. John Quincy Adams became a stinker. He was elected to the House of Representatives, a mere congressman. In what is the greatest civics lesson, John Quincy Adams got up every Monday and offered petitions from his constituents. Many of these dealt with Slavery issues. It drove the Southern congressmen nuts. They sought to administratively gag him. With parlimentary savvy he befuddled his opponents. (On this segment of Adams' life, I heartily recommend Arguing About Slavery by William Miller which does the seeming impossible in making a staid 19th Century American Whig hilarious.)
John Quincy Adams died at his House desk. Working. Building fortifications, Uncle Toby, until the end.
December 27, 2022
Kaplan answers the question of why he wrote a biography of John Quincy Adams in the last sentence of his bibliographical essay: “The opposition that he met, his successes, and his failures are part of the torn fabric of public discourse in early-twenty-first-century America.” In this excellent account of Adams’s life, one can’t help but be constantly reminded of today’s pressing American political issues.
From gag rules preventing public officials from mentioning climate change and the medical effects of gun violence to bank bailouts that leave the perpetrators untouched and in power; from the inordinate power and influence the reactionary South has on national politics to the division of power between the states and the federal government; all of these issues were similar to those confronted by Adams. His responses to them would serve as timely suggestions for today's politicians.
Born into a prominent political family, Adams spent much of his early life in Europe, first as the son of an ambassador to France and England, which also took him on travels through the continent as far as St. Petersburg. After studying at Harvard and beginning a legal career, he spent the entirety of his father’s presidency in Europe as a diplomat. After serving one term as a U.S. senator (when he learned “To do a thing, by assuming the appearance of preventing it. To prevent a thing by assuming that of doing it”), Adams returned to Europe for eight years as one of the chief diplomats of the Madison administration. This period was highlighted by his strong influence in negotiating the Treaty of Ghent to end the War of 1812.
He returned to America to become President Monroe’s secretary of state. That term was marked by his negotiation of the Adams-Onis Treaty, which gave shape to much of the American West, and his influence on what later became known as The Monroe Doctrine (much as Truman’s vision became The Marshall Plan). As a successful president, he promoted infrastructure improvements like the Erie and Chesapeake & Ohio Canals. But his conviction that “sense of duty shall never yield to the pleasure of a party” opened the door for the partisan populism of Andrew Jackson and denied him a second term. It was the birth of a politicization of the White House that, by the end of Jackson’s term, Kaplan concludes “It now seemed inevitable that every president’s last two years would be dominated by a race to succeed him.”
Two years after leaving the presidency, he was elected to the House of Representatives, serving until his death 16 years later. It was as congressman that Adams could freely voice his core beliefs and convictions. He believed “the point of government” was that “It existed for ‘the improvement of the condition of those who are parties to the social compact.’” This “meant not only material improvement but ‘moral, political, and intellectual improvement.’” And it meant that a strong central government was needed to overcome the narrow, self-interested priorities of the states.
Adams opposed slavery with the principle that “A dedication to justice and human rights was ‘the only legitimate foundation of civil government.’” While he knew that he was in the minority and that the Constitution gave the South the mechanisms to prevail legislatively, “…Adams predicted…a war between the North and South. There would be, he believed, no other way to end slavery.” But that did not prevent him from forcefully opposing nullification, which he felt “substitute[d] physical force in the place of deliberate legislation” and the actions of the House leadership to enforce a gag rule which “would accept nothing short of prohibiting the mention of slavery” in legislative proceedings.
Describing a “Southern propaganda machine, built on an edifice of widely propagated lies”, Kaplan extensively quotes a late speech by Adams that is worth repeating: “Falsified logic—falsified history—falsified constitutional law, falsified morality, falsified statistics, and falsified and slanderous imputations upon the majorities of both Houses of Congress for a long series of years. All—all is false and hollow. And for what is this enormous edifice of fraud and falsehood directed?” His efforts, though mostly on the losing side, did earn him begrudging praise. As one of his political enemies observed, Adams was “the acutest, the astutest, the archest enemy of Southern slavery that ever existed.”
Adams kept a diary from childhood through the end of his life. He “…consider[ed] it as the business and duty of my life to write,” believing “Pen should never be put to paper but for the discharge of some duty to God or man.” Adams was deeply religious, but a rationalist. The bible “was, he decided, ‘philosophical Romance,’ not a history of facts, ‘full of profound and admirable instruction.’” Or, more to the point, “The resurrection of the Spirit disencumbered of the body, I can imagine; but the resurrection of the body—a body to which will no longer be flesh and blood is beyond the compass of my understanding.”
Kaplan best sums up Adams' life and character in a telling anecdote:
From gag rules preventing public officials from mentioning climate change and the medical effects of gun violence to bank bailouts that leave the perpetrators untouched and in power; from the inordinate power and influence the reactionary South has on national politics to the division of power between the states and the federal government; all of these issues were similar to those confronted by Adams. His responses to them would serve as timely suggestions for today's politicians.
Born into a prominent political family, Adams spent much of his early life in Europe, first as the son of an ambassador to France and England, which also took him on travels through the continent as far as St. Petersburg. After studying at Harvard and beginning a legal career, he spent the entirety of his father’s presidency in Europe as a diplomat. After serving one term as a U.S. senator (when he learned “To do a thing, by assuming the appearance of preventing it. To prevent a thing by assuming that of doing it”), Adams returned to Europe for eight years as one of the chief diplomats of the Madison administration. This period was highlighted by his strong influence in negotiating the Treaty of Ghent to end the War of 1812.
He returned to America to become President Monroe’s secretary of state. That term was marked by his negotiation of the Adams-Onis Treaty, which gave shape to much of the American West, and his influence on what later became known as The Monroe Doctrine (much as Truman’s vision became The Marshall Plan). As a successful president, he promoted infrastructure improvements like the Erie and Chesapeake & Ohio Canals. But his conviction that “sense of duty shall never yield to the pleasure of a party” opened the door for the partisan populism of Andrew Jackson and denied him a second term. It was the birth of a politicization of the White House that, by the end of Jackson’s term, Kaplan concludes “It now seemed inevitable that every president’s last two years would be dominated by a race to succeed him.”
Two years after leaving the presidency, he was elected to the House of Representatives, serving until his death 16 years later. It was as congressman that Adams could freely voice his core beliefs and convictions. He believed “the point of government” was that “It existed for ‘the improvement of the condition of those who are parties to the social compact.’” This “meant not only material improvement but ‘moral, political, and intellectual improvement.’” And it meant that a strong central government was needed to overcome the narrow, self-interested priorities of the states.
Adams opposed slavery with the principle that “A dedication to justice and human rights was ‘the only legitimate foundation of civil government.’” While he knew that he was in the minority and that the Constitution gave the South the mechanisms to prevail legislatively, “…Adams predicted…a war between the North and South. There would be, he believed, no other way to end slavery.” But that did not prevent him from forcefully opposing nullification, which he felt “substitute[d] physical force in the place of deliberate legislation” and the actions of the House leadership to enforce a gag rule which “would accept nothing short of prohibiting the mention of slavery” in legislative proceedings.
Describing a “Southern propaganda machine, built on an edifice of widely propagated lies”, Kaplan extensively quotes a late speech by Adams that is worth repeating: “Falsified logic—falsified history—falsified constitutional law, falsified morality, falsified statistics, and falsified and slanderous imputations upon the majorities of both Houses of Congress for a long series of years. All—all is false and hollow. And for what is this enormous edifice of fraud and falsehood directed?” His efforts, though mostly on the losing side, did earn him begrudging praise. As one of his political enemies observed, Adams was “the acutest, the astutest, the archest enemy of Southern slavery that ever existed.”
Adams kept a diary from childhood through the end of his life. He “…consider[ed] it as the business and duty of my life to write,” believing “Pen should never be put to paper but for the discharge of some duty to God or man.” Adams was deeply religious, but a rationalist. The bible “was, he decided, ‘philosophical Romance,’ not a history of facts, ‘full of profound and admirable instruction.’” Or, more to the point, “The resurrection of the Spirit disencumbered of the body, I can imagine; but the resurrection of the body—a body to which will no longer be flesh and blood is beyond the compass of my understanding.”
Kaplan best sums up Adams' life and character in a telling anecdote:
Admiral Stephen Decatur’s widely publicized toast in 1816, “our country, right or wrong,” struck Adams as not only discordant but immoral. As Adams saw it, “I cannot ask of heaven success, even for my country, in a cause where she should be in the wrong. My toast would be, may our country be always successful, but whether successful or otherwise always right. I disclaim as unsound all patriotism incompatible with the principles of eternal justice.”Justice, morality, and duty guided Adams throughout an intellectually consistent life. That’s a lesson that transcends American history.
