The Education of John Adams

by R.B. Bernstein, Tom Perkins (Narrator)

'THE EDUCATION OF JOHN ADAMS' is the first biography of John Adams by a biographer with legal training. It examines his origins in colonial Massachusetts, his education, and his struggle to choose a career and define a place for himself in colonial society. It explores the flowering of his legal career and the impact that law had on him and his understanding of himself; his growing involvement with the American Revolution as polemicist, as lawyer, as congressional delegate, and as diplomat; and his commitment to defining and expounding ideas about constitutionalism and how it should work as the body of ideas shaping the new United States.

The book traces his part in launching the government of the United States under the U.S. Constitution; his service as the nation's first vice president and second president; and his retirement years, during which he was first a vexed and rejected ex-president and then became the revered Sage of Braintree. It describes the relationships that sustained him - with his wife, the brilliant and eloquent Abigail Adams; with his children; with such allies and supporters as Benjamin Rush and John Marshall; with such sometime friends and sometime adversaries as Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson; and with such foes as Alexander Hamilton and Timothy Pickering.




RUNNING TIME => 9hrs. and 33mins.

©2020 Oxford University Press (P)2020 Tantor

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, American History, Presidents, Politics

Audible Audio

First published April 21, 2020

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

As indicated by the title, this book was about the intellectual history of John Adams (with enough personal information to keep it from reading dry). There is nothing really new here based on what I have read on Adams. I think this book was very fair pointing out Adams' flaws and positive aspects but was favorable in its opinion of Adams overall.

[Dave Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

"The Education of John Adams" is a well-written biography of our nation's second president. It shows Adams as a big thinker, influential writer, and someone who shaped the country in many different ways. We read about Adam's role in the Revolution, the Continental Congress, and vice-president to George Washington. But beyond the things we know about Adams, author R.B. Bernstein shows Adams questioning his role and contributions. At various parts of the book, I thought of him similar to that of President Jimmy Carter during his presidency. Both men were brilliant but weren't always respected for what they did until they left office.

MEMORABLE QUOTES:

Adams lived with books at his elbow and a pen at his hand, insatiably curious about the world around him. He educated himself and sought to teach his contemporaries what he had learned. These lifelong processes of learning and teaching constitute the education of John Adams.

The law suited him well as a career, meshing with his love of learning and study, his talent for public speaking and argument, and his capacity for hard work.

One of Adam's great achievements as president is that he proved that not George Washington could be president, showing that the office was not uniquely crafted to fit the "father of his country" taking charge of the presidency and becoming his own man. After Washington's death, Adams helped shape the office in his own image. Only then could he show what a presidency tailored for him suited to his intellect, personality, and political virtues would look like. By then, however, it was too late to alter the public's view of him.

Adams was deeply proud that he averted a disastrous war with France. Many scholars consider Adam's greatest presidential legacy his appointment of John Marshall to the Supreme Court.

Adams not only accepted defeat in 1800 but cooperated in making a smooth transition of power to Jefferson. He also spurned efforts by federalists to persuade him to continue as a caretaker president after the end of his term. Adams, thus, helped to establish the tradition of orderly transitions of power from one party to another in presidential elections.

Given these achievements, Adam's presidency was not the failure that many have deemed it. Against these successes, we must revisit the greatest blots on his record: his signing of the sedition act into law and his concurrence in enforcing it against critics of himself and his administration.

The central theme of Adam's life is his immersion in politics and law, focusing on the American Revolution repeatedly he sacrificed family happiness and domestic bliss to his public duty to the Revolution.

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several years ago I read a book by Richard (R.B.) Bernstein called "The Founding Fathers Reconsidered." It was one of the best books I had ever read on the Founders because it tried to play fair with them, not turning them into demi-gods nor damning them for their weaknesses. Out of the blue, I checked Richard on Facebook and saw he was a member. On a lark, I sent a friend request, not expecting anything. A few seconds later he had accepted it. That brought about a long-time friendship with him that did a great deal for my desire to write and be published. Richard took time out of his busy schedule to read over things I wrote and even wrote me a letter of recommendation for a National Endowment for the Humanities grant and shared my disappointment when I wasn't selected.

Over the years we generally lost touch with each other. In 2023, I read that Richard had died. His last book was "The Education of John Adams." I have all of his books, but I wanted to listen to this one because it was the final book he wrote. As in his other books, Richard didn't attempt to lionize Adams nor overdo Adams' weaknesses. I have his short biography of Thomas Jefferson, which I will read sometime, especially since Gordon Wood hailed it as the best short biography of Jefferson available.

