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John Quincy Adams: A Personal History of an Independent Man
A study of the sixth president's private and public lives based on his journals, correspondence and memoirs
681 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1972
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June 20, 2023
When thinking about the men who have become President, it is difficult to think of one who was more distinguished both before and after his presidency than John Quincy Adams. Minister to The Hague, to Portugal, to Prussia, to Russia, and to Great Britain. One of the peace Commissioners charged with drafting the treaty that ended the War of 1812. Senator from Massachusetts. Secretary of State. President. U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts. And those are only the political and diplomatic offices that he held. None of those include his great contributions to science and literature, as well as anti-slavery. I lost track of how many languages he was fluent in. English, French, Dutch, German, Russian, Latin, Greek, and Spanish for sure. Most likely he was at least conversant in Portuguese and maybe Italian. And late in life, he was upset that he was struggling at learning Hebrew! How many languages do Presidents now speak? Jimmy Carter is the last one that I can think of that could speak another language (Spanish) fairly well.
Also keep in mind that Adams' life spanned from the Revolutionary War to the War with Mexico. He knew all of the Founding Fathers, the titans of his own generation (John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Daniel Webster to name a few), and men who carried on after his death as the nation moved towards rupture. And the man did an inordinate amount of traveling. He was always on the road, heading off somewhere by carriage or ship. Think about the state of travel in the late 18th and early 19th centuries: no planes, no cars, no trains; only horses and ships. The railroads came along late in his life (Adams was a fan despite almost being killed in a train derailment). It took weeks (and months if going to Europe) to get places. Adams didn't care. He was constantly on the go, even when he was old. The man's energy is inspiring.
While Marie Hecht gets to all of these things, as well as Adams' many flaws (he was frequently his own worst enemy, somehow managing to upset both sides in political disputes due to his moral rigidity), I found this look at Adams' life to be okay at best. To Hecht's credit, she tries to look more at the personal side of Adams rather than at his diplomacy, or his presidency, as some other biographers have done. I do appreciate that, and I think it is worthwhile to do so. After all, it would seem almost to be a crime not to utilize the detailed diary entries that Adams kept for half a century. But Hecht's chapter structure, her writing style, and numerous date errors marred this work for me.
One thing that irks me as a reader is when I am plodding along in a book and suddenly someone's last name is mentioned, but that person is not familiar. I usually stop and ask myself if I wasn't paying attention for the last few pages. Then I wonder who this person is. Or, I might know who the person is, but I don't remember them being a part of the narrative until just now, so did I miss them somewhere earlier? I had that feeling multiple times with this book. I finally figured out that, at least this time, the problem was not with my attention skills. The problem was Hecht repeatedly just dropping a new person into the narrative with no introduction whatsoever. I noticed this on page 168 when "Miranda" was mentioned. Who? It turns out she was referring to Francisco de Miranda, an early President of Venezuela. But neither Miranda nor Venezuela had been brought before suddenly Hecht is writing that Adams is working on an issue with Miranda. I was lost.
Hecht does this again on page 226 by referring to "Hughes". Over one hundred pages pass before we find out that it is Christopher Hughes, who was a legation secretary. Hecht also does this with an object on page 390: a flour mill that Adams had purchased in the D.C. area. I only remembered that he had purchased it from reading a few previous books about him. Hecht just drops it into the narrative, making vague reference to the flour mill. She doesn't ever say that Adams bought it, let alone when or why or how involved he was in its operations. Only later would the reader finally figure out that he had bought a flour mill. She never actually does talk specifically about it, settling instead for making a handful of passing references to it.
Similarly, Hecht does a poor job of describing Adams' Cabinet selection when he is finally elected President (following the "Corrupt Bargain" with Clay in early 1825 where Clay helps Adams get elected by the House of Representatives in exchange for Adams making him Secretary of State). While she does rightly talk much about Clay, there is no mention at all of Adams' choice for Secretary of War. As with some of the other names above, it gradually dawned on me that it was James Barbour, who had been a Senator from Virginia. Hecht makes a reference or two to "Barbour" but never actually talks about Adams selecting him, let alone why. We just come across him again after he is Secretary of War. She did the same thing with Benjamin Crowninshield, who was Monroe's Secretary of the Navy (he doesn't even appear in the index!).