May 17, 2024
Why John Quincy Adams Is An American Visionary
Fred Kaplan's 2014 book, "John Quincy Adams: American Visionary", is an important new biography of the personal and public life of John Quincy Adams (1767 -- 1848) together with a study of American history during John Quincy Adams' long life. Kaplan is distinguished professor emeritus of English at Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City of New York. He has written biographies of Lincoln, Thomas Carlyle, Henry James, and Dickens, among other books. Lengthy and detailed, his biography of John Quincy Adams (JQA) makes for slow, difficult reading. The book amply rewards the effort and the time it requires.
Kaplan's biography shows the great influence of Daniel Walker Howe's history of the United States from 1815 -- 1848 included in the Oxford History of the United States, "What Hath God Wrought". Howe takes issue with the view that sees Jacksonian Democracy as central to the transformation of American life during this time. He praises instead Jackson's opponents for their insistence on the qualitative rather than the quantitative change of American life, including their emphasis on nationalism, internal improvements, education, and moral uplift. John Quincy Adams emerges as the representative figure of American life in Howe's book. He dedicates his history to JQA's memory. Kaplan expands many of the themes of Howe's history in his biography of JQA.
In many ways, JQA's values and character were throw-backs to an earlier time. Yet, these values with their sources in the past helped create a forward-looking leader. Thus, "American Visionary" offers a portrayal of a great American life devoted to the development of American nationalism and unity. The book portrays a leader who, with his faults, tried to put the good of the nation above short-term, partisan politics. JQA tried to live morally and struggled with his conscience in both his public and private life. JQA was many years ahead of his time in advocating national programs of public works, improvements, and education. JQA brought broadly idealistic qualities to American life, tempered by realism. In developing JQA's goals, accomplishments, and character, Kaplan's book shows why JQA deserves to be considered an "American Visionary".
From 1825 --- 1829, JQA served a single term as the sixth president. Historians have generally not been kind to JQA's presidency. JQA also had an extraordinary career as a diplomat, Senator, Secretary of State and Congressman from Massachusetts. JQA was born before the American Revolution and he lived through the War with Mexico. Kaplan works hard to trace the continuity in JQA's thought and actions during this extended and varied period of American history.
Earlier studies of JQA tended to concentrate either on his personal or on his public life while Kaplan offers full discussion of both. The book has a cluttered feel at times and it tends to underplay JQA's flaws. Kaplan emphasizes the close relationship between JQA and his famous father, John Adams, the second president, and his almost equally well-known mother, Abigail, while resisting the temptation of psychological reductionism. He discusses an early unhappy love affair of JQA followed by a lengthy marriage to Louise Johnson which brought love together with many personal tragedies. Kaplan lays great emphasis on JQA's literary activities. For virtually his entire life, JQA kept a diary which presents a detailed reflective account of his thoughts, actions, and history. Kaplan quotes extensively from the diary and from JQA's essays, speeches, and other prose writings, many of which were published during his lifetime but are not readily accessible today. Most intriguingly Kaplan devotes much attention to JQA's poetry which he wrote throughout his life. His poetry was heavily influenced by classical and by 18th Century styles rather than by 19th Century romanticism. A volume of JQA's poems was published in a commemorative edition after his death. The poems offer insight into his most personal religious and social visions. Kaplan stresses throughout JQA's' religious beliefs and religious growth, centering upon an ethical Christianity, his passion for reading and study, and his lifelong interest in the arts, sciences, and developing technology.
Kaplan shows JQA's achievements as a diplomat. He held ministerial appointments to Russia, the Netherlands, and Britain, at different times and spent much of his early life outside the boundaries of the United States. JQA had the led in the negotiating team which secured peace on favorable terms from Britain at the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. For eight years, JQA served as Secretary of State under President James Monroe. His tenure is universally regarded as one of the best in this position. Among many other accomplishments, JQA formulated and persuaded Monroe to accept the foreign affairs policy known as the Monroe doctrine.
Kaplan tries to be positive about Adams' term as president. The election was hotly contested and decided by a vote in the House after JQA received a minority of the popular vote. JQA's intentions were of the highest. He worked towards national unity against partisanship, for a strong system of internal improvements, for public education, and financial soundness. He tended to be stubborn. His status as a minority president, and the allegations of a "corrupt bargain" under which Henry Clay, an unsuccessful presidential candidate in the election, became Secretary of State, doomed JQA's presidency from the outset. The chapter on JQA's presidency is among the shortest in Kaplan's book.
Late in his life, JQA served for 17 years as Congressman from Massachusetts, the only president to serve in Congress following his tenure as chief executive. He became increasingly concerned with slavery and with what he foretold as its divisive effect on Union. He became the chief opponent of the so-called "gag rule" in the House and on two occasions narrowly escaped censure. During this time JQA also served as counsel in what became a famous Supreme Court case involving escaped slaves on a Spanish ship known as the Amistad, the subject of a movie some years ago. In his final years, JQA spoke out vigorously against what he saw as the illegal and unjust War with Mexico.
Of the wealth of information in this book, I most enjoyed the many discussions of JQAs' political and religious thinking and of his writings. Early in the book, Kaplan quotes JQA: "Literature has been the charm of my life and could I have carved out my own fortunes, to literature would my whole life have been devoted. I have been a lawyer for bread, and a Statesman at the call of my Country." Kaplan tells an inspiring story of an American who deserves to be better known both for his reverence for the past and for what Kaplan describes as JQA's "visionary" look towards the future. In difficult times, the book may help readers rethink America and its promise.
Robin Friedman
Fred Kaplan's 2014 book, "John Quincy Adams: American Visionary", is an important new biography of the personal and public life of John Quincy Adams (1767 -- 1848) together with a study of American history during John Quincy Adams' long life. Kaplan is distinguished professor emeritus of English at Queens College and the Graduate Center of the City of New York. He has written biographies of Lincoln, Thomas Carlyle, Henry James, and Dickens, among other books. Lengthy and detailed, his biography of John Quincy Adams (JQA) makes for slow, difficult reading. The book amply rewards the effort and the time it requires.
Kaplan's biography shows the great influence of Daniel Walker Howe's history of the United States from 1815 -- 1848 included in the Oxford History of the United States, "What Hath God Wrought". Howe takes issue with the view that sees Jacksonian Democracy as central to the transformation of American life during this time. He praises instead Jackson's opponents for their insistence on the qualitative rather than the quantitative change of American life, including their emphasis on nationalism, internal improvements, education, and moral uplift. John Quincy Adams emerges as the representative figure of American life in Howe's book. He dedicates his history to JQA's memory. Kaplan expands many of the themes of Howe's history in his biography of JQA.
In many ways, JQA's values and character were throw-backs to an earlier time. Yet, these values with their sources in the past helped create a forward-looking leader. Thus, "American Visionary" offers a portrayal of a great American life devoted to the development of American nationalism and unity. The book portrays a leader who, with his faults, tried to put the good of the nation above short-term, partisan politics. JQA tried to live morally and struggled with his conscience in both his public and private life. JQA was many years ahead of his time in advocating national programs of public works, improvements, and education. JQA brought broadly idealistic qualities to American life, tempered by realism. In developing JQA's goals, accomplishments, and character, Kaplan's book shows why JQA deserves to be considered an "American Visionary".
From 1825 --- 1829, JQA served a single term as the sixth president. Historians have generally not been kind to JQA's presidency. JQA also had an extraordinary career as a diplomat, Senator, Secretary of State and Congressman from Massachusetts. JQA was born before the American Revolution and he lived through the War with Mexico. Kaplan works hard to trace the continuity in JQA's thought and actions during this extended and varied period of American history.
Earlier studies of JQA tended to concentrate either on his personal or on his public life while Kaplan offers full discussion of both. The book has a cluttered feel at times and it tends to underplay JQA's flaws. Kaplan emphasizes the close relationship between JQA and his famous father, John Adams, the second president, and his almost equally well-known mother, Abigail, while resisting the temptation of psychological reductionism. He discusses an early unhappy love affair of JQA followed by a lengthy marriage to Louise Johnson which brought love together with many personal tragedies. Kaplan lays great emphasis on JQA's literary activities. For virtually his entire life, JQA kept a diary which presents a detailed reflective account of his thoughts, actions, and history. Kaplan quotes extensively from the diary and from JQA's essays, speeches, and other prose writings, many of which were published during his lifetime but are not readily accessible today. Most intriguingly Kaplan devotes much attention to JQA's poetry which he wrote throughout his life. His poetry was heavily influenced by classical and by 18th Century styles rather than by 19th Century romanticism. A volume of JQA's poems was published in a commemorative edition after his death. The poems offer insight into his most personal religious and social visions. Kaplan stresses throughout JQA's' religious beliefs and religious growth, centering upon an ethical Christianity, his passion for reading and study, and his lifelong interest in the arts, sciences, and developing technology.
