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Agony and Eloquence
The drama of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson is the foundational story of America - courage, loyalty, hope, fanaticism, greatness, failure, forgiveness, love. Agony and Eloquence is the story of the greatest friendship in American history and the revolutionary times in which it was made, ruined, and finally renewed. In the wake of Washington's retirement, longtime friends Thomas Jefferson and John Adams came to represent the opposing political forces struggling to shape America's future. Adams' victory in the presidential election of 1796 brought Jefferson into his administration - but as an unlikely and deeply conflicted vice president. The bloody Republican revolution in France finally brought their political differences to a bitter pitch. In Mallock's take on this fascinating period, French foreign policy and revolutionary developments - from the fall of the Bastille to the fall of the Jacobins and the rise of Napoleon - form a disturbing and illuminating counterpoint to events, controversies, individuals, and relationships in Philadelphia and Washington. Many important and fascinating people appear in the book, including Thomas Paine, Camille Desmoulins, Dr. Benjamin Rush, Tobias Lear, Talleyrand, Robespierre, Danton, Saint-Just, Abigail Adams, Lafayette, James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Dr. Joseph Priestley, Samuel Adams, Philip Mazzei, John Marshall, Alexander Hamilton, and Edward Coles. They are brought to life by Mallock's insightful analysis and clear and lively writing. Agony and Eloquence is a thoroughly researched and tautly written modern history. When the most important thing is at stake, almost anything can be justified.
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First published February 2, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
March 12, 2016
The focus of this book is the friendship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, the decline of that friendship, and its recurrence due to the efforts of Dr. Benjamin Rush after Jefferson's presidency ended.The book reads well and is to the point. Other books, of course, have dealt, in one way or another, with the friendship explored here.
But that is the focus of this work--not one part of a longer work on Jefferson or Adams. They came to know one another as the colonies' relationship with British Empire began to worsen dramatically. They worked together in the Continental Congress and served on the committee to draft a rationale for breaking ties with the Empire and declaring independence.
Their friendship deepened as they served abroad in a diplomatic assignment. Too, Abigail Adams, John's wife, became friends with Jefferson--who reciprocated. However, as the book details, politics undid the friendship. Jefferson became skeptical of Washington's presidency (and especially Cabinet members such as Alexander Hamilton). When Adams was elected to follow Washington--with Jefferson serving as Vice President--their friendship was undermined. When Jefferson assumed the presidency, there was no rapprochement between the two. After Jefferson left the presidency, a mutual friend--Dr. Benjamin Rush--strove to ignite a renewal of their friendship. He succeeded quite well. From that point to the ends of their lives (on the same day--July 4), their friendship was renewed and their correspondence dealt with a wide array of issues.
A fine book on an important American friendship. . . .
But that is the focus of this work--not one part of a longer work on Jefferson or Adams. They came to know one another as the colonies' relationship with British Empire began to worsen dramatically. They worked together in the Continental Congress and served on the committee to draft a rationale for breaking ties with the Empire and declaring independence.
Their friendship deepened as they served abroad in a diplomatic assignment. Too, Abigail Adams, John's wife, became friends with Jefferson--who reciprocated. However, as the book details, politics undid the friendship. Jefferson became skeptical of Washington's presidency (and especially Cabinet members such as Alexander Hamilton). When Adams was elected to follow Washington--with Jefferson serving as Vice President--their friendship was undermined. When Jefferson assumed the presidency, there was no rapprochement between the two. After Jefferson left the presidency, a mutual friend--Dr. Benjamin Rush--strove to ignite a renewal of their friendship. He succeeded quite well. From that point to the ends of their lives (on the same day--July 4), their friendship was renewed and their correspondence dealt with a wide array of issues.
A fine book on an important American friendship. . . .
May 24, 2016
"Shenanigans!" my daughter Kristin used to say, "I call 'Shenanigans!'" She reserved invoking the damning yet restorative "Shenanigans!" for those times when her brother Jeffrey stretched the bounds of believability and propriety beyond what she decided were acceptable limits; "Shenanigans!" invoked, normalcy restored. Now I must admit, as I made my way through Daniel L. Mallock's excellent account of the relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, I found myself calling "Shenanigans!" quite often - and against a man I admire: Thomas Jefferson. Hearing how, as Vice President to John Adams, Jefferson worked so hard to undermine many of Adams' strategies and policies was nearly image-shattering. And reading of Jefferson complaints and ire over Adams' last-minute judicial appointments, chosen literally in the waning minutes of Adams' administration, reminded me of another of my daughter's infamous protests: "Mom! Jeffrey hit me back!"
