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John Adams: Party of One, by James Grant
Download PDF John Adams: Party of One, by James Grant
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An acute examination of a paradoxical U.S. president.
John Adams was an undiplomatic diplomat and an impolitic politician--a fierce revolutionary yet a detached and reluctant leader of the nation he helped to found. Few American public figures have ever been more devoted to doing the right thing, or more contemptuous of doing the merely popular thing. Yet his Yankee-bred fixation with ethical propriety and fiscal conservatism never stood in the way of his doing what was necessary. Adams hated debt, but as minister to the Netherlands during the Revolution, he was America's premier junk-bond salesman. And though raised a traditional Massachusetts Congregationalist, Adams was instrumental in bringing about the consecration of the first American Episcopal bishops. He was a warm and magnanimous friend and, on occasion, a man who fully vindicated the famous judgment of a rival he detested. Adams, said Benjamin Franklin, "means well for his country, is always an honest man, often a wise one, but, sometimes, and in some things, is absolutely out of his senses."
James Grant examines this complex and often contradictory founding father in the most well-rounded and multi-faceted portrait of Adams to date. Going from his beginnings on a hardscrabble Massachusetts farm to the Continental Congress to the Court of St. James and the White House, Grant traces the words and deeds of one of our most learned but politically star-crossed leaders.
- Sales Rank: #776288 in Books
- Published on: 2005-03-16
- Released on: 2005-03-09
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 9.34" h x 1.76" w x 6.24" l,
- Binding: Hardcover
- 544 pages
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. This new biography by Grant, who has written previously on financial history (Money of the Mind), gives us John Adams's life in vivid detail. In his New England childhood, the amorous and "bookish" Adams grew up in a four-room farmhouse, the eldest of three children—"by prevailing standards of fertility, almost an only child." The heart of the book chronicles Adams's involvement in the Revolution, from his early praise of the Boston Tea Party through his stint as postwar diplomat in France. His presidency seems almost an afterthought, with almost as much space devoted to fleshing out the details of his narrow victory . One might have liked a richer depiction of Adams's friendship, falling out, rapprochement, and brilliant correspondence with Jefferson. But if that storied friendship gets short shrift, Adams's personal thoughts about wealth, and his worries about luxury corrupting the American republic, are afforded just the sort of detail one expects from a writer with Grant's financial acumen. He ably joins the shelves of recent books on the founding fathers. For Grant's sake, one hopes that David McCullough whetted, rather than sated appetites. If this biography is not quite as grand as McCullough's, it is every bit as eloquent and deserves a wide reading. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
In the current Adams revival, the second president comes in three sizes: large (John Adams, by David McCullough, 2001); medium (Grant's volume); and small (John Adams, by John Diggins, 2003). The latter concentrated on Adams' contentious presidency, so those desiring the full Adams in half McCullough's length will choose Grant. A financial journalist, Grant astutely appraises one of Adams' unsung achievements--arranging foreign loans that financed the War of Independence; indeed, Adams' 10 years as a diplomat (1778-88) strike the author as his subject's signal contribution to the American Revolution. Grant is less admiring when it comes to Adams' personality, conditioning his praise with amusing asides about Adams' social and political gaucheries. As the book's subtitle implies, Adams was little influenced by opinions about him: he was a libertarian, not a democrat. Grant is excellent at developing Adams' devotion to liberty, honed by British policies that affronted him and turned him into a revolutionary. In Grant's fine synthesis, Adams on the page is the pious, ambitious, and loving man he was in life. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"Grant's wise and witty portrayal of John Adams deserves to go to the top of the lengthening list of biographies of the several Founding Fathers. No portrayal of Adams and his times is as perceptive, solidly grounded in the sources, and as delightfully written as is this book." --Paul C. Nagel, author of Descent from Glory: Four Generations of the John Adams Family and The Adams Women: Abigail and Louisa Adams, Their Sisters and Daughters
"Grant’s John Adams: Party of One should become the standard one volume on the second President’s life. Jim Grant is a virtuoso financial historian, American historian and master of the English language. From Grant, John Adams gets his just reward--a deeply researched, honest, marvelously written biography." --Lewis Lehrman,Lewis E. Lehrman, Co-Chairman, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
"This is much more than the curmudgeonly, financially-sophisticated view of a financially sophisticated curmudgeon you might expect of Mr. Grant, author of four notable books on finance and financial history. Well-wrought and scrupulous, John Adams: Party of One is written with elegance and a subtle understanding that rises to eloquence where eloquence matters, and builds to affectionate and moving truth." --Roger Kennedy, Director Emeritus, The National Museum of American History
"In this first-rate biography, Jim Grant delivers an effervescent life of John Adams that sparkles with classic wit, droll charm, and an engaging whimsy that perfectly suits both the subject and the period. Going beyond the humorous anecdotes and satirical asides that enliven his narrative, however, Grant sketches a poignant portrait of a doughty, stubborn, and many-sided man who defies easy generalizations. Whether as a lawyer, patriot, diplomat, or president, John Adams was a certified American original--a 'party of one,' as the subtitle intimates--and this biography, brimming with verbal riches, proves no less singular than its protagonist." --Ron Chernow, author of Alexander Hamilton
Most helpful customer reviews
62 of 63 people found the following review helpful.
A book as avuncular as its subject.