Kaplan shows JQA's achievements as a diplomat. He held ministerial appointments to Russia, the Netherlands, and Britain, at different times and spent much of his early life outside the boundaries of the United States. JQA had the led in the negotiating team which secured peace on favorable terms from Britain at the Treaty of Ghent, ending the War of 1812. For eight years, JQA served as Secretary of State under President James Monroe. His tenure is universally regarded as one of the best in this position. Among many other accomplishments, JQA formulated and persuaded Monroe to accept the foreign affairs policy known as the Monroe doctrine.
Kaplan tries to be positive about Adams' term as president. The election was hotly contested and decided by a vote in the House after JQA received a minority of the popular vote. JQA's intentions were of the highest. He worked towards national unity against partisanship, for a strong system of internal improvements, for public education, and financial soundness. He tended to be stubborn. His status as a minority president, and the allegations of a "corrupt bargain" under which Henry Clay, an unsuccessful presidential candidate in the election, became Secretary of State, doomed JQA's presidency from the outset. The chapter on JQA's presidency is among the shortest in Kaplan's book.
Late in his life, JQA served for 17 years as Congressman from Massachusetts, the only president to serve in Congress following his tenure as chief executive. He became increasingly concerned with slavery and with what he foretold as its divisive effect on Union. He became the chief opponent of the so-called "gag rule" in the House and on two occasions narrowly escaped censure. During this time JQA also served as counsel in what became a famous Supreme Court case involving escaped slaves on a Spanish ship known as the Amistad, the subject of a movie some years ago. In his final years, JQA spoke out vigorously against what he saw as the illegal and unjust War with Mexico.
Of the wealth of information in this book, I most enjoyed the many discussions of JQAs' political and religious thinking and of his writings. Early in the book, Kaplan quotes JQA: "Literature has been the charm of my life and could I have carved out my own fortunes, to literature would my whole life have been devoted. I have been a lawyer for bread, and a Statesman at the call of my Country." Kaplan tells an inspiring story of an American who deserves to be better known both for his reverence for the past and for what Kaplan describes as JQA's "visionary" look towards the future. In difficult times, the book may help readers rethink America and its promise.
Robin Friedman
September 26, 2020
At the risk of stating the obvious, John Quincy Adams should be remembered for more than being the son of a Founding Father and a one-term President. So a new biography to bring him out of the historical fog is a welcome and well worthy endeavor. Unfortunately – at least for this reader - this book isn’t it.
First, this cradle to the grave biography is a very concerted effort to humanize JQA; a very admirable task, for much like his father, John Quincy took his public service and sense of duty very seriously - and therefore also much like his father, he was not the easiest to person to “like”. The reader is presented with JQA’s extensive reading list, his writings/ opinions and prose/poetry – much of this quoted directly from his letters, speeches and his lifelong journal. So there are a lot of quotes – too many for this reader – this over-reliance resulting in the narrative both losing its flow and poignancy.
Don’t get me wrong, there is much I learned here – particularly how much JQA traveled during his lifetime – this when 50 miles was a journey – how hard he worked - and another for instance – Mrs. JQA’s health issues. Poor Louisa Adams seemingly never feeling well for any extended period of time causing much concern and never permitting the marriage to blossom into the partnership the senior Adams and Abigail had.
One other quirk of the narrative worth mentioning here. Events in JQA’s life are stated – his marriage, appointments, elections - with the circumstances leading to them subsequently covered. Not necessarily a bad technique in and of itself, but here the transitions aren’t smooth and at times, aren’t coherent – which becomes confusing.
Lastly the closer JQA came to center stage in his life – meaning Washington, DC – the less detailed this narrative becomes – his presidency and time served in Congress – almost 25 years - covered superficially in the last 140 pages of this almost 600 page book.
John Quincy’s was an accomplished life – many of his achievements outside of the public/historical spotlight, i.e. the Monroe Doctrine, the Treaty of Ghent. He was much more than simply his father’s son and much like David McCullough’s bio did for his father, deserves to come out of the historical shadows. This book makes a valiant effort, but alas, results only a step in the right direction.
First, this cradle to the grave biography is a very concerted effort to humanize JQA; a very admirable task, for much like his father, John Quincy took his public service and sense of duty very seriously - and therefore also much like his father, he was not the easiest to person to “like”. The reader is presented with JQA’s extensive reading list, his writings/ opinions and prose/poetry – much of this quoted directly from his letters, speeches and his lifelong journal. So there are a lot of quotes – too many for this reader – this over-reliance resulting in the narrative both losing its flow and poignancy.
Don’t get me wrong, there is much I learned here – particularly how much JQA traveled during his lifetime – this when 50 miles was a journey – how hard he worked - and another for instance – Mrs. JQA’s health issues. Poor Louisa Adams seemingly never feeling well for any extended period of time causing much concern and never permitting the marriage to blossom into the partnership the senior Adams and Abigail had.
One other quirk of the narrative worth mentioning here. Events in JQA’s life are stated – his marriage, appointments, elections - with the circumstances leading to them subsequently covered. Not necessarily a bad technique in and of itself, but here the transitions aren’t smooth and at times, aren’t coherent – which becomes confusing.
Lastly the closer JQA came to center stage in his life – meaning Washington, DC – the less detailed this narrative becomes – his presidency and time served in Congress – almost 25 years - covered superficially in the last 140 pages of this almost 600 page book.
John Quincy’s was an accomplished life – many of his achievements outside of the public/historical spotlight, i.e. the Monroe Doctrine, the Treaty of Ghent. He was much more than simply his father’s son and much like David McCullough’s bio did for his father, deserves to come out of the historical shadows. This book makes a valiant effort, but alas, results only a step in the right direction.
February 10, 2021
Since I'm on a John Quincy Adams kick lately, I thought I'd reread this book I first read a couple of years ago to see how it compares with the other JQA books I've read more recently. I remember being somewhat ambivalent after reading this the first time - it was my first full-scale JQA biography, so I felt like I had learned things I hadn't known, but I wasn't fully satisfied. I felt like I had gotten to know Adams, but not enough to fully appreciate him. I felt like I got an up-close look at him, but was lacking a wider view. There was just something about this book that I couldn't quite put my finger on.
Upon my second reading, I figured it out. This is a book about John Quincy Adams, by John Quincy Adams.
Other biographers use Adams' voluminous diaries, letters and other writings to supplement their version of his story. Kaplan writes to supplement Adams' version of his own story. Virtually every paragraph in the book contains a quote from Adams - sometimes a phrase, sometimes a sentence or two, and sometimes Adams' own words make up the bulk of the paragraph. Kaplan's writing seems to serve as the connective tissue that stitches Adams' own thoughts together into a complete story. The book reads almost like an annotated version of Adams' diaries, or like "The Papers of John Quincy Adams" in narrative form.
The entire book, in essence, is told through the eyes of John Quincy Adams - what he did, what he thought, and what he thought about what others did. This allows you to get up close and personal with him, but at the expense of greater insight, analysis and context. The book seemingly includes everything Adams memorialized in his diaries, from the meaningful to the mundane. Want to know what plays Adams saw, what books he read, and what he thought about them? You'll find out, because if Adams wrote about them in his diaries, Kaplan includes them in his book.
Of course, more momentous events are covered as well, but only as Adams saw them. There's rarely any analysis of what Adams did, or what he could have done, unless he's the one providing the analysis himself. His most famous speech, the "she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy" address, is excerpted and paraphrased at length, but with no explanation or context about why it was important and why it has resonated through the ages. "It was a powerful address," is all that Kaplan has to offer, and the only analysis of the speech comes from Adams himself, in a letter he wrote six months later explaining what he had hoped to convey in the speech.
So, then, not only does the book focus on what Adams thought and said about things, but it tells us what Adams thought and said about things that he himself thought and said. And if Adams didn't write about it, we don't learn much about it. As a result, his wife Louisa is practically invisible, usually appearing only when Adams happens to write about her - when she's ill, or expecting, or suffering one of her many tragic miscarriages.
The timeline can also be a bit hard to follow, since Kaplan frequently likes to set a scene, then go back in time to fill in the details about how we arrived at that particular moment. At one point in the book, for example, Adams gets married to Louisa, and then we go back to see them as they prepare to marry, then in the next chapter they're still not married yet, and then they finally get married later in that chapter. Again.
Kaplan can also get, shall we say, quite verbose:
That, by the way, was ONE SENTENCE!
So, to sum up, this book was a far better read than merely reading the originals of all of John Quincy Adams' own writing likely would be. Throughout the book, you feel like you're right there in the room with Adams, perhaps right there in his head. But at times, you kind of wish he would leave the room for just a little while so you can talk about him and find out others' opinions about what's going on. But you can't, because he's always there and never leaves your side even for a moment. So the only version of his story that you get to hear is his own version. Adams lived a remarkable life, and did a remarkable job writing everything down for the benefit of biographers like Kaplan and readers like you and me. But in the end, as compared to other JQA biographies that present a fuller picture of the man and his times, this one regrettably seems to tell only part of his story.