Don't get me wrong. "Agony and Eloquence" did not serve to crush a lifetime idol of mine. Yes, Jefferson has come down a peg or two in my eyes, but his free-fall was slowed in the end by his parachute of eloquence, and I was never in jeopardy of throwing out all the good he had done despite my umbrage over his scheming and denials, not to mention his failure to take action against slavery. He seems to have possessed a lifelong tenacity to nurture, defend, and coax into reality his republican ideals, practically at the expense of everything else - as evinced by his scheming behind Adams' back, turning a blind eye to all the violence of the French Revolution, and not addressing the ongoing evils of slavery. However, where would we be as a country without his republican ideals, his tenacity, and his eloquence? I am reminded of another figure from the past regarded as having been high on eloquence but coming up short on action - Cicero.
Any decline in admiration for Jefferson was more than compensated for by a rise in esteem for Adams. Yes he had his faults, as does everyone, particularly in his borderline undignified defense of his decisions and actions so many years down the road, but his ability to recognize and work toward the greater good, to "be just and do good" certainly wins him a place in my pantheon.
Finally, this interesting book has given me two new historical figures to look up to and look in to: Benjamin Rush and Edward Coles, the former having lived a stone's throw away from my front door.
Do I have a nagging doubt or two I didn't have before reading "Agony and Eloquence?" Yes, but in the end it's all good because I called "Shenanigans!" and, as Kristin will tell you, calling "Shenanigans!" fixes everything.
Don't get me wrong. "Agony and Eloquence" did not serve to crush a lifetime idol of mine. Yes, Jefferson has come down a peg or two in my eyes, but his free-fall was slowed in the end by his parachute of eloquence, and I was never in jeopardy of throwing out all the good he had done despite my umbrage over his scheming and denials, not to mention his failure to take action against slavery. He seems to have possessed a lifelong tenacity to nurture, defend, and coax into reality his republican ideals, practically at the expense of everything else - as evinced by his scheming behind Adams' back, turning a blind eye to all the violence of the French Revolution, and not addressing the ongoing evils of slavery. However, where would we be as a country without his republican ideals, his tenacity, and his eloquence? I am reminded of another figure from the past regarded as having been high on eloquence but coming up short on action - Cicero.
Any decline in admiration for Jefferson was more than compensated for by a rise in esteem for Adams. Yes he had his faults, as does everyone, particularly in his borderline undignified defense of his decisions and actions so many years down the road, but his ability to recognize and work toward the greater good, to "be just and do good" certainly wins him a place in my pantheon.
Finally, this interesting book has given me two new historical figures to look up to and look in to: Benjamin Rush and Edward Coles, the former having lived a stone's throw away from my front door.
Do I have a nagging doubt or two I didn't have before reading "Agony and Eloquence?" Yes, but in the end it's all good because I called "Shenanigans!" and, as Kristin will tell you, calling "Shenanigans!" fixes everything.
May 1, 2022
An interesting, if disjointed, look at the Adams/Jefferson relationship primarily through the lens of the French Revolution.
After going several years without communicating and after both having mostly retired from public life, Adams and Jefferson (through the help of mutual friend Benjamin Rush) began an exchange of letters that rekindled their Revolutionary friendship. Regrettably, Mallock's 2016 "Agony and Eloquence" doesn't do much with the actual correspondence between the two men, instead spending most of the book talking around it. It's more of a "here's what was going on while they were writing each other."
Learning about other epistolary battles that Jefferson and Adams had with others is fine and good, and the extended section on how Rush managed to get the pair to begin communicating again is quite interesting, but overall, for a book supposedly about the back and forth between two Founding Fathers, there's proportionally very little back and forth present.
After going several years without communicating and after both having mostly retired from public life, Adams and Jefferson (through the help of mutual friend Benjamin Rush) began an exchange of letters that rekindled their Revolutionary friendship. Regrettably, Mallock's 2016 "Agony and Eloquence" doesn't do much with the actual correspondence between the two men, instead spending most of the book talking around it. It's more of a "here's what was going on while they were writing each other."
