Page 10 - Hobe Sound Reflections - October '20

Page 10, Hobe Sound

book rEviEw

Friends Divided: John Adams author, Gordon S. Wood leads us, through 433 pages, to Before surrendering

And Thomas Jefferson understand the significance of its final sentence, and the the presidency to
Jefferson, Adams
reason why it is so:
“That’s why we honor Jefferson and not Adams.” appointed Federalists
A Book So Brilliant, So Revealing, So There is bitter irony in John Adams’s final words on to these new offices,
Shockingly Relevant To Our Nation’s Current his deathbed when we realize that, for example, there is at the same time
State Of Affairs. a magnificent Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C., selecting his new
and Jefferson’s portrait on our 25-cent coin and $2 bill, secretary of state,
By Nils A. Shapiro and no like honor for Adams. John Marshall, as
They could not have been The greatest, most meaningful difference between chief justice of the
more unalike. these two great men is one that was new to me until I United States.
Thomas Jefferson, who read it here: their surprisingly opposing views about the Because Adams signed
had been born in 1743, form of government that should be established for the new the commissions
was handsome, gentle in United States of America – a disagreement so profound of many of these
demeanor, soft-spoken, that it would ultimately shake a deeply held friendship to appointments shortly
courtly of manner, born the point where neither spoke nor corresponded with the before Jefferson’s
to wealth – an aristocrat other for a period of 11 years! inauguration,
by nature who, already a Because Adams had been through “the school of hard the infuriated
Virginia slave-owner, knocks” on his way to a successful career, to him it was Republicans exaggeratedly labeled them ‘midnight
married into one of its largest “‘the few, the rich, the well-born, and the able,’ who, with appointments’ and vowed to repudiate the Judiciary Act
slave-holding families – yet to his core believed in the basic their heightened sense of avarice and ambition, were the as soon as possible.”
goodness and equality of all men, and treated his own slaves social order most dangerous to liberty and the stability of After more than a decade of cold silence between
well as measured by the standards of the time. He became the society.” He felt that if there was only one House of Jefferson and Adams, at the urging of their mutual friend,
an attorney, wrote the Virginia State Constitution and had an Congress in the new federal government, this class of men Dr. Benjamin Rush, finally, after the two former presidents
unquenchable thirst for knowledge: “He was interested in would dominate the people’s other representatives made up had retired from public life they began a long series of
more things and knew more about more things than any other of the common men. Therefore, he was convinced that the correspondence, though they never again met in person.
American ... He amassed nearly seven thousand books and former be separated into a second House called the Senate... Other histories have made clear the important role
consulted them constantly; he wanted both his library and and, just as a scale needs a hand to hold the two ends in that Abigail Adams played in her husband’s life. The
his mind to embrace virtually all of human knowledge, and balance, a third branch of government – who would later author here underscores that, pointing out many hundreds
he came as close to that embrace as an eighteenth-century be named a president – would be elected as an objective, of letters that she and John Adams wrote to each other
American could. Every aspect of natural history and science honest representative of the people to mediate between the during the many years they were apart while he served in
fascinated him. two Houses. Finally, a judiciary branch would be assigned the Continental Congress, and again, before the French
“He knew about flowers, plants, birds, and animals, to interpret the laws wisely and fairly. Revolution, when he was assigned to France and England
and had a passion for all facets of agriculture. He had a As it later developed, Adams so feared the natural to arrange treaties, before he was finally able to send for her.
fascination for meteorology, archaeology, and the origins ambitious inclinations of the aristocratic Senate members to Abigail completely captivated Jefferson, who adored her
of the American Indians. He loved mathematics and sought seek glory, fame and wealth, that he began to lean toward a and found her to be wise, charming, a wonderful manager
to apply mathematical principles to almost everything ... He stronger, almost monarchial presidency when it came time of her household, and a perfect wife and mother. It was she
was an inveterate tinkerer and inventor and was constantly to elect a successor to George Washington. For Jefferson, who convinced Jefferson – when he was assigned to join
thinking of newer and better ways of doing things, whether … who believed in the inherent goodness of the common man them in France – to send for his young daughter, Polly, so
plowing, the copying of handwriting, or measuring distances. – and who had lived too long under a monarch, from whom she could be close to her father. She arrived with her maid,