Upon my second reading, I figured it out. This is a book about John Quincy Adams, by John Quincy Adams.
Other biographers use Adams' voluminous diaries, letters and other writings to supplement their version of his story. Kaplan writes to supplement Adams' version of his own story. Virtually every paragraph in the book contains a quote from Adams - sometimes a phrase, sometimes a sentence or two, and sometimes Adams' own words make up the bulk of the paragraph. Kaplan's writing seems to serve as the connective tissue that stitches Adams' own thoughts together into a complete story. The book reads almost like an annotated version of Adams' diaries, or like "The Papers of John Quincy Adams" in narrative form.
The entire book, in essence, is told through the eyes of John Quincy Adams - what he did, what he thought, and what he thought about what others did. This allows you to get up close and personal with him, but at the expense of greater insight, analysis and context. The book seemingly includes everything Adams memorialized in his diaries, from the meaningful to the mundane. Want to know what plays Adams saw, what books he read, and what he thought about them? You'll find out, because if Adams wrote about them in his diaries, Kaplan includes them in his book.
Of course, more momentous events are covered as well, but only as Adams saw them. There's rarely any analysis of what Adams did, or what he could have done, unless he's the one providing the analysis himself. His most famous speech, the "she goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy" address, is excerpted and paraphrased at length, but with no explanation or context about why it was important and why it has resonated through the ages. "It was a powerful address," is all that Kaplan has to offer, and the only analysis of the speech comes from Adams himself, in a letter he wrote six months later explaining what he had hoped to convey in the speech.
So, then, not only does the book focus on what Adams thought and said about things, but it tells us what Adams thought and said about things that he himself thought and said. And if Adams didn't write about it, we don't learn much about it. As a result, his wife Louisa is practically invisible, usually appearing only when Adams happens to write about her - when she's ill, or expecting, or suffering one of her many tragic miscarriages.
The timeline can also be a bit hard to follow, since Kaplan frequently likes to set a scene, then go back in time to fill in the details about how we arrived at that particular moment. At one point in the book, for example, Adams gets married to Louisa, and then we go back to see them as they prepare to marry, then in the next chapter they're still not married yet, and then they finally get married later in that chapter. Again.
Kaplan can also get, shall we say, quite verbose:
"As his family traveled between a town garrisoned by British redcoats and Braintree; as they heard the cannon fire and saw the smoke from Charlestown; as they daily expected British soldiers to come marching over Penn's Hill to ravage the areas south of Boston; as Abigail and her children huddled together and attended to daily sustenance, made difficult by wartime inflation and the absence of men to work the farm, while the father of the family was doing patriotic business in Philadelphia; when they traveled into Boston to be inoculated against smallpox, which was to kill more Americans than the fighting; and when, in 1775, he had his first sight of the newly appointed General Washington, with his ragamuffin army, arriving and setting up positions that encircled the British, and then witnessed the withdrawal of the British forces, John Quincy experienced some of the most formative impressions of his lifetime."
That, by the way, was ONE SENTENCE!
So, to sum up, this book was a far better read than merely reading the originals of all of John Quincy Adams' own writing likely would be. Throughout the book, you feel like you're right there in the room with Adams, perhaps right there in his head. But at times, you kind of wish he would leave the room for just a little while so you can talk about him and find out others' opinions about what's going on. But you can't, because he's always there and never leaves your side even for a moment. So the only version of his story that you get to hear is his own version. Adams lived a remarkable life, and did a remarkable job writing everything down for the benefit of biographers like Kaplan and readers like you and me. But in the end, as compared to other JQA biographies that present a fuller picture of the man and his times, this one regrettably seems to tell only part of his story.
February 1, 2014
I have read (and reviewed) one brief biography of John Quincy Adams (JQA). While it was satisfying for what it did, this volume is much more fulfilling. It is jammed with rich details of Adams' life.
We get a birth to death bio that provides ample detail of his life. Think of it: the son of a President (John Adams), a President himself, and--then--a member of the House of Representatives (something that did not occur before--or since). The volume provides a sense of who he was, from birth to death. His son, Charles Francis, had an impact, too. An ethos of public service pervaded JQA's life.
The extraordinary elements in his life are well depicted: at a young age, his father, while serving as a representative of the United States on the continent, dispatched him to Russia--a lengthy trip to a place with harsh weather; his difficulties, after college, in establishing himself as a lawyer and generating enough money to get married, have a family, and settle down; his carer as a diplomat under Madison and Monroe (including a not very satisfying return to St. Petersburg in Russia), including serving as Secretary of State and working with the President to create the Monroe Doctrine.
In a continuation of his extraordinary life, he was elected President. He faced enormous obstacles as his political enemies worked to thwart his vision, including development of internal improvements (such as roads). He was, like his father, a one-term president. There followed the unlikely return to politics as a member of the House of Representatives. He became known (and sometimes despised--for his challenges to the peculiar Southern institution of slavery. He represented slaves in the "Amistad" case.
And the tale continues, until his death. His family had many difficulties (his brothers and a son had problems with alcohol). But in the end, the story of John Quincy Adams is an original one. And this book is remarkably good.
We get a birth to death bio that provides ample detail of his life. Think of it: the son of a President (John Adams), a President himself, and--then--a member of the House of Representatives (something that did not occur before--or since). The volume provides a sense of who he was, from birth to death. His son, Charles Francis, had an impact, too. An ethos of public service pervaded JQA's life.
The extraordinary elements in his life are well depicted: at a young age, his father, while serving as a representative of the United States on the continent, dispatched him to Russia--a lengthy trip to a place with harsh weather; his difficulties, after college, in establishing himself as a lawyer and generating enough money to get married, have a family, and settle down; his carer as a diplomat under Madison and Monroe (including a not very satisfying return to St. Petersburg in Russia), including serving as Secretary of State and working with the President to create the Monroe Doctrine.
In a continuation of his extraordinary life, he was elected President. He faced enormous obstacles as his political enemies worked to thwart his vision, including development of internal improvements (such as roads). He was, like his father, a one-term president. There followed the unlikely return to politics as a member of the House of Representatives. He became known (and sometimes despised--for his challenges to the peculiar Southern institution of slavery. He represented slaves in the "Amistad" case.
And the tale continues, until his death. His family had many difficulties (his brothers and a son had problems with alcohol). But in the end, the story of John Quincy Adams is an original one. And this book is remarkably good.
February 10, 2020
It took me 2.5 months to plow through this long biography but, boy, did I learn a lot! This volume is immensely readable; my historical knowledge of the early 1800’s through 1845 or so has increased at least tenfold. This book is mostly about John Quincy Adams and his wife Louisa and their four children. JQA was a prolific writer and kept a diary his entire life. The fates and fortunes of his children is a large part of this story but the biggest backdrop is the the politics and government of this country in the above mentioned timeframe. I highly recommend this slice of American history. Four point five stars.
April 20, 2021
"A politician in this Country must be the man of a party. I would fain be the man of my whole Country."
President #6, first son of a Prez to become Prez, poet, worldly, depression sufferer, prolific diarist, and with astonishingly persistent sperm, JQA is an unsung member of the pantheon of American leaders. His was an age prefiguring much of the bullcrap we have to put up with these days and JQA was one of the lone voices of reason, and that is reason enough to try and revive his reputation, as Kaplan does here.
I was intrigued to read about The Quinze after reading McCullough's book on his dad where McC pointed out that by his late teens, JQA had likely traveled to more countries than any other living American. Learning too that only recently have scholars had full access to the monumental diaries of this guy, I wanted to learn more.
Attempts to resuscitate reputations can seem desperate, but Kaplan's never does, approaching his subject with reverence and letting JQA's own words underscore the history.
JQA had a rich and lively life. As a teen, he went with his dad on diplomatic missions throughout Europe, going even further afield on his own to Russia and Scandinavia with one of his father's friends. He spent many years abroad in various capacities, went to Harvard, back to Europe, got married, got his wife pregnant 14 times (the final one when she was 46!), became a Congressman, Secretary of State, President, Congressman (2), wrote tons of poetry and political actors, was an active abolitionist, and was the first president to be photo-graphed.
As can be seen by my juvenile outline, the guy was well-rounded, and this is nicely tempered by some revelatory looks into his personal writings, since he quite obviously suffered from some form of depression. More than that, though, his life also bridges nicely probably the most decisive, formative period in American politics, much of which will seem familiar today. The main vein of American political ideology comes down to the basic idea that a very loud minority try to run things shittily and unfairly. In Adams' time, issues like emancipation, Missouri, and the assbaggery of Van Buren and others can easily stand in for any number of issues of the puling right of today. His was the age of the beginning of political partisanship and actual campaigning (read: more lying). Adam's re-election campaign lost to a vicious racist outsider (Jackson) who basically wanted to destroy the government, a la Jefferson, through populist politics of prejudice, fear, and paranoia. Sounds familiar, right? Adams got so fed up with all this bullshit that he actually called the Constitution "a mere menstruous rag" adding "the Union is sinking into a military monarchy". Prescient stuff! Anyway, my point is, there's a lot to learn about here and it is not at all irrelevant despite being two centuries prior to our golden age of imbecility.