Learning about other epistolary battles that Jefferson and Adams had with others is fine and good, and the extended section on how Rush managed to get the pair to begin communicating again is quite interesting, but overall, for a book supposedly about the back and forth between two Founding Fathers, there's proportionally very little back and forth present.
September 25, 2019
A few digressions are far longer than necessary, such as the detailed inquiry into whether Washington and Jefferson exchanged heated letters after the publication of Jefferson’s letter to Philip Mazzei. Certainly the Mazzei letter itself and the impact of its publication deserve treatment. The lack of consensus over whether a subsequent correspondence between Washington and Jefferson ever existed bears mentioning, but sifting the arguments for and against goes on for over 30 minutes (in the audiobook) and could have been edited down.
But other digressions are actually quite enlightening, such as the extended digression on Camille Desmoulins, a French Revolutionary who was destroyed by the movement he supported, to place Jefferson's attitude toward the French Revolution in context.
But other digressions are actually quite enlightening, such as the extended digression on Camille Desmoulins, a French Revolutionary who was destroyed by the movement he supported, to place Jefferson's attitude toward the French Revolution in context.
June 22, 2020
I expected this book to be better than it was. First, I think the author spends very little time on the actual correspondence between Jefferson and Adams, being more intent on expressing his own political views rather than examining the relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. I found the foray into the field of speculation regarding Jefferson's response to Coles to be particularly irritating as the author of a book examining the relationship between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson seems to not be aware that not only was the Declaration of Independence as written by Jefferson an effort to eradicate slavery, but the bar of slavery to the Northwest Territory was the work of Jefferson, and that Jefferson had attempted to have slavery eliminated in Virginia - and of those efforts, Jefferson could call on success in one. Jefferson was successful in creating the University of Virginia, he had good reason to believe that Coles' efforts would not yield fruit, and chose not to commit himself to that same disappointment again. The author of this book seems to be unaware that the "bully pulpit" did not exist in the early 19th century.
There is also a lot of repetition, almost cut and paste paragraphs repeated multiple times. It's just not well written.
Not recommended. There is no new insights in this book, nothing of any value about the character of John Adams or Thomas Jefferson. It's a political opinion piece masquerading as a history.
There is also a lot of repetition, almost cut and paste paragraphs repeated multiple times. It's just not well written.
Not recommended. There is no new insights in this book, nothing of any value about the character of John Adams or Thomas Jefferson. It's a political opinion piece masquerading as a history.
January 4, 2018
Interesting trip through the lives of Adams and Jefferson through the lense of the French Revolution. I learned so much about how truly partisan and dirty politics was in the days of the Founding Fathers.
July 15, 2021
Two brilliant men, both well read, highly conflicted and with very different legacies. We tend to think that John Adams was far less successful than Thomas Jefferson; after all, not only did Jefferson defeat Adams in the Presidential election of 1800, thus preventing Adams from having a second term, but Jefferson *was* re-elected, in 1804, approved the Louisiana Purchase and has his face engraved on Mt. Rushmore. Adams isn't on that monument.
Perhaps Adams should be, and maybe Jefferson shouldn't have been so honored. This book uses the very words of these two men (and those of others), as written in letters to each other, as well as to other personages, to explain much of the why and wherefore of the first 16 or so years of the American Republic. The thing that stands out the most, in my mind, is just how Politically naïve Thomas Jefferson actually was. I knew that he had been a supporter of the French Revolution; What I did not realize is that he had firmly believed, up to the moment of Bonaparte appointing himself emperor, that the bloodshed of the Revolution, the regicide, the Committee of Public Safety... these were not only necessary, but actually a good thing. I did not realize, until reading his own attempts to justify the Committee, then Robespierre, then the Directory, just how strongly he felt that revolution was not a means to an end so much as an end unto itself: that each generation owed nothing to the previous generations, and that debts accrued by one generation (even those amassed in raising the next) could be ignored by the next.
Quite a shock, to be blunt! The wonder is that Adams and Jefferson, after a disquieting decade or so of silence between them, were able to pick up more-or-less where they had left off in their personal communications, due almost exclusively to the good offices of Dr. Benjamin Rush.