Hecht also makes numerous factual date errors. On page 542, she writes that James Madison died on June 8, 1836. No, it was June 28. She even comes close to getting Adams' own death incorrect at the end, saying that he had a stroke on January 21 when it was actually February 21. There are many other examples of that throughout the book, but I think you get the point: Hecht was sloppy with her writing, and her editor must have been on an extended leave of absence when the manuscript was submitted for review. I don't look for an error-free book; I don't know that one exists. But when you see patterns, it is hard not to take those patterns into consideration when evaluating a book.
Another aspect of Hecht's writing style that I did not care for was that her chapters contained no sections or breaks within them. Once a chapter starts, there is no break until it concludes. This makes for some jarring transitions at times. On page 282, in subsequent paragraphs, we go from talking about Benjamin Crowninshield to talking about South America, then we bounce to Washington D.C. social life, and end up discussing Andrew Jackson's activities in Florida. Mental whiplash! It is difficult to stay focused on the narrative when it changes so frequently.
Hecht was good at examining Adams' relationships to many of his family members: both parents, his brother Thomas, his wife Louisa Catherine, and his children. Here Hecht manages to make solid use of the tomes of correspondence amongst all of the Adams family members. She also interweaves Adams' diary entries to help supplement what some of the letters were about. I also thought that she was fair in handling both John and Abigail Adams, noting their virtues as well as their flaws.
The final chapters, on Adams' service in the House, are also pretty good. Hecht discusses at length his battle against the gag rule, and how he slowly came around to more firmly and openly holding an anti-slavery position, although it was never enough to please the abolitionists. Adams lived such a rich and eventful life that a book about him would be hard-pressed not to be at least somewhat interesting. But Hecht's writing style left much to be desired. There are many Adams biographies out there now and I've only read a few of them, so while this is not a horrible book by any means, I can't really recommend it when others are probably better.
Grade: D+
Also keep in mind that Adams' life spanned from the Revolutionary War to the War with Mexico. He knew all of the Founding Fathers, the titans of his own generation (John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, Andrew Jackson, Daniel Webster to name a few), and men who carried on after his death as the nation moved towards rupture. And the man did an inordinate amount of traveling. He was always on the road, heading off somewhere by carriage or ship. Think about the state of travel in the late 18th and early 19th centuries: no planes, no cars, no trains; only horses and ships. The railroads came along late in his life (Adams was a fan despite almost being killed in a train derailment). It took weeks (and months if going to Europe) to get places. Adams didn't care. He was constantly on the go, even when he was old. The man's energy is inspiring.
While Marie Hecht gets to all of these things, as well as Adams' many flaws (he was frequently his own worst enemy, somehow managing to upset both sides in political disputes due to his moral rigidity), I found this look at Adams' life to be okay at best. To Hecht's credit, she tries to look more at the personal side of Adams rather than at his diplomacy, or his presidency, as some other biographers have done. I do appreciate that, and I think it is worthwhile to do so. After all, it would seem almost to be a crime not to utilize the detailed diary entries that Adams kept for half a century. But Hecht's chapter structure, her writing style, and numerous date errors marred this work for me.
One thing that irks me as a reader is when I am plodding along in a book and suddenly someone's last name is mentioned, but that person is not familiar. I usually stop and ask myself if I wasn't paying attention for the last few pages. Then I wonder who this person is. Or, I might know who the person is, but I don't remember them being a part of the narrative until just now, so did I miss them somewhere earlier? I had that feeling multiple times with this book. I finally figured out that, at least this time, the problem was not with my attention skills. The problem was Hecht repeatedly just dropping a new person into the narrative with no introduction whatsoever. I noticed this on page 168 when "Miranda" was mentioned. Who? It turns out she was referring to Francisco de Miranda, an early President of Venezuela. But neither Miranda nor Venezuela had been brought before suddenly Hecht is writing that Adams is working on an issue with Miranda. I was lost.
Hecht does this again on page 226 by referring to "Hughes". Over one hundred pages pass before we find out that it is Christopher Hughes, who was a legation secretary. Hecht also does this with an object on page 390: a flour mill that Adams had purchased in the D.C. area. I only remembered that he had purchased it from reading a few previous books about him. Hecht just drops it into the narrative, making vague reference to the flour mill. She doesn't ever say that Adams bought it, let alone when or why or how involved he was in its operations. Only later would the reader finally figure out that he had bought a flour mill. She never actually does talk specifically about it, settling instead for making a handful of passing references to it.