President #6, first son of a Prez to become Prez, poet, worldly, depression sufferer, prolific diarist, and with astonishingly persistent sperm, JQA is an unsung member of the pantheon of American leaders. His was an age prefiguring much of the bullcrap we have to put up with these days and JQA was one of the lone voices of reason, and that is reason enough to try and revive his reputation, as Kaplan does here.
I was intrigued to read about The Quinze after reading McCullough's book on his dad where McC pointed out that by his late teens, JQA had likely traveled to more countries than any other living American. Learning too that only recently have scholars had full access to the monumental diaries of this guy, I wanted to learn more.
Attempts to resuscitate reputations can seem desperate, but Kaplan's never does, approaching his subject with reverence and letting JQA's own words underscore the history.
JQA had a rich and lively life. As a teen, he went with his dad on diplomatic missions throughout Europe, going even further afield on his own to Russia and Scandinavia with one of his father's friends. He spent many years abroad in various capacities, went to Harvard, back to Europe, got married, got his wife pregnant 14 times (the final one when she was 46!), became a Congressman, Secretary of State, President, Congressman (2), wrote tons of poetry and political actors, was an active abolitionist, and was the first president to be photo-graphed.
As can be seen by my juvenile outline, the guy was well-rounded, and this is nicely tempered by some revelatory looks into his personal writings, since he quite obviously suffered from some form of depression. More than that, though, his life also bridges nicely probably the most decisive, formative period in American politics, much of which will seem familiar today. The main vein of American political ideology comes down to the basic idea that a very loud minority try to run things shittily and unfairly. In Adams' time, issues like emancipation, Missouri, and the assbaggery of Van Buren and others can easily stand in for any number of issues of the puling right of today. His was the age of the beginning of political partisanship and actual campaigning (read: more lying). Adam's re-election campaign lost to a vicious racist outsider (Jackson) who basically wanted to destroy the government, a la Jefferson, through populist politics of prejudice, fear, and paranoia. Sounds familiar, right? Adams got so fed up with all this bullshit that he actually called the Constitution "a mere menstruous rag" adding "the Union is sinking into a military monarchy". Prescient stuff! Anyway, my point is, there's a lot to learn about here and it is not at all irrelevant despite being two centuries prior to our golden age of imbecility.
January 19, 2021
https://bestpresidentialbios.com/2021...
Fred Kaplan’s 2014 “John Quincy Adams: American Visionary” is one of the most recent and comprehensive biographies of the sixth president. Kaplan is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Queens College in New York City and the author of nearly a dozen books including biographies of Henry James, Charles Dickens and 1984 Pulitzer Prize finalist “Thomas Carlyle: A Biography.”
The product of six years of research, Kaplan’s biography is the second longest of the half-dozen books on John Quincy Adams I’ve read. Its 570-page narrative is thorough, detailed and often quite astute. Its Introduction is brief but compelling and it ends with an excellent Bibliographical Essay which provides a wonderful roadmap for further study.
Kaplan’s rationale for the book is based upon his view that Adams’s personality and talents are not fully revealed by previous JQA biographies. Kaplan intends to “see Adams whole” with two points of special emphasis: Adams’s talent as a writer (and fondness for poetry, in particular) and his prescient prediction of a Civil War which would cleanse the American soul.
Not surprisingly, Kaplan is a fan of JQA and, as a result, the narrative occasionally feels a bit too friendly toward the sixth president (while vilifying his adversaries). But Adams’s cantankerous personality, prickly demeanor and personal foibles are well-exposed. In addition, much of of Adams’s early life is marvelously covered – Kaplan deeply explores the many challenges Adams faced growing up and his decision to enter politics.
The chapter reviewing his courtship of Louisa is quite good as is the book’s introduction to Andrew Jackson. Kaplan’s reviews and assessments of the political currents of the political campaigns of 1828 and 1836 prove incredibly insightful. And, as promised, Kaplan provides a much more extensive examination of John Quincy Adams’s penchant for poetry than I’ve ever seen.
But while the content of Kaplan’s biography is generally excellent, my problem with the book concerns its style. The narrative is often stiff and starchy rather than fluid and direct. If there is a straightforward way to describe a sequence of events, Kaplan often seems determined to avoid it. In addition, because the text is fact-dense and matter-of-fact, newcomers to Adams are likely to find it difficult to separate important moments from “background noise.”
More disconcerting, however, is the author’s propensity for hopscotching around the timeline. He seems to delight in forcing non-continuous chronology into the narrative and it is not uncommon for the story to jump ahead or leap backward by several years without warning – sometimes multiple times in just a page or two. As a result, it can be extraordinarily difficult to piece together JQA’s life in a seamless way.
Curiously, after suggesting the book will refute the notion that Adams was a failed one-term president, there is just a single, thirty-eight page chapter focused on his presidency. Stranger still: the term “Corrupt Bargain” does not merit a mention in the book’s Index (and the phrase itself is not used until well after the event itself takes place in the narrative).
Overall, Fred Kaplan’s biography of John Quincy Adams is scholastically meritorious but stylistically and organizationally disappointing. As a second or third book for someone fascinated by Adams, the book may prove useful. But in the end, this proves a far better study of JQA than biography.
Overall Rating: 3½ stars
Fred Kaplan’s 2014 “John Quincy Adams: American Visionary” is one of the most recent and comprehensive biographies of the sixth president. Kaplan is Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Queens College in New York City and the author of nearly a dozen books including biographies of Henry James, Charles Dickens and 1984 Pulitzer Prize finalist “Thomas Carlyle: A Biography.”
The product of six years of research, Kaplan’s biography is the second longest of the half-dozen books on John Quincy Adams I’ve read. Its 570-page narrative is thorough, detailed and often quite astute. Its Introduction is brief but compelling and it ends with an excellent Bibliographical Essay which provides a wonderful roadmap for further study.
Kaplan’s rationale for the book is based upon his view that Adams’s personality and talents are not fully revealed by previous JQA biographies. Kaplan intends to “see Adams whole” with two points of special emphasis: Adams’s talent as a writer (and fondness for poetry, in particular) and his prescient prediction of a Civil War which would cleanse the American soul.
Not surprisingly, Kaplan is a fan of JQA and, as a result, the narrative occasionally feels a bit too friendly toward the sixth president (while vilifying his adversaries). But Adams’s cantankerous personality, prickly demeanor and personal foibles are well-exposed. In addition, much of of Adams’s early life is marvelously covered – Kaplan deeply explores the many challenges Adams faced growing up and his decision to enter politics.
The chapter reviewing his courtship of Louisa is quite good as is the book’s introduction to Andrew Jackson. Kaplan’s reviews and assessments of the political currents of the political campaigns of 1828 and 1836 prove incredibly insightful. And, as promised, Kaplan provides a much more extensive examination of John Quincy Adams’s penchant for poetry than I’ve ever seen.
But while the content of Kaplan’s biography is generally excellent, my problem with the book concerns its style. The narrative is often stiff and starchy rather than fluid and direct. If there is a straightforward way to describe a sequence of events, Kaplan often seems determined to avoid it. In addition, because the text is fact-dense and matter-of-fact, newcomers to Adams are likely to find it difficult to separate important moments from “background noise.”
More disconcerting, however, is the author’s propensity for hopscotching around the timeline. He seems to delight in forcing non-continuous chronology into the narrative and it is not uncommon for the story to jump ahead or leap backward by several years without warning – sometimes multiple times in just a page or two. As a result, it can be extraordinarily difficult to piece together JQA’s life in a seamless way.
Curiously, after suggesting the book will refute the notion that Adams was a failed one-term president, there is just a single, thirty-eight page chapter focused on his presidency. Stranger still: the term “Corrupt Bargain” does not merit a mention in the book’s Index (and the phrase itself is not used until well after the event itself takes place in the narrative).
Overall, Fred Kaplan’s biography of John Quincy Adams is scholastically meritorious but stylistically and organizationally disappointing. As a second or third book for someone fascinated by Adams, the book may prove useful. But in the end, this proves a far better study of JQA than biography.
Overall Rating: 3½ stars
January 14, 2015
Adams is a legitimately impressive historical figure, far more than his current reputation would suggest. He was a mediocre president but an accomplished diplomat, a skilled congressional provocateur, and a far-sighted analyst of American politics. This was not always apparent to his contemporaries, however. After he lost to Andrew Jackson, he seemed like a relic best suited for eulogizing dead luminaries of the Founding generation. His contempt for parties and factional politics caused his defeat by the sophisticated Jacksonian machine.