Much of this book is not about the letters these men wrote, but about the events which caused certain letters to be written at all. Many large-scale events are ignored, usually because they were never discussed by the two. It makes for curious reading, and there are times when some of these gaps are glossed over more than I wish they were. But the over-all thrust and arc of this book is fascinating, and it certainly helps to understand how this country of ours wound up in such dire straits less than 40 years after they both passed on. That Adams would have been appalled, but not surprised, by the Civil War, seems a certainty; that Jefferson would have considered it a requirement for the United States to move forward seems just as certain.
Perhaps Adams should be, and maybe Jefferson shouldn't have been so honored. This book uses the very words of these two men (and those of others), as written in letters to each other, as well as to other personages, to explain much of the why and wherefore of the first 16 or so years of the American Republic. The thing that stands out the most, in my mind, is just how Politically naïve Thomas Jefferson actually was. I knew that he had been a supporter of the French Revolution; What I did not realize is that he had firmly believed, up to the moment of Bonaparte appointing himself emperor, that the bloodshed of the Revolution, the regicide, the Committee of Public Safety... these were not only necessary, but actually a good thing. I did not realize, until reading his own attempts to justify the Committee, then Robespierre, then the Directory, just how strongly he felt that revolution was not a means to an end so much as an end unto itself: that each generation owed nothing to the previous generations, and that debts accrued by one generation (even those amassed in raising the next) could be ignored by the next.
Quite a shock, to be blunt! The wonder is that Adams and Jefferson, after a disquieting decade or so of silence between them, were able to pick up more-or-less where they had left off in their personal communications, due almost exclusively to the good offices of Dr. Benjamin Rush.
Much of this book is not about the letters these men wrote, but about the events which caused certain letters to be written at all. Many large-scale events are ignored, usually because they were never discussed by the two. It makes for curious reading, and there are times when some of these gaps are glossed over more than I wish they were. But the over-all thrust and arc of this book is fascinating, and it certainly helps to understand how this country of ours wound up in such dire straits less than 40 years after they both passed on. That Adams would have been appalled, but not surprised, by the Civil War, seems a certainty; that Jefferson would have considered it a requirement for the United States to move forward seems just as certain.
October 8, 2018
This book covers the history of the friendship (and separation and reuniting) of two of America's founding fathers -- John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The book details how Jefferson and Adams worked together in championing the cause for independence and founding the United States of America. It tells the history of the second and third presidents of the USA. Adams was the second president of course (following George Washington) and Thomas Jefferson was his vice president who eventually became the 3rd president. While both men were united in helping America gain her independence from Great Britain, politics and the presidency would drive the two men apart. Once both had retired and had time to reflect on what caused them to separate, they were brought back together by a mutual friend and shared a continuing correspondence via letters through the end of their lives. While Thomas Jefferson is a revered historical figure, Adams is not as much so and has likely not received his just desserts. This book definitely paints Adams in a very favorable light. It does paint Jefferson in a less favorable light than the third president has otherwise been painted by historians, but the ascension of John Adams in my school of thought has really done nothing to diminish Jefferson's greatness. Both men died on July 4, 1826, exactly 50 years after American independence was declared. Even though John Adams' last known words were "Thomas Jefferson survives", Jefferson actually preceded Adams in death by a few hours. It is a good thing for succeeding generation that these two giants of liberty were able to reconcile and their correspondence has been saved for posterity. The reason the book gets 4 stars instead of 5 is it would have benefited from some better editing which could have tightened up the manuscript and eliminated some of the duplication present in the book.
July 24, 2024
I first met my brother when I was 12 years old. He was 7 at the time and I knew then and there, knowing absolutely nothing about him, that we would be friends for life.
Though not technically my brother, a brother by marriage, there is very little of my lofe that has been lived without him. He was there when I proposed to my wife, the best man at my wedding, my AD on my first feature, my partner in business, and now, my co-producer too.
Through the years we've been through a hell of a lot, almost all failures, and he's always done everything in his power to make my life better. Noe, it's my turn to help him.
Despite having absolutely no interest in movies, and nothing beyond the vaguest of interests in cinema, he has worked with me on more film sets than anyone else I know. He's worked on features, shorts, commercials, and everything on between. So dedicated has he come to this career that he has begun to take film classes at his Universty.
In one of these classes, his first of the study, he wrote a final paper on Dune, an epic paper for an epic film. The professor, however, claimed the project too ambitious and gave him a solid, though disheartening, B.
