Thoughts on John Adams by David McCullough

I just finished, after 2 long years, John Adams by David McCullough. I'm not sure why it took me so long. It always engaged me when I picked it up. One of the things I loved about this book is the strong role Abigail played. She was not just John's wife, but truly his partner. They were best friends, giving their hearts and minds to each other. Although often apart, they kept connected through their letters.

What an interesting generation of Americans this was. People didn't blog, but they wrote reams of correspondence to each other, and kept diaries. They had passion for their lives, and their hopes for their country. It seems to me that life mattered more. They had more to lose, and thus took more risks to ensure their freedoms. I think we are missing some of that today. We seem to be passionate about our money, but not to the point of holding companies, Wall Street and ourselves accountable for being wise about what we do with our money. We just want what we want when we want it, which is now. There often isn't a lot of self-sacrifice in our lives. Who do you know who waits to buy something until they have the cash for it? We bring ruin on ourselves and need some brave voices to point us back to the way of responsibility, and those 2 words we hate - self-denial.

But, I regress! Back to Adams - it is so interesting to me that way back to the beginning of our first election, there was "stab in the back" politics. Defame your opponent and inflame the American people against them with false or exaggerated information. It brings past elections into perspective as far as negative campaigning goes - it's been around since the inception of America.

Back to Abigail - I got a giggle out of this "In Massachusetts, infuriated Federalists were saying that had the President's "old woman" been with him in Philadelphia none of this would have happened--she being the more stouthearted of the two". A little picture of how much her opinion mattered to him, and that the country knew it, too!

I loved the benediction Adams wrote for the President's house, which is carved in the mantelpiece of the state dining room in the White House. "I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof." Amen to that!

Here is something to ponder: in a letter Adams wrote to Dr. Rush: "Why was it that a nation without wars to fight seemed to lose its honor and integrity. . . war necessarily brings with it some virtues, and great and heroic virtues, too". . . "What horrid creatures we men are, that we cannot be virtuous without murdering one another?" (p.609). This is something that I'll have to think on a while, because it seems true, doesn't it? It's a puzzlement to me.

It is also new learning to me, and so very interesting, that both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the 4th of July. And, just why did Jefferson's will free 5 Hemming family members, but not Sally, his slave mistress. That just doesn't make sense to me, and, somewhat cruel as well.