John Quincy Adams's America – Daniel N. Gullotta

Regardless of a notable resurgence in curiosity and esteem for John Quincy Adams lately, his determine nonetheless lacks the magnetic attract that rivals equivalent to Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson proceed to command within the fashionable American creativeness. To witness this firsthand, one can take a highway journey throughout the nation and see the quite a few Jackson counties or cities named Jackson or Jacksonville, in comparison with the far fewer named for Adams. Open your pockets, and also you may discover a Jackson, however you gained’t discover an Adams.

Likewise, the time period “Age of Andrew Jackson” might have develop into considerably much less prevalent amongst up to date historians, however the notion of an “Age of John Quincy Adams” has not emerged to fill the void. His life and legacy current a charming distinction, one that’s mirrored within the quite a few biographies, historic research, and fashionable representations of him. He assumed the presidency amid electoral controversy and intense scrutiny, and resulting from his adherence to old-school politics, he failed to realize his formidable targets for the nation’s future. However his subsequent profession as a congressman revealed him to be a succesful strategist and outspoken critic of slavery. Although much less tangible, there isn’t a denying his efforts helped lay the ideological groundwork for the antislavery Republican Occasion. The problem of reconciling these two legacies is critical, however I’m happy to say that Randall Woods accomplishes this in his new biography, John Quincy Adams: A Man for the Entire Individuals.

Woods’s ebook enters a subject crowded with lore about his topic. Though Adams has had his champions, equivalent to Daniel Walker Howe and William J. Cooper, he has had simply as many detractors. Seize any variety of older historical past books and he’s usually portrayed as an out-of-touch elite, a inflexible traditionalist, and a silly opponent of the younger American nation’s rising democratic impulses. Take, for instance, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.’s depiction of the statesman in his 1945 Pulitzer Prize-winning The Age of Jackson; it begins with Adams gloomily wandering across the White Home, representing the displaced outdated ruling class ousted by the individuals’s will in favor of Common Jackson. For a newer fashionable instance, the mid-2000s musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson reinforces this portrayal by depicting Adams as a spoiled brat singing, “If my dad was president, I ought to get to be president too!”

If there’s a central theme or persistent query in Woods’s biography, it revolves round this idea of future: Can somebody groomed for achievement, like Adams, obtain real greatness whereas within the shadow of the founding technology? What does it really imply to be an amazing American? Given John Quincy’s revolutionary heritage, Harvard schooling, and the myriad benefits and experiences of his formative years, one may perceive his father’s stern admonition: “You come into Life with Benefits which is able to shame you, in case your success is mediocre.—And if you don’t rise to the top not solely of your Career however of your Nation it will likely be owing to your individual Laziness, Slovenliness, and Obstinacy.” Whereas this kind of strain would have damaged many different kids, because it tragically did a few of his personal sons, John Quincy himself imbued this sense of future and genuinely believed his life and repair to the younger American republic held providential significance.

Whereas Woods clearly admires John Quincy Adams, notably for his unwavering sense of obligation to the nation over get together politics and his astounding educational urge for food, A Man for the Entire Individuals is way from a hagiography. Adams’ vainness, superiority complicated, racism, and sexism are candidly displayed all through this biography. Woods doesn’t draw back from the much less flattering facets of Adams’ character equivalent to his early profession monetary woes, youthful indulgence in prostitutes, sophisticated marriage to Louisa Catherine Adams, and quite a few self-inflicted profession frustrations and political miscalculations.

But, Woods additionally highlights Adams at his best, equivalent to his essential position in negotiating the Treaty of Ghent, his contributions to the event of worldwide legislation, his formidable plans for modernizing the American republic, and his serving because the protection legal professional for the African captives within the Amistad case. Via fantastic prose and a deft mix of major sources, Woods captures the complexities of John Quincy Adams’ sense of function and ego, his bare ambition alongside his patriotic have to serve, and his honest devotion to God’s windfall interwoven along with his self-importance. It makes for nice, and inspirational, studying.

Like all John Quincy Adams biographers, Woods highlights each the benefits and stress of residing in John Adams’ shadow. Via their detailed and candid letters, the senior Adams remained a major affect on John Quincy Adams all through his life. However, not like different biographies, Woods carves out a particular place for the affect of Abigail Adams, notably in John Quincy’s early life overseas. As Woods explains, resulting from John Quincy’s gender and household title, in addition to his place within the formative interval following the American Revolution, he was given alternatives and entry that Abigail herself may solely dream of. Woods makes it clear that Abigail helped guarantee a lot of John Quincy’s success (whether or not he preferred it or not) and contributed her fair proportion to his aggravating sense of future.