“Jefferson also called himself ‘an enthusiast on the his new nation had recently declared its independence – the the slave Sally Hemings.
subject of the arts.’... he became quite proficient playing the idea of such a presidency was heresy ... and the first step One day, at the Adamses’ home in France, Jefferson
violin ... and apparently had a fine clear voice. He was also towards the breakup of their longstanding friendship. remarked that he had seen a small statue of Venus while
passionate about architecture and became, according to one But there is so much more, including the enormous shopping and had thought of purchasing it for Abigail, but
historian, ‘America’s first great native-born architect.’” influence of the French Revolution on the political scene in decided against it because “it would be inappropriate to
John Adams, eight years older than Jefferson, was a very the young America. Adams was so committed to the other have two Venuses at the same table.”
different kind of man in many ways. Small pursed lips formed side, and Jefferson and his new Republicans so supportive I mentioned at the beginning of this review how
a constant scowl-like expression, which, together with a of the revolutionaries, that when Adams became president impressive this book is. I refer to the incredible amount
sharp tongue, matched his clever ability to speak whatever to succeed Washington, and rumors persisted that the new of research – surely, years – that have made it possible for
was on his mind bluntly – often with great wit, teasing and successful French Republic had designs on our continent, Gordon S. Wood to include on virtually every page so many
sarcasm – but without care as to its effect on the listener. there were many Americans who were so angry about quotes from letters, diaries, etc., in these and other of their
Later in Adams’s life, when he served in France and England foreign meddling and interference in our political life that contemporaries’ own words, that we feel we are truly living
as the new nation’s commissioner to arrange treaties, he was they began threatening Jefferson and his Republicans as these experiences with them.
considered a most un-diplomatic of diplomats. traitors who were going to turn sides. There are more than 1,000 footnoted reference sources
And yet, as Jefferson was always ready to reassure others, You will also learn much more about Alexander Hamilton, listed at the end of the book, which attests to the extensive
he considered Adams as honest and true a politician, patriot James Madison, Thomas Paine and others than you knew degree of such research! Every bit of it shows in the final
and friend as any man. before. Importantly, you will also recognize that as much as work. There is also a section of portraits and illustrations.
Adams had known a very different experience by the times change, there are some things that never do: But the author has saved the very best part of his book for
time he became one of the most successful attorneys in “Since the inauguration of the new president was not the last chapter, in which he explains the reasons for his final
the Massachusetts colony. His father was a farmer and until March 4, 1801, Adams had several months remaining sentence, which I have noted above—and to think about whom
shoemaker, what one would call “the middling sort.” His in his term. The lame-duck Federalist Congress passed a it is that future generations will honor. I leave those reasons for
mother, however, was from a finer family, which gave him Judiciary Act and other legislation that created six new you to discover, and to relate to the present state of our nation
the opportunity to enroll in Harvard, and through the kind of circuit courts with sixteen new judges along with many today. It is very much worth your while to do so, recognizing
hard work, honesty, natural intelligence, and determination marshals and district attorneys and justices of the peace. how our time will be judged in tomorrow’s history books.
inherited from his Puritan ancestors that would guide
him throughout his life, he would earn the reputation that
his fellow Massachusetts colonists saw as deserving to
represent them in the Continental Congress when it was
formed in 1774.
At those sessions of Congress in Philadelphia, Adams
was one of the most forceful voices in favor of independence
that ultimately led to the assignment of a committee to draft
a Declaration of Independence, which assigned Jefferson to
write the document, and which – with only minor changes
by Adams and one other member – was dated July 4th, 1776
and signed by the Founding Fathers.
But that is only the barest beginning of the story—the
part that many of us know from our basic high school and
college history classes. Some of us even recall the remarkable
fact that these two giants of our nation’s founding both
died on the same day – Jefferson at his Monticello home in
Virginia, and Adams several hours later at home in Quincy,
Massachusetts – on July 4th, 1826 ... as America celebrated
the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of
Independence! Unaware of what had taken place hundreds
of miles south of him, Adams’s last words were, “Thomas
Jefferson survives!”
But what makes this book so extraordinarily fascinating,
and one of the most impressive works of history I have
ever read, is the way in which its Pulitzer Prize-winning