A review by xxstefaniereadsxx
John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life by Paul C. Nagel
informative
slow-paced
3.0
John Quincy Adams was born in, what is now, Massachusetts in 1767. His parents were President John and Mrs. Abigail Adams. John Quincy served the United States in several different capacities, including as a Senator, Dean of the House of Representatives, Secretary of State, and 6th President of the United States. When he beat out Andrew Jackson for the presidency, Jackson posited that the Speaker of the House, Henry Clay, rigged it so that Adams would win. I had never heard that conspiracy theory before. While there is apparently still no substantial evidence that occurred, it is interesting to note that Henry Clay was appointed Secretary of State after Adams was elected. Anyone with any sense knows that politicians and government officials are always up to some type of shenanagins, so this might be a pretty believable theory. There were a few takeaways from this book that I feel are important. One is that he was opposed to slavery, which was pretty interesting to me. I have to admit that I have the assumption that most of the early Presidents were pro-slavery and/or slave owners at the least, so it was interesting to note that he wasn't for the enslavement of human beings. The second is that he behaved more favorably to Indigenous people than Jackson later would. The third is that he proposed the annexation of Texas, swearing it would cause a Civil War....and that is especially interesting in today's climate where all of our Southern states, including the one I live in, are behaving in such an unhinged and destructive manner towards the people living and working in them.
I had read another book a while back about John Quincy Adams, and I felt that this one provided many more details than the other one I read. This book did a pretty hard look into his life and service. I also learned from this book that he was a member of several political parties, a couple of which that I had never heard of before now. (Not that I would have, because I have never been a fan of [whitewashed] US history.) The book was very obviously researched well, and conveyed a lot of good facts. I learned a lot about this President that I had not known before, so it was worth the time it took for me to read this one. I am also glad to have it off my TBR shelf.
I had read another book a while back about John Quincy Adams, and I felt that this one provided many more details than the other one I read. This book did a pretty hard look into his life and service. I also learned from this book that he was a member of several political parties, a couple of which that I had never heard of before now. (Not that I would have, because I have never been a fan of [whitewashed] US history.) The book was very obviously researched well, and conveyed a lot of good facts. I learned a lot about this President that I had