Equally, Louisa Catherine Adams’ presence additional enriches this portrait of John Quincy, showcasing him as a devoted however demanding husband and a reserved but stringent father to their kids. Woods particulars their usually tempestuous however deeply shut marriage, inviting readers into their monetary frustrations, their shared hope for societal development and the strains on their marriage such careerism may engender, their sexual ardour for each other, their heartache at their quite a few miscarriages and stillbirths, George Washington Adams’s supposed suicide, and John Adams II’s deadly alcoholism. Louisa Catherine’s worldwide actions, political interactions, household dramas, and private opinions are effectively detailed, and these moments will hopefully encourage readers to be taught extra about her in Louisa Thomas’s magnificent biography, Louisa: The Extraordinary Lifetime of Mrs. Adams.

Not like different biographers of John Quincy Adams, Woods doesn’t rush towards his presidency however as a substitute relishes his time overseas, notably his tenure as the USA Minister to Russia from 1809 to 1814. This deliberate tempo is partly because of the ebook’s size; at 700 pages, excluding 50 pages of endnotes, Woods’ effort dwarfs many different latest works on Adams. With such intensive scope, Woods supplies ample background data on the early United States, detailed descriptions of European landscapes, and political information about occasions just like the Napoleonic Wars, making certain readers have sufficient context to know Adams’ actions and reactions. Whereas these asides are useful, equivalent to explanations of Adams’ Unitarianism, his defection to the Jeffersonian Republican get together, and his love for Shakespeare, however others, like meditations on his political philosophy and his position within the Amistad case (which receives a mere ten pages), are peculiarly temporary. Provided that each topics and plenty of others have been handled in book-length works elsewhere, Woods’ decisions are comprehensible however nonetheless noticeable.

What may shock readers accustomed to a extra indifferent or seemingly neutral fashion of biography is that Woods doesn’t maintain again in his judgments on Adams’ life. He ceaselessly provides his opinions on Adams’ successes, critiques his failures, and feedback on his character with a candidness that’s each refreshing and provocative. Whereas Woods succeeds in making Adams extra relatable and likable than he’s usually perceived, he doesn’t draw back from addressing Adams’ harsh fashion, chilly deportment, and entrenched pessimism. These unfavorable traits usually are not excused however moderately emphasised as an instance how they finally harmed Adams, each personally in his relationships along with his spouse and youngsters, and professionally in his dealings with get together members and political allies, equivalent to when he turned towards his Federalist get together by supporting the Embargo Act of 1807, and when he didn’t befriend his Vice President, John C. Calhoun, who later solid him apart to again Jackson within the 1828 election. Woods’ strategy supplies a extra nuanced and humanizing portrayal, permitting readers to understand the complexities of Adams’ character and the multifaceted nature of his legacy, for each good and sick.

Woods’ biography of John Quincy Adams displays the 176 years of reflection and reevaluation of his life and legacy. It skillfully captures the complexity of Adams, a determine each disliked and revered in his personal time, and sheds mild on why he stays admired by many at the moment. Though it could be deceptive to name the work purely revisionist, it strongly encourages People to revisit and rethink Adams’ life and contributions. At a time when politicians usually seem as mere brokers of partisanship and have their careers constructed on empty movie star, and when elites are broadly distrusted, and populism drives all our politics, Woods’ portrayal of John Quincy Adams supplies a hanging counterpoint—one that could be much less fashionable, however maybe extra enduring in its significance. A proud American overseas, an unapologetic nationalist, a staunch opponent of sectionalism, a fellow traveler to abolitionists, and an aristocrat to his core—A Man for the Entire Individuals persuasively argues for Adams’ legacy as a person “for the individuals,” even when not totally “of the individuals.”

Although Adams lacked the talents of a Machiavellian tactician and the stature of a celebrated president, Woods weaves a compelling story of a person whose greatness lies in what he gave to a nation that scarcely acknowledged his value. In presenting Adams with all his flaws and frustrations alongside his abilities and successes, Woods depicts him not as a mythic hero of American historical past however as a fancy particular person able to heroic moments when the time referred to as for it. This nuanced portrayal might not encourage efforts to rename cities in his honor or erect extra statues, or a marketing campaign so as to add him to American foreign money, but it surely serves as a robust reminder of what People can obtain when circumstances demand it. The biography emphasizes that even with all the benefits on the planet—equivalent to well-known, well-connected mother and father and a Harvard schooling—greatness should finally be a acutely aware alternative. Whether or not destined or not, Adams’s supposed closing phrases, “That is the top of earth, however I’m content material,” encapsulate a life lived with function.