In fact, he was soon articulating a combination of Whiggish nationalism (including spending on infrastructure; education, including land-grant universities and national institutes of research; and a national, regulated banking system) married to explicit opposition to slavery and a critique of the Slave Power. He went on to predict that slavery would become further entrenched in the federal government until some southern outrage (prompting either secession or a slave rebellion) gave the president the power to overturn slavery through his implied wartime powers. J.Q. Adams was no relic, but a prophet that foresaw America's 19th century and who (as the leader of the anti-slavery caucus in Congress) was vital in making it happen.
So that's Adams, perhaps the great visionary of his era and one of the great statesmen of America history. Kaplan, sadly, is no great biographer. His instinct is to treat all aspects of Adams' life the same, from his struggles with his family, his financial obligations, to his great diplomatic maneuvers (the Monroe Doctrine was largely his invention) and political masterstrokes. Some of these are less interesting than the others, however, and so parts of the book are too brief and others simply drag. It creates a general flatness to the tone that makes the book less compelling than it should have. (And I think if anybody's going to be compelled by a biography of John Quincy Adams, it's me.)
I found American Visionary disappointing, although adequate as a basic narrative of JQA's life.
In fact, he was soon articulating a combination of Whiggish nationalism (including spending on infrastructure; education, including land-grant universities and national institutes of research; and a national, regulated banking system) married to explicit opposition to slavery and a critique of the Slave Power. He went on to predict that slavery would become further entrenched in the federal government until some southern outrage (prompting either secession or a slave rebellion) gave the president the power to overturn slavery through his implied wartime powers. J.Q. Adams was no relic, but a prophet that foresaw America's 19th century and who (as the leader of the anti-slavery caucus in Congress) was vital in making it happen.
So that's Adams, perhaps the great visionary of his era and one of the great statesmen of America history. Kaplan, sadly, is no great biographer. His instinct is to treat all aspects of Adams' life the same, from his struggles with his family, his financial obligations, to his great diplomatic maneuvers (the Monroe Doctrine was largely his invention) and political masterstrokes. Some of these are less interesting than the others, however, and so parts of the book are too brief and others simply drag. It creates a general flatness to the tone that makes the book less compelling than it should have. (And I think if anybody's going to be compelled by a biography of John Quincy Adams, it's me.)
I found American Visionary disappointing, although adequate as a basic narrative of JQA's life.
November 13, 2020
Fred Kaplan’s John Quincy Adams: American Visionary is another in the recent salvo of books designed to rehabilitate America’s sixth president. Kaplan’s book charts Adams’ life in lucid, literate prose, showing a life packed with incident and achievement. From his adolescence, Adams was devoted to public service: he accompanied his father to Europe on diplomatic missions, then transitioned to diplomatic posts in his own right, before emerging in the 1810s as James Monroe’s able Secretary of State. An accomplished statesman and diplomat, he proved less adroit as a politician, his presidency tainted by accusations of a “corrupt bargain” with Henry Clay and crippled by his unwillingness to compromise his deeply held principles. Still, though, Adams emerged from the presidency unscathed, entering Congress and reinventing himself as a fighter for progressive causes - particularly his emergence as an opponent of slavery, defending the Amistad slaves and battling the congressional gag rule. Along the way, Kaplan shows, was much suffering: his wife Louisa suffered from chronic ill health (with her charm and personal fortitude strengthening their marriage), while Adams lost all but one of his children in his lifetime. Still, he persevered, rendering himself a remarkable statesman whose inert presidency (which receives only a chapter here) was a blip rather than a pinnacle. Kaplan’s book is rather straightforward in capturing all of this; I found it less illuminating than James Traub’s Militant Spirit, which does a better job exploring Adams’ personality and ideas. Still, it’s a well-written, engaging biography that makes a strong argument that JQA was among America’s most important politicians.
August 25, 2014
A detailed look at the life of the 6th President and son of the 2nd. JQA was also an Ambassador to Russia and Great Britain, Secretary of State under James Monroe and in a significant act of service to his country served in Congress after his Presidency for 17 years - dying in office!
The author vividly shows how the slavery issue had a major impact through the 1st half of the 19th c.and what an intractable problem it was - leading to the Civil War. He also points out that the 3/5 compromise in the Constitution impacted many national elections and thus the policies that were enacted!
The Three-Fifths Compromise is found in Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution which reads:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
This obviously favored the slave holding states at the expense of the North.
Mr Kaplan's bio focuses more on the man but without minimizing the national issues involved during his life. And wasn't the country well served by this intelligent and thoughtful public servant!
The author vividly shows how the slavery issue had a major impact through the 1st half of the 19th c.and what an intractable problem it was - leading to the Civil War. He also points out that the 3/5 compromise in the Constitution impacted many national elections and thus the policies that were enacted!
The Three-Fifths Compromise is found in Article 1, Section 2, Paragraph 3 of the United States Constitution which reads:
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
This obviously favored the slave holding states at the expense of the North.
Mr Kaplan's bio focuses more on the man but without minimizing the national issues involved during his life. And wasn't the country well served by this intelligent and thoughtful public servant!
April 23, 2017
This is a very deeply researched book with much information that I had previously not known. It is also well written. Covering John Quincy Adams life, it also summarizes that of his father who had an enormous impact upon his oldest son. Traveling to Europe with his father at a very young age and tutored by his father as well as other teachers, he exhibited not only a desire to please his father but also a keen interest in learning and discipline that would stay with him for his entire life. The book gives a detailed account of his wife Louisa's struggles with illness as well as her steady stream of miscarriages and still-born babies that would teach John Quincy that life can be difficult but that we must struggle through and make the best of it.
Where I felt the book let the reader down was in Kaplan's description of JQ's presidency. The book seemed to change tone, moving from what felt like almost a day to day narrative of the events of his life, to a brief summary of his presidency. Thereafter, it picked up again when recounting Adam's years in Congress.
I would recommend the book because there is more information contained in it than in the other biographys I have read. However, the author did seem at times to lose all objectivity. Out of the blue, when describing the last two years of John Adams Vice Presidency, he proclaimed that Jefferson would
plan to stage a coup de'tat for 6 years. Hyperbole like this might be acceptable in a casual conversation but it is not acceptable in a history book. Jefferson staged no coup and to even suggest it disrespects the historical record and one of the Founders. There were a few other instances in the book where a similar thing is done though I cannot recall them at the moment. Moreover, it seemed that Adam's enemies became the author's enemies. His hatred of Jefferson was only equaled by his hatred of Jackson, Van Buren and Polk. While the behavior of these presidents certainly deserve to be very critically examined, it felt like Kaplan took it a bit too personally.
Where I felt the book let the reader down was in Kaplan's description of JQ's presidency. The book seemed to change tone, moving from what felt like almost a day to day narrative of the events of his life, to a brief summary of his presidency. Thereafter, it picked up again when recounting Adam's years in Congress.
I would recommend the book because there is more information contained in it than in the other biographys I have read. However, the author did seem at times to lose all objectivity. Out of the blue, when describing the last two years of John Adams Vice Presidency, he proclaimed that Jefferson would
plan to stage a coup de'tat for 6 years. Hyperbole like this might be acceptable in a casual conversation but it is not acceptable in a history book. Jefferson staged no coup and to even suggest it disrespects the historical record and one of the Founders. There were a few other instances in the book where a similar thing is done though I cannot recall them at the moment. Moreover, it seemed that Adam's enemies became the author's enemies. His hatred of Jefferson was only equaled by his hatred of Jackson, Van Buren and Polk. While the behavior of these presidents certainly deserve to be very critically examined, it felt like Kaplan took it a bit too personally.
April 23, 2019
A comprehensive biography written in pleasant prose that gives equal space to the political, personal, and literary life of one of the great Americans. John Quincy Adams falls into the category of great politicians and human beings who, because of the exigencies and political momentum of their time period, were condemned to a one term Presidency which requires them to be rescued by historians. For instance, Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush fall into this category: deeply flawed Administrations but nobody is going to revoke their humanity cards.
Quincy Adams also escaped the shadow of his father (another 1 term Presidency) to become one of the great diplomats and Congressmen of all time. He lived long enough to meet Washington, then later to meet Dickens and work with Lincoln in the House of Representatives (!). An outspoken abolitionist, he foresaw that slavery would cause a Civil War. His huge ambition, blocked by the Jacksonian Democrats of the time, was a national network of roads and infrastructure which would reach its modern apogee with the Interstate Highway System of the 1950s. In a way, his fame, pedigree, and vast experience, alongside some fatigue over 24 straight years of Republican rule enabled him to be elected, but it was close: Andrew Jackson led after the first electoral vote.
Nonetheless, Kaplan captures his genius in sweeping, immersive prose and delivers probably the most agenda free, best fully rounded portrait of the 6th President. Those looking for the full political picture might be somewhat disappointed, but there are other biographies which capture the political intricacies of the age. Good for those who want the full life of JQA.