Similarly, Hecht does a poor job of describing Adams' Cabinet selection when he is finally elected President (following the "Corrupt Bargain" with Clay in early 1825 where Clay helps Adams get elected by the House of Representatives in exchange for Adams making him Secretary of State). While she does rightly talk much about Clay, there is no mention at all of Adams' choice for Secretary of War. As with some of the other names above, it gradually dawned on me that it was James Barbour, who had been a Senator from Virginia. Hecht makes a reference or two to "Barbour" but never actually talks about Adams selecting him, let alone why. We just come across him again after he is Secretary of War. She did the same thing with Benjamin Crowninshield, who was Monroe's Secretary of the Navy (he doesn't even appear in the index!).
Hecht also makes numerous factual date errors. On page 542, she writes that James Madison died on June 8, 1836. No, it was June 28. She even comes close to getting Adams' own death incorrect at the end, saying that he had a stroke on January 21 when it was actually February 21. There are many other examples of that throughout the book, but I think you get the point: Hecht was sloppy with her writing, and her editor must have been on an extended leave of absence when the manuscript was submitted for review. I don't look for an error-free book; I don't know that one exists. But when you see patterns, it is hard not to take those patterns into consideration when evaluating a book.
Another aspect of Hecht's writing style that I did not care for was that her chapters contained no sections or breaks within them. Once a chapter starts, there is no break until it concludes. This makes for some jarring transitions at times. On page 282, in subsequent paragraphs, we go from talking about Benjamin Crowninshield to talking about South America, then we bounce to Washington D.C. social life, and end up discussing Andrew Jackson's activities in Florida. Mental whiplash! It is difficult to stay focused on the narrative when it changes so frequently.
Hecht was good at examining Adams' relationships to many of his family members: both parents, his brother Thomas, his wife Louisa Catherine, and his children. Here Hecht manages to make solid use of the tomes of correspondence amongst all of the Adams family members. She also interweaves Adams' diary entries to help supplement what some of the letters were about. I also thought that she was fair in handling both John and Abigail Adams, noting their virtues as well as their flaws.
The final chapters, on Adams' service in the House, are also pretty good. Hecht discusses at length his battle against the gag rule, and how he slowly came around to more firmly and openly holding an anti-slavery position, although it was never enough to please the abolitionists. Adams lived such a rich and eventful life that a book about him would be hard-pressed not to be at least somewhat interesting. But Hecht's writing style left much to be desired. There are many Adams biographies out there now and I've only read a few of them, so while this is not a horrible book by any means, I can't really recommend it when others are probably better.
Grade: D+
June 15, 2019
Two of our American presidents were born in 1767 destined to be historical rivals and no two came
from more disparate backgrounds. Andrew Jackson was born in the Waxhaw area of South Carolina
the last and one born posthumously to a Scots-Irish immigrant father. Before his childhood ended
he would lose his two older brothers and mother and would make his way to Tennessee where he
worked his way up the ladder of society through his strength of will and purpose.
John Quincy Adams was born to John and Abigail Adams and he was the eldest of the children of this
celebrated couple. Reading Marie B. Hecht you see that this father took personal interest in grooming
his son for a career in government and politics. As a child Quincy Adams watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from a distance. John Adams took his son along with him to France then to Great
Britain on his diplomatic missions. No statesman and diplomat ever got training in so young and
age watching his dad try and gain respect and recognition for a new nation. The son followed the
father to Harvard and then to the practice of law. Quincy Adams years as a lawyer were pretty
desultory.
So in 1794 he was grateful that President Washington appointed him at the age of 27 to be the
first American Minister to the Netherlands with the backing and enthusiastic approval of his Vice
President John Adams. In a few years Quincy Adams would also become Minister to Prussia. Some
interesting stories in the book are told about his dealings with the governments of both these powers. In Europe while over in Great Britain he met and wed Louisa Catherine Johnson the
daughter of our consul in London.
Diplomatic service ended for him when Thomas Jefferson became president. But his and his
father's party the Federalists were still in charge in Massachusetts where the State Legislature chose him as US Senator in 1803. For most of the term he was a pretty orthodox Federalist in
opposition to Jeffersonian policies until Jefferson declared an Embargo against European trade in
reaction for impressment of our sailors by ships of Great Britain who was at war Napoleon Bonaparte's France. New England which lived by foreign trade was against the Embargo Act, but
Quincy Adams supported Jefferson in this.