This is much how I feel about this book.
While it's aims are noble, the scope of the piece, attempting to cover not just the lives of two, but all those around them too, while also providing historical context, at least in such a short piece, simply does not work. While the premise is intriguing, that of exploring history through letters, it does not succeed in the way A People's History might succeed, for it does not take the letters as the source of the writing, but rather an extrapolation from which to discuss everything else.
This leaves the whole thing jumbled and unfortunately all over the place, never giving you time to grab hold of anything long enough to invest in it.
Though not technically my brother, a brother by marriage, there is very little of my lofe that has been lived without him. He was there when I proposed to my wife, the best man at my wedding, my AD on my first feature, my partner in business, and now, my co-producer too.
Through the years we've been through a hell of a lot, almost all failures, and he's always done everything in his power to make my life better. Noe, it's my turn to help him.
Despite having absolutely no interest in movies, and nothing beyond the vaguest of interests in cinema, he has worked with me on more film sets than anyone else I know. He's worked on features, shorts, commercials, and everything on between. So dedicated has he come to this career that he has begun to take film classes at his Universty.
In one of these classes, his first of the study, he wrote a final paper on Dune, an epic paper for an epic film. The professor, however, claimed the project too ambitious and gave him a solid, though disheartening, B.
This is much how I feel about this book.
While it's aims are noble, the scope of the piece, attempting to cover not just the lives of two, but all those around them too, while also providing historical context, at least in such a short piece, simply does not work. While the premise is intriguing, that of exploring history through letters, it does not succeed in the way A People's History might succeed, for it does not take the letters as the source of the writing, but rather an extrapolation from which to discuss everything else.
This leaves the whole thing jumbled and unfortunately all over the place, never giving you time to grab hold of anything long enough to invest in it.
July 6, 2022
Lots of valuable information here that should interest anyone who's interested in the foundations of our democracy. Sets up Adams and Jefferson as friends and antagonists who helped define the "American experiment" from the start ... Adams the Federalist, who believed in a strong central government, and Jefferson, the Democrat, who supported popular revolution, even the excesses of the bloody French revolution, and who submerged their differences in a correspondence they renewed the last dozen or so years of their lives. The book needs a lot of help in grammar, spelling & other proofreading matters. Sloppy and inexcusable lapses. Even a Word spell and grammar check would have caught a lot of embarrassing errors.
January 11, 2018
Did anyone edit this book? The author repeats himself chapter and after chapter. Also, I was unpleasantly surprised to see that the author thought to spend but a few pages on the letters sent between Adams and Jefferson over the last 14 years of their life. Most of this book was a commentary on the French Revolution and its impact on a young USA.
July 24, 2017
This book contains plenty of interesting information but is in need of an editor. In many instances of the books I found the author repeating the same idea over and over. A good editing job is needed to clean up much of the verbosity.
December 23, 2020
The correspondence between Adams and Jefferson is prolific and educational, and the history of the French Revolution is detailed nicely here. However, the author bends over backwards to defend the dualistic nature of Jefferson and it becomes tiring. I stopped reading a quarter of the way in.
October 8, 2022
Good information about the two men, their relationship, their political thought, their political actions, and the times in which they lived. Sometimes it felt a little hard to follow because it seemed the chronology of the story would jump forward or backward unexpectedly.
May 22, 2017
Excellent book on how these Men dealt with each other, professionally and personally. This is also a great example of the power of letter writing in this era. A great reference book as well. Enjoy!
June 29, 2017
This book is has interesting parts but is tedious & repetitive. I got through about half of it.
August 31, 2018
An exceptional history book
Mr. Mallock has written an entertaining and informative history of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in addition to covering the historical events in France and England that affected their relationship. I'm not a history buff but this book is a page turner.
Mr. Mallock has written an entertaining and informative history of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson in addition to covering the historical events in France and England that affected their relationship. I'm not a history buff but this book is a page turner.
December 21, 2019
eBook, DNF. Some new tidbits...Good insights into the difference in personalities and temperaments that along with history created this drama...
April 18, 2020
As many have said, this book contains too much repetition. I found the last three pages of each chapter to be as informative as the preceding 30. I would not recommend this book to anyone.
January 25, 2024
Until Goodreads can catch up I will just put this statement. Read twice… enjoyable where is my big review?
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