Quincy Adams also escaped the shadow of his father (another 1 term Presidency) to become one of the great diplomats and Congressmen of all time. He lived long enough to meet Washington, then later to meet Dickens and work with Lincoln in the House of Representatives (!). An outspoken abolitionist, he foresaw that slavery would cause a Civil War. His huge ambition, blocked by the Jacksonian Democrats of the time, was a national network of roads and infrastructure which would reach its modern apogee with the Interstate Highway System of the 1950s. In a way, his fame, pedigree, and vast experience, alongside some fatigue over 24 straight years of Republican rule enabled him to be elected, but it was close: Andrew Jackson led after the first electoral vote.
Nonetheless, Kaplan captures his genius in sweeping, immersive prose and delivers probably the most agenda free, best fully rounded portrait of the 6th President. Those looking for the full political picture might be somewhat disappointed, but there are other biographies which capture the political intricacies of the age. Good for those who want the full life of JQA.
April 16, 2019
John Quincy Adam has become one of my favorite historical people to read about. He lived a fascinating life and served his country for longer and in more places than just about any other American in history. He was far from a perfect character, but his lifelong passion to improve himself and to stick by his principles and morals are inspiring to this day.
I thought this particular biography did a great job looking at his personal drive for excellence, but it came up short in a couple of areas. I didn't think en0ugh time was spent looking at his family life and interactions, and I think in places (especially his role as Secretary of State) the story was not told in enough detail.
With that said, it was well written and I recommend it to anyone interested in Adams or the Antebellum period.
I thought this particular biography did a great job looking at his personal drive for excellence, but it came up short in a couple of areas. I didn't think en0ugh time was spent looking at his family life and interactions, and I think in places (especially his role as Secretary of State) the story was not told in enough detail.
With that said, it was well written and I recommend it to anyone interested in Adams or the Antebellum period.
August 26, 2023
The life of John Quincy Adams the 6th President of the United States, completely exceeded by expectations. Aside from the fact that he was the eldest child of the 2nd President John Adams, and a former Secretary of State, I knew very little about this great man and scolar.
A true academic, John Quincy was an ardent writer and vivacious reader throughout his life. An ameteur poet, this biography if full of examples of his writings from his diary which he kept for the entirety of his life. The fact that his hero's were the Roman statesman Cicero and William Shakespeare, is absolutely consistent with John Quincy's character.
Born and bred by his parents Abigail and John to serve, John Quincy quite literally dedicated his life to serve the people of the United States. First appointed as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Netherlands by George Washington in 1794, John Quincy went on to serve another three Presidents as U.S. Ambassador. Minister to Prussia from 1797-1801 during the Adams administration, Minister to Russia from 1809-1814 during the Madison administration and Minister to the United Kingdom from 1815-1817 during the Monroe administration. All during the turbulent period of the Napoleonic Wars.
When he finally returned to the United States, he served as the 8th Secretary of State to President James Madison. His most well known accomplishments of this period, were the the acquisition of Florida and the drafting of the foreign policy position now known as the Monroe Doctrine.
Ironically, I found his turn as the 6th President of the United States amongst the most inconsequential of his public life. He was stymied at all turns by a Southern dominated Congress and supporters of Andrew Jackson.
It was the final section of the book, in his turn as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Massachusetts that really endeared me to this great man. Slavery was the most controversial issue of the time, dominating all aspects of politics in Congress. Starting in 1835, John Quincy first took up the cause of abolition, the repealment of the three-fifths rule and expansion of Slavery in new States. For the remainder of his life, John Quincy fought for freedom of speech and freedom of petition in a never-ending campaign towards the abolition of slavery.
In this quest, it is entirely suitable, that John Quincy Adams suffered and died of a stroke at the Capitol Building in Washington. He truly was an American Visionary.
While I was absolutely riveted by the life of John Quincy Adams, I felt the writing of the author was quite dry at times. Good, but not up to the standards of esteemed Presidential biographers Ron Chernow, Jon Meacham or David McCullough. It is for that reason, that I rate this biography 4-Stars!
A true academic, John Quincy was an ardent writer and vivacious reader throughout his life. An ameteur poet, this biography if full of examples of his writings from his diary which he kept for the entirety of his life. The fact that his hero's were the Roman statesman Cicero and William Shakespeare, is absolutely consistent with John Quincy's character.
Born and bred by his parents Abigail and John to serve, John Quincy quite literally dedicated his life to serve the people of the United States. First appointed as envoy extraordinary and minister plenipotentiary to the Netherlands by George Washington in 1794, John Quincy went on to serve another three Presidents as U.S. Ambassador. Minister to Prussia from 1797-1801 during the Adams administration, Minister to Russia from 1809-1814 during the Madison administration and Minister to the United Kingdom from 1815-1817 during the Monroe administration. All during the turbulent period of the Napoleonic Wars.
When he finally returned to the United States, he served as the 8th Secretary of State to President James Madison. His most well known accomplishments of this period, were the the acquisition of Florida and the drafting of the foreign policy position now known as the Monroe Doctrine.
Ironically, I found his turn as the 6th President of the United States amongst the most inconsequential of his public life. He was stymied at all turns by a Southern dominated Congress and supporters of Andrew Jackson.
It was the final section of the book, in his turn as a member of the United States House of Representatives for Massachusetts that really endeared me to this great man. Slavery was the most controversial issue of the time, dominating all aspects of politics in Congress. Starting in 1835, John Quincy first took up the cause of abolition, the repealment of the three-fifths rule and expansion of Slavery in new States. For the remainder of his life, John Quincy fought for freedom of speech and freedom of petition in a never-ending campaign towards the abolition of slavery.
In this quest, it is entirely suitable, that John Quincy Adams suffered and died of a stroke at the Capitol Building in Washington. He truly was an American Visionary.
While I was absolutely riveted by the life of John Quincy Adams, I felt the writing of the author was quite dry at times. Good, but not up to the standards of esteemed Presidential biographers Ron Chernow, Jon Meacham or David McCullough. It is for that reason, that I rate this biography 4-Stars!
March 10, 2022
This was the kind of presidential biography I want- the presidency chapters proportionate to the chapters on the rest of his life. The author only wrote about the history that impacted JQA and his decisions, just enough to understand what was happening and why. That was refreshing (I've found a lot of the presidential biographers like to write too-detailed histories of the times).
Because of the author's focus and restraint, I feel like I understand JQA's principles and character well. Like his father, he seems to have been really principled and had integrity, but without being quite as loveably cantankerous.
The parts I really liked: learning about the Amistad (which I'd heard of and know there's a movie about it, but didn't know anything about it); the gag rule, and how Adams schemed to get a chance to say his peace about slavery when Congress didn't allow people to bring it up; Adams going from a guy who didn't like slavery, but didn't think it was productive to bring up, to being a pain in the ass to Congress because he wouldn't stop arguing against it and he knew the country was going to go to war with itself because of it.
Because of the author's focus and restraint, I feel like I understand JQA's principles and character well. Like his father, he seems to have been really principled and had integrity, but without being quite as loveably cantankerous.
The parts I really liked: learning about the Amistad (which I'd heard of and know there's a movie about it, but didn't know anything about it); the gag rule, and how Adams schemed to get a chance to say his peace about slavery when Congress didn't allow people to bring it up; Adams going from a guy who didn't like slavery, but didn't think it was productive to bring up, to being a pain in the ass to Congress because he wouldn't stop arguing against it and he knew the country was going to go to war with itself because of it.
May 11, 2022
Wonderful biography from Kaplan! John Adams is my favorite founding father, and now John Quincy is in the running for my favorite 1800s president. He always stood up for what he believed in, even after losing the presidency. It was super captivating, and also really heartbreaking, to read about how the house discussed the issue of slavery in the 1830’s-40’s. However, even in the midst of slaveholding, slavery supporters, Adams stood up for his view that slavery is an abomination of mankind and should be abolished (a radical view at the time in America). Overall, I loved this biography! Kaplan told the story of JQA wonderfully.
October 14, 2024
This book is well written and researched. It is an informative and detailed account of the life of John Quincy Adams. He was much more than most history texts that cover that time period give him credit for. He was a statesman, poet, mover behind the scenes and held true to his beliefs instead of political expediency. What I found most interesting is the the author spent next to no time in the book covering the Presidency of Adams, but was very detailed leading up to and after those four years. The only negative about the book, for me, was that the author loved long paragraphs often taking up a whole page or more making for a more challenging read. Overall, I recommend this book to anyone interested in Presidential biographies.
March 28, 2018
Turns out I am a fan of JQA. This book was pretty great, and despite how ridiculously long it took me to read, I really enjoyed it.