That cost him re-election to his Senate seat. But in this case Quincy Adams landed nicely on his
feet as Jefferson's successor James Madison made him our first Minister to Russia. A key post as
Russia was aligned with Great Britain in their war with Napoleon. When we went to war with
Great Britain in the War of 1812 the Russian ministry became a post that was critical. Quincy Adams became part of the negotiating team at Ghent which negotiated the treaty that ended the
War of 1812 and then he followed that up with a stint as Minister to Great Britain as we resumed
diplomatic relations.
No one in our history ever had such a vast array of diplomatic experience to bring to the post of
Secretary of State than John Quincy Adams. The Federalists had become a permanent and rapidly
shrinking minority by that time and were tainted with the treason discussed at the Hartford
Convention. Quincy Adams by dint of good timing was clear from that and James Monroe named
him Secretary of State where he served from 1817-1825.
He is considered one of our best Secretaries of State. The two things which Quincy Adams is best
known for are the purchasing of Florida after General Andrew Jackson occupied it first. Secondly
though the statement of policy was named the Monroe Doctrine after the president it was the work
of the Secretary of State. A statement of policy that said the western hemisphere was our turf. In
1824 with the Federalists dead on a national level and dying off in New England the race for president became one of several personalities and regions. New England's candidate was John
Quincy Adams.
Who ran second in the popular and electoral vote. Andrew Jackson had 99, Quincy Adams 84, the
Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford 43 and Henry Clay 37. With no majority in the
Electoral College the choice went to the House of Representatives where Adams and Clay combined
with Adams elected and Clay named Secretary of State.
Andrew Jackson and followers cried corrupt bargain and Jackson exploited it to the max. Jackson
who was secure in his home state of Tennessee resigned the US Senate seat he held at the time and
for the next four years developed with others the Democratic party to challenge Adams in 1828
As for Adams the one thing dear old dad never taught him was the baser arts of political organizing.
He refused to build any kind of patronage machine to get himself re-elected. Come 1828 Adams
was soundly defeated. Ironically it was only in the presidency that John Quincy Adams failed.
It wasn't over for him though because he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1830 and
served there until he died in 1848 outliving Jackson by 3 years.
One of the few presidents who remained active after his White House term was up Adams became
a convert to the cause of the abolition of slavery. He was a critic of a nearly unbroken string of
Democratic presidents who were in the White House. A story best told in the film Amistead. Adams
who found the law desultory as a young man became counsel for some freed Africans who revolted
and killed the captain of the slave ship Amistead in 1840.
The kid who saw his country being born at Bunker Hill died of a stroke that happened on the floor
of the House of Representatives. Adams died in the Speaker's chambers where he was taken and
tended.
In many ways an admirable character one wonders how Adams might have done if he were taught
some of the more practical and less savory aspects of politics. He did pretty good as it was.
from more disparate backgrounds. Andrew Jackson was born in the Waxhaw area of South Carolina
the last and one born posthumously to a Scots-Irish immigrant father. Before his childhood ended
he would lose his two older brothers and mother and would make his way to Tennessee where he
worked his way up the ladder of society through his strength of will and purpose.
John Quincy Adams was born to John and Abigail Adams and he was the eldest of the children of this
celebrated couple. Reading Marie B. Hecht you see that this father took personal interest in grooming
his son for a career in government and politics. As a child Quincy Adams watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from a distance. John Adams took his son along with him to France then to Great
Britain on his diplomatic missions. No statesman and diplomat ever got training in so young and
age watching his dad try and gain respect and recognition for a new nation. The son followed the
father to Harvard and then to the practice of law. Quincy Adams years as a lawyer were pretty
desultory.
So in 1794 he was grateful that President Washington appointed him at the age of 27 to be the
first American Minister to the Netherlands with the backing and enthusiastic approval of his Vice
President John Adams. In a few years Quincy Adams would also become Minister to Prussia. Some
interesting stories in the book are told about his dealings with the governments of both these powers. In Europe while over in Great Britain he met and wed Louisa Catherine Johnson the
daughter of our consul in London.
Diplomatic service ended for him when Thomas Jefferson became president. But his and his
father's party the Federalists were still in charge in Massachusetts where the State Legislature chose him as US Senator in 1803. For most of the term he was a pretty orthodox Federalist in
opposition to Jeffersonian policies until Jefferson declared an Embargo against European trade in
reaction for impressment of our sailors by ships of Great Britain who was at war Napoleon Bonaparte's France. New England which lived by foreign trade was against the Embargo Act, but
Quincy Adams supported Jefferson in this.
