John Adams by David McCullough - Book Review

A month or so back, I wrote a review of David McCullough's book 1776. Although I wasn't impressed, I did mention that I was still looking forward to reading his Pulitzer Prize winning novel John Adams. Now that I have, let me say that I thoroughly enjoyed it!

I do still have a few issues with his writing style, however. There is no doubt he is an excellent researcher, but (IMHO) he seems to want to use every single fact or item he discovers, thus he tends to overwrite and fill his books with encyclopedic detail. Maybe he just hates to edit and can't bring himself to cut anything once he's committed it to paper. (I understand being somewhat that way afflicted myself!)

Some of the details are fascinating. Others are trivial, boring, and slow down the narrative considerably. For example, it's enough to say that Adams and Jefferson wrote tons of letters back and forth and often talked about such mundane subjects as the crops they were planting and how well or poorly they were growing. But is it really necessary to provide the entire text of several of those letters? Seriously? Two pages of Thomas Jefferson, writer of the Declaration of Independence, talking about planting potatoes?

(His writing sometimes reminds me of my own candid review of the classic Moby Dick, which I have called a wonderful 200 page adventure stuffed inside a 500 page encyclopedia on the whaling industry.)

Regardless, I would still recommend John Adams! It is part biography, part autobiography (so much of his own writings are used), part love story (I love Abigail too!), part history (a compelling inside look at the revolutionary times), and part political commentary (from one of the actual founding fathers!) Most of all it is a truly fascinating look at a great American patriot largely forgotten by history.

I confess to having very little prenvious knowledge of the man myself prior to reading this book. Here's what I know now. Adams was a huge driving force in pushing America towards independence from Britain. He had a great influence on the structure of our constitution advocating for three branches with lots of checks and balances. He was one of the most travelled men of his times representing our new country across Europe. As our second President, he worked to establish our navy and strived to keep us out of foreign wars. He was adamantly opposed to slavery, and he detested those who put party ahead of country!

On the personal side, he loved his family (particularly Abigail, his wife of 54 years), his God, and his country. He loved to read (and bought books as often as he could), and he loved to write. All in all, a very interesting man!

The most unexpected part for me was the obvious parallels between Adams and our current President. Without going into great detail, here are some points to ponder. Both John Adams and Donald Trump:

• Followed very popular Presidents
• Had to deal with an extremely hostile press
• Had to deal with extreme partisan politics
• Were called illegitimate (Adams won by only 3 electoral votes)
• Were actually called insane and mentally unstable by the press
• Were betrayed (and harmed) by members of their own administration who were holdovers from previous Presidential appointments

And those are just the tip of the iceberg! In summation, although long and occasionally tedious, I would still encourage you to read this one!