R.I.P, Richard.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very little here that isn't in John Ferling's "John Adams: A Life" and David McCullough's "John Adams". It's considerably shorter than either, and would be a mostly adequate substitute for either. (Ferling's book is the best history, McCullough's is the best written and is more entertaining.) I don't think Bernstein breaks any new historical ground. I know this sounds super-nerdy, and is probably an obnoxious humble-brag, but I was most intrigued by his notes and bibliograph, which cites numerous books (nay, "monographs" - if I'm going to be pretentious, I should go whole hog) that promise to delve deeper into the various crises that occurred in Adams's lifetime. There's an entire book on the controversy over what to call the President ("For Fear of an Elective King: George Washington and the Presidential Titles Controversy of 1789" by Kathleen Bartolini-Tuazon). How deep down the Early American rabbit hole do I want to go? Bernstein's book has shown me there are diminishing returns when reading multiple biographies of the same person. If I really want to know more about someone, I need to read books about other people, or books with a deep but narrow focus on a particular topic.

[Frazt Des · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kamm nicht sagen, ob das Buch langweilig war, oder ob das Leben von John Adams für einen der ersten Präsidenten ungewöhnlich ereignisslos war. Trotzdem eine gute Lektion in "impliziten Wissen, ich lernte unter anderem:

-Der wahre Grund, warum er seinen ersten Fall als Anwalt annahm (nicht wegen Geld. sondern strategisch, um seinen Ruf zu verteidigen)

-Dass man es trotz einiger Schwächen zum Präsidenten schaffen kann (Adams hatte nicht so gute Selbstkontrolle wenn es um Gefühle zeigen ging)

-Das die U.S. damals den Sklavenaufstand in Haiti unterstützt haben, um französische Positionen in der Karibik zu schwächen

-Dass es wohl selbst in so einer religiösen und geordneten Gesellschaft wie im 18.Jhdt. USA möglich war, einfach seind Frau und Kinder zu verlassen, sowie es einer von Adams Söhnen gemacht hat. (Dachte immer, das wäre ein "modernes" Phänomen)

-Dass selbst reiche Leute mit Zugang zu den besten Medizinern damals im Alter von 60 ihre Zähne verloren.

Ein underrateder Grund, um Sachbücher zu lesen, auch wenn einen das Hauütthema nich SO interessiert: Implizites Wissen. Ich glauve, Paul Graham hat da auch schon einen Artikel geschriebe.

[Abdul Alhazred · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's hard to write a biography about someone that's so extensively covered already, hard to find a niche that's unexplored. Bernstein does it by framing it as "The Education of", beginning with Adams as a schoolboy and leading to some frankly embarrassing forcing of the theme later in the book where he tries to cram "John Adams failed to educate [the people]" type sentences in to stick with the theme. The reality is that it's just yet another biography of Adams, with slightly more focus on his intellectual life, but still hitting every point you'd expect in a general biography, leaning pretty heavily on his letters to ground statements about his thinking and feeling.
It's a decent effort, but not as good as his book on Thomas Jefferson By Bernstein, R B ( Author ) Paperback 2005 .

[Karen Spisak · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed reading The Education of John Adams. It is a beautifully well-crafted biography of our second president, with each chapter a perfect composition on its own. It is not merely complimentary, though, but looks at the man with all his flaws. However, it goes further, giving the reader insight into why Adams had those particular flaws. The Education of John Adams is a well written, interesting, and insightful presidential/founding father biography. I highly recommend it.

[Chris Burd · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this perspective on John Adams. Having already read a few biographies of Adams and a wide range of books in which he is at least a minor player, there are a number of quirks of Adams that can seem contradictory. Bernstein did an excellent job of highlighting Adams’ thinking and the context of his decisions.

I would not suggest this book as an initial biography of John Adams, but it is a fantastic resource to read alongside other books about the man and the era.

[Tammy Mannarino · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not as accessible as David McCullough's biography of John Adams, it comes close! Bernstein succeeds in handling John Adams not only as a humorous, curmudgeon who helped shape the new country, but also as a man of letters and ideas. I really enjoyed the different aspects of Adams' "education," not just schooling but also learning from his own experiences, from friendships that waxed and waned and from his own scholarship in his retirement.

[Davina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I very much enjoy the Professor's work. I got a more intelligent view of Adams than I had previously. While there are longer biographies of Adams, this had me understand his intellectual life best. We got to see both his virtues and his flaws. A very quick read, I was carried along by the author, and had trouble putting this one down.

[Norm Konzelman · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author may know "about" John Adams. That is not the same as "knowing" John Adams.
Modernistic tripe I regret beginning.
Barely got past the prologue into the first chapter, but I am finished with it.

[Jamie Beach]

I didn't finish this book.

[Reader]

New York Public Library