That cost him re-election to his Senate seat. But in this case Quincy Adams landed nicely on his
feet as Jefferson's successor James Madison made him our first Minister to Russia. A key post as
Russia was aligned with Great Britain in their war with Napoleon. When we went to war with
Great Britain in the War of 1812 the Russian ministry became a post that was critical. Quincy Adams became part of the negotiating team at Ghent which negotiated the treaty that ended the
War of 1812 and then he followed that up with a stint as Minister to Great Britain as we resumed
diplomatic relations.
No one in our history ever had such a vast array of diplomatic experience to bring to the post of
Secretary of State than John Quincy Adams. The Federalists had become a permanent and rapidly
shrinking minority by that time and were tainted with the treason discussed at the Hartford
Convention. Quincy Adams by dint of good timing was clear from that and James Monroe named
him Secretary of State where he served from 1817-1825.
He is considered one of our best Secretaries of State. The two things which Quincy Adams is best
known for are the purchasing of Florida after General Andrew Jackson occupied it first. Secondly
though the statement of policy was named the Monroe Doctrine after the president it was the work
of the Secretary of State. A statement of policy that said the western hemisphere was our turf. In
1824 with the Federalists dead on a national level and dying off in New England the race for president became one of several personalities and regions. New England's candidate was John
Quincy Adams.
Who ran second in the popular and electoral vote. Andrew Jackson had 99, Quincy Adams 84, the
Secretary of the Treasury William H. Crawford 43 and Henry Clay 37. With no majority in the
Electoral College the choice went to the House of Representatives where Adams and Clay combined
with Adams elected and Clay named Secretary of State.
Andrew Jackson and followers cried corrupt bargain and Jackson exploited it to the max. Jackson
who was secure in his home state of Tennessee resigned the US Senate seat he held at the time and
for the next four years developed with others the Democratic party to challenge Adams in 1828
As for Adams the one thing dear old dad never taught him was the baser arts of political organizing.
He refused to build any kind of patronage machine to get himself re-elected. Come 1828 Adams
was soundly defeated. Ironically it was only in the presidency that John Quincy Adams failed.
It wasn't over for him though because he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1830 and
served there until he died in 1848 outliving Jackson by 3 years.
One of the few presidents who remained active after his White House term was up Adams became
a convert to the cause of the abolition of slavery. He was a critic of a nearly unbroken string of
Democratic presidents who were in the White House. A story best told in the film Amistead. Adams
who found the law desultory as a young man became counsel for some freed Africans who revolted
and killed the captain of the slave ship Amistead in 1840.
The kid who saw his country being born at Bunker Hill died of a stroke that happened on the floor
of the House of Representatives. Adams died in the Speaker's chambers where he was taken and
tended.
In many ways an admirable character one wonders how Adams might have done if he were taught
some of the more practical and less savory aspects of politics. He did pretty good as it was.
July 19, 2013
http://bestpresidentialbios.com/2013/...
“John Quincy Adams: A Personal History of an Independent Man” by Marie B. Hecht was published in 1972. Her biography of John Quincy Adams seems to be the most substantial work on the sixth president following Samuel Flagg Bemis’s two-volume series which was completed in the 1950s. Hecht, who died in 2007, was the author of six other books including works on Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton.
Marie Hecht’s biography of John Quincy Adams is the oldest and lengthiest of the four biographies of our sixth president in my library (which, sadly, does not yet include Bemis’s series). As I anticipated, this book reminded me of Ralph Ketcham’s biography of James Madison and Harry Ammon’s on James Monroe. They were all published within a year of each other, and they each proved to be thorough, workmanlike biographies of early American presidents.
In this biography, Hecht clearly shows her fondness for John Quincy Adams and his long (though sometimes unpopular) legacy of public service. But this is no hagiography, for as much as Hecht touts Adams as a successful diplomat, a committed abolitionist and a brilliant thinker, she does not hesitate to also portray him as an oldest son raised for greatness, constantly seeking his parents’ approval for his deeds and who was never quite able to fit in socially with “everyone else.”
She describes a sometimes crotchety, opinionated and stubborn man who worked diligently in the trenches and, once elected to the nation’s highest office, suffered a relatively unsuccessful presidency due to a combination of “wrong place, wrong time” and an unwillingness to forcefully use presidential power to further his causes. But interestingly, he became an indefatigable gadfly in Congress following his presidency, up through his death (in the US Capitol buildling).