October 15, 2018
John Quincy Adams was our sixth president of the United States. He was a diplomat, Secretary of State and amazingly also a representative in the House of Representatives where he died.. But the book is also about him as a husband and a father, about a writer and a very good poet as well. This was his release. John Quincy Adams was a visionary. He believed in the principles of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, he was a federalist, and he believed he could unify the country with a transportation system. He was also anti-slavery not an abolitionist however. The book is very much about the private and public John Quincy Adams.
October 24, 2022
A lengthy book chronicling the long life of John Quincy Adams, from when he was a boy to his death in his 80's. A statesman all his life, he was active domestically, abroad, as president for one term, and in congress for many years. A lifelong commitment during which his values and attitudes did not waiver, and during which he endured much criticism and conflict from the opposing parties. Very informative.
November 18, 2019
In a presidential biography, when your book only addresses the years in the White House for 40-50 pages in an almost 600 page book, you know your character has lived an adventurous life.
Fred Kaplan, who appears to be an expert in writing biographies on literary legends, tackles John Quincy Adams with a different perspective than the average biographer would. That is why I am giving this book only 4 stars, instead of 5. This rating is very subjective. This biography does not have the normal flow of an average presidential biography. Adams loved to write and found it his purpose to do as much of it as he could. Kaplan loves to explore Adams' motives in his poetry and diary entries. I am a reader who wants to understand the political times and the character/motives behind the subject politician. The literary rabbit trails Kaplan went on were not as enjoyable as I hoped.
In regards to the person, character and events of John Quincy Adams it can be a life seen as well lived or misdirected. Adams over the course of his life, had three stints in Europe, lived 12 years in the Executive Branch and then the rest of his years in the Legislative. Adams was very qualified for his position as Secretary of State but ironically became president during a very peaceful time in foreign relations. The pressing matters was domestic. After his presidency, he was humble (or driven) enough to return to the political arena as a House representative. Adams was never without political enemies during his decades in DC, but Kaplan does paint Adams as the moral hero in the fight of the times. He fought the anti-slavery fight early on, while also opposing the Jackson and Polk administrations in their means of expansion.
Where I believe Adams fails is with his family and his critical thinking with religion. Like his father, he only brought 1 of his sons on his European travels while delegating the raising of his other 2 sons to family members. For Adams2 and Adams6, the son who was personally invested in thrived, the other 2 fell short and died tragic deaths. Adams was taught that his duty to his country would require many sacrifices, but was it worth it to his soul and his purpose as a father? Adams also references and calls upon God of the Bible for help and moral direction, but does not want to submit to the supernatural purpose of Jesus. His problems with verses such as Romans 5:18 show that he does not believe in the Gospel truly and only wants to submit to the moral teachings of the Bible and sees God as the God of comfort and sovereignty in selective terms.
If you are wanting to read about a lesser known president, whose life is a full life of loving his country, and you enjoy poetry...this might be the book for you. For the ones who want straight political events in their presidential biographies, I am sure a different John Quincy Adams biography written in the last 10 years would be better.
Fred Kaplan, who appears to be an expert in writing biographies on literary legends, tackles John Quincy Adams with a different perspective than the average biographer would. That is why I am giving this book only 4 stars, instead of 5. This rating is very subjective. This biography does not have the normal flow of an average presidential biography. Adams loved to write and found it his purpose to do as much of it as he could. Kaplan loves to explore Adams' motives in his poetry and diary entries. I am a reader who wants to understand the political times and the character/motives behind the subject politician. The literary rabbit trails Kaplan went on were not as enjoyable as I hoped.
In regards to the person, character and events of John Quincy Adams it can be a life seen as well lived or misdirected. Adams over the course of his life, had three stints in Europe, lived 12 years in the Executive Branch and then the rest of his years in the Legislative. Adams was very qualified for his position as Secretary of State but ironically became president during a very peaceful time in foreign relations. The pressing matters was domestic. After his presidency, he was humble (or driven) enough to return to the political arena as a House representative. Adams was never without political enemies during his decades in DC, but Kaplan does paint Adams as the moral hero in the fight of the times. He fought the anti-slavery fight early on, while also opposing the Jackson and Polk administrations in their means of expansion.
Where I believe Adams fails is with his family and his critical thinking with religion. Like his father, he only brought 1 of his sons on his European travels while delegating the raising of his other 2 sons to family members. For Adams2 and Adams6, the son who was personally invested in thrived, the other 2 fell short and died tragic deaths. Adams was taught that his duty to his country would require many sacrifices, but was it worth it to his soul and his purpose as a father? Adams also references and calls upon God of the Bible for help and moral direction, but does not want to submit to the supernatural purpose of Jesus. His problems with verses such as Romans 5:18 show that he does not believe in the Gospel truly and only wants to submit to the moral teachings of the Bible and sees God as the God of comfort and sovereignty in selective terms.
If you are wanting to read about a lesser known president, whose life is a full life of loving his country, and you enjoy poetry...this might be the book for you. For the ones who want straight political events in their presidential biographies, I am sure a different John Quincy Adams biography written in the last 10 years would be better.
April 28, 2017
Santayana’s aphorism, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it,” is more a cultural observation than words to live by. But while reading Kaplan’s thoroughly enjoyable biography of John Quincy Adams it is hard not to notice similarities between the political climate and sectional issues that propelled non-politician candidates Jackson and Trump to the presidency. In 1828, presidential nominees didn’t personally enter the fray. They left character assassination, misinformation sharing and outright lies to their seconds. American politics has evolved somewhat – presidential candidates now do the heavy mudslinging themselves. Many of the issues that Adams supported – federally-funded infrastructure building, a national bank, petitioning the government, acquiring land by treaty or purchase rather than by conquest – are repugnant when others are trying to sustain a socioeconomic institution like slavery. The Federalist platform, and to a lesser extent that of the Whigs, was dismissed as elitist, non-agrarian and New England-centric; incompatible with the “right” to free land, free labor, Indian removal and Texas annexation. Best to keep troublemakers like former president turned Congressman Adams relatively quiet through a series of gag orders. Adams the “American Visionary” was incompatible with “Manifest Destiny.” In our own time when rhetoric flies expounding the nullification of federal law, disunion or the selective abridgement of civil rights, we remember the past when such talk became catastrophic.
August 13, 2021
Mr Kaplan has done a very good job explaining how important John Quincy Adams is to pre-Civil War history. John Quincy was, probably even more than his father, intrinsically dedicated to a life of public service. He was very hard on himself but pushed himself to try to do the right thing at all times. He never really got the chance to implement his biggest goals as a President in 1825-1829, because of the Jackson machine's bitter opposition and in part because because of his own refusal to adapt the Spoils System (leaving Jackson to firmly establish that unfortunate System in 1829.) But he always fought the good fight. He continued his public service after the Presidency and served in Congress from 1831 until his death in 1848. He fought bravely to keep anti-slavery reforms on the table, pressing for years against the "Gag Rule" inserted by Southern Pro-Slavery Democrats. He had an important role in the successful Amistad case.
Mr Kaplan has exhaustively researched the several different Adams diaries and collections of letters, and allows the reader to see an intimate picture of the Adams families. The family was very close and enjoyed each other on many levels - the image of John Quincy hiking, fishing and swimming with his boys, of John mentoring his daughter-in-law Louisa as she establishes her own diary, and of John Quincy and Louisa writing accomplished poems to each other, is a warm one and corrects the typical assumption of the Adams being stiff.
I enjoyed this book of lives well lived and would recommend it.
Mr Kaplan has exhaustively researched the several different Adams diaries and collections of letters, and allows the reader to see an intimate picture of the Adams families. The family was very close and enjoyed each other on many levels - the image of John Quincy hiking, fishing and swimming with his boys, of John mentoring his daughter-in-law Louisa as she establishes her own diary, and of John Quincy and Louisa writing accomplished poems to each other, is a warm one and corrects the typical assumption of the Adams being stiff.
I enjoyed this book of lives well lived and would recommend it.
May 24, 2017
So this book was not as much of a slog as I feared it was going to be! Kaplan claims his major intervention is the focus on Adams as a writer, which I guess I'll grant him--I'm not familiar enough with Adams historiography to argue otherwise, though I think Kaplan kind of over-stretches it with "writer"--like yes, he's an able and determined diarist, but only a few of his public speeches are excerpted at any real length? (I may also find this argument less moving since we've done this 'x person the WRITER' theme practically to death in Lincoln studies, and there are also so many others who have had this treatment; if these authors are to be believed, the US was a nation founded and led by a bunch of writers.)
But the biography itself isn't terrible, and Kaplan is Adams-friendly enough that it's obvious and sort of adorable? It's sort of standard--not bad, but nothing amazing in it, honestly. Just very middle-of-the-road.
But the biography itself isn't terrible, and Kaplan is Adams-friendly enough that it's obvious and sort of adorable? It's sort of standard--not bad, but nothing amazing in it, honestly. Just very middle-of-the-road.
May 26, 2018
Why are the best presidents the ones I know least about?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 194 reviews