By David J. Gannon
John Adams is going through a bit of a revival these days-a development about which he no doubt would be both pleased and puzzled. This is the third Adams biography I have read in the past year, also taking in the recent books by John Diggins and David McCullough.
All three books give Adams his due-something largely denied him in his own time. They capture the iconoclastic nature of his personality as well as his intellectual power and accomplishments. Diggins focuses on Adam's Presidency, so his narrative is somewhat restricted, and , in fact, his style is as well. McCullough on the other hand is his devilishly detailed self, sometimes to the extent of burdening the reader with more than he cares-or needs-to really know about things incredibly trivial and marginal to the story at hand.
For my money, this biography by Grant is the best produced so far. I believe it does the best job of truly capturing the essence of Adams-his powers, his struggles, his insecurities, as well as capturing the total picture of both his personal and professional lives.
At 530 pages, the book is expansive enough for the true historical aficionado without becoming tedious to the more casual historical reader. Moreover, grant is more oft able to put forward a fresher, more energetic view than is the more plodding and cumbersome McCullough.
In the end, once one has finished the book, it's truly hard not to admire Adams for his accomplishments and his truly unique story. At the same time, it's also hard not to admire Mr. grant for finally putting out such a spectacular biography for a man who truly deserved one.
An excellent book through and through.
23 of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Adams the Patriot
By Dennis Phillips
Over the last decade or so there has been a great revival of interest in John Adams and a corresponding positive reevaluation of his accomplishments. Much of this renewed popular interest in our second president has been due to David McCullough's best selling biography and it is therefore hard not to compare this work to Mr. McCullough's excellent tome. Doing so would reveal that the McCullough book is more folksy, easier to read and gives the reader a much more warm feeling toward Mr. Adams while Mr. Grant is much more to the point, academic and does not hesitate to point out his subject's flaws.
John Adams' most notable fault, besides his well-known ego and stubbornness is his virulent anti-Catholicism which is notably absent from other biographies. The loathing he feels for all things Catholic is by no means an attractive feature of Adams' personality and Mr. Grant is to be commended for not glossing over this blot on the Adams legacy. While this kind of bigotry was by no means unusual for those times, especially in Puritan New England, a man of Adams' stature and intelligence should have risen above such sentiments.
Otherwise, Grant paints a very engaging picture of Adams, a man who in most respects I can relate to in many ways. Like Adams, I am most happy at home surrounded by my books and this love of books is a distinguishing trait of Adams' personality. As is his love for the simple life of a farmer, a trait that Grant brings to life with a story from London. It seems that during Adams' time as Minister to the Court of St. James someone noticed the diplomat walking along with his head down in what the observer took to be a state of deep thought. Grant checked Adam's diary for that day and found that the future president was looking down at the manure along the street and mentally comparing it's quality to the quality of the manure produced on his Massachusetts farm. He found the London manure to be inferior. While more academic than the McCullough book, this book is not without it's folksy stories.
Mr. Grant has concentrated on Adams' service during the Revolutionary period and there was plenty of service to concentrate on. Adams' work in the Continental Congress and as a diplomat clearly places him on a level with Washington and Franklin as a founding father. Moreover, Adams, unlike Washington and Franklin, was not a wealthy man and he sacrificed his most productive years to his country. At one point saving America from financial ruin while almost going under himself. Grant does a masterful job of portraying Adams' role in this period and shows that the Revolution might have had a very different outcome if it weren't for John Adams. The people of the United States owe this man a great deal more than most people realize and this book makes that fact abundantly clear.
All in all this is a good book that I found very enjoyable. There is very little time spent on the Adams presidency or his twenty-five years of retirement but that can be found elsewhere. There probably should have been a little more attention paid to Adams' complicated relationship with Thomas Jefferson for that relationship reveals a great deal about both men. That too however, can be found elsewhere. The writing is clear and easy to read except that the author has a tendency to rely a little too much on quotes, especially early in the book. There is nothing wrong with quotes but many writers have a tendency to string too many of them close together and to use some that are far too long. This tends to cause the text to bog down and despite what some writers think, it contributes nothing to the reader's feel for the times. Still, this is a very readable, informative and truthful biography of John Adams and is a book that I am happy to add to my surroundings.
27 of 28 people found the following review helpful.
Far better than McCullough -- an indispensable biography
By R. B. Bernstein
One might not expect a veteran economic journalist to produce one of the best biographies of John Adams ever written. But JOHN ADAMS: PARTY OF ONE defies expectations again and again, just as John Adams did. Written with clarity and grace, with respect for the primary sources and the existing historical and biographical scholarship on Adams and his time, JOHN ADAMS: PARTY OF ONE is an excellent study of its subject. Grant is particularly astute in his analysis of a focus of Adams's diplomatic activities during the 1780s -- his negotiations and renegotiations of the many loans that helped finance the new nation's quest for independence and its struggles to survive in the community of nations. Grant's dubbing of Adams as "America's premier junk bond salesman" is both funny and precise. The main advantages that Grant's book has over that by McCullough are that Grant's book is shorter, clearer, not at all filled with its own importance, and willing to take John Adams seriously both as a politician and a political thinker. Grant is willing to do the hard intellectual and writing work to convey to general readers the context of Adams's thought, the substance of his ideas, and the differences between his political philosophy and those of his contemporaries, including Jefferson and Paine. Even if you invested in McCullough's tome, buy and read this book. It is one of the best books on its subject ever written, having a great deal to say to general readers and to scholars alike.
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