John Quincy Adams’s life is thoroughly described from start to finish, demonstrating his multitude of personal and professional successes, and also a few notable failures. But as seems to be the style of 1970s-era presidential biographies, Hecht never connects the dots. While carefully laying key facts of his life on the table, she leaves it to the reader to sort through the chronology and draw meaningful conclusions. The only big-picture theme one takes from this biography (other than subtly pointing out his inherent greatness) is that of John Quincy Adams’s unfailing devotion to his country, at significant expense to his relationship with his own political party.
The biography was generally well-paced and only seemed to slow meaningfully during his years as Monroe’s Secretary of State. Somewhat surprising to me (given what I had read in John Adams-focused biographies earlier) was Hecht’s description of Abigail Adams as an overbearing, overprotective and meddlesome mother, and of Louisa Catherine Adams (John Quincy’s wife) as a fragile, constantly ill and rather unimpressive individual.
In the end, I felt Marie Hecht’s “John Quincy Adams” provided a solid and very worthwhile introduction to the sixth president. The biography humanized him nicely (though not quite in the fashion of a character analysis by Joseph Ellis or a historical narrative by David McCullough) and methodically summarized his life’s numerous accomplishments. Though quite readable, it was not a light, fanciful biography and does not make an ideal “beach book” but is a solid review of John Quincy Adams's life.
“John Quincy Adams: A Personal History of an Independent Man” by Marie B. Hecht was published in 1972. Her biography of John Quincy Adams seems to be the most substantial work on the sixth president following Samuel Flagg Bemis’s two-volume series which was completed in the 1950s. Hecht, who died in 2007, was the author of six other books including works on Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton.
Marie Hecht’s biography of John Quincy Adams is the oldest and lengthiest of the four biographies of our sixth president in my library (which, sadly, does not yet include Bemis’s series). As I anticipated, this book reminded me of Ralph Ketcham’s biography of James Madison and Harry Ammon’s on James Monroe. They were all published within a year of each other, and they each proved to be thorough, workmanlike biographies of early American presidents.
In this biography, Hecht clearly shows her fondness for John Quincy Adams and his long (though sometimes unpopular) legacy of public service. But this is no hagiography, for as much as Hecht touts Adams as a successful diplomat, a committed abolitionist and a brilliant thinker, she does not hesitate to also portray him as an oldest son raised for greatness, constantly seeking his parents’ approval for his deeds and who was never quite able to fit in socially with “everyone else.”
She describes a sometimes crotchety, opinionated and stubborn man who worked diligently in the trenches and, once elected to the nation’s highest office, suffered a relatively unsuccessful presidency due to a combination of “wrong place, wrong time” and an unwillingness to forcefully use presidential power to further his causes. But interestingly, he became an indefatigable gadfly in Congress following his presidency, up through his death (in the US Capitol buildling).
John Quincy Adams’s life is thoroughly described from start to finish, demonstrating his multitude of personal and professional successes, and also a few notable failures. But as seems to be the style of 1970s-era presidential biographies, Hecht never connects the dots. While carefully laying key facts of his life on the table, she leaves it to the reader to sort through the chronology and draw meaningful conclusions. The only big-picture theme one takes from this biography (other than subtly pointing out his inherent greatness) is that of John Quincy Adams’s unfailing devotion to his country, at significant expense to his relationship with his own political party.
The biography was generally well-paced and only seemed to slow meaningfully during his years as Monroe’s Secretary of State. Somewhat surprising to me (given what I had read in John Adams-focused biographies earlier) was Hecht’s description of Abigail Adams as an overbearing, overprotective and meddlesome mother, and of Louisa Catherine Adams (John Quincy’s wife) as a fragile, constantly ill and rather unimpressive individual.
In the end, I felt Marie Hecht’s “John Quincy Adams” provided a solid and very worthwhile introduction to the sixth president. The biography humanized him nicely (though not quite in the fashion of a character analysis by Joseph Ellis or a historical narrative by David McCullough) and methodically summarized his life’s numerous accomplishments. Though quite readable, it was not a light, fanciful biography and does not make an ideal “beach book” but is a solid review of John Quincy Adams's life.
December 21, 2014
The best biography of John Quincy Adams I've read. He seems to be sadly neglected as far as biographies go that aren't part of some presidential series. A bit of a slow read, but lots of meaty information. Excellent fuel for anecdotes.
October 27, 2016
Enjoyable read. Learned a lot. His greatest contributions were actually in various foreign minister roles and as Secretary of State prior to his presidency and as a long-time member of the House of Representatives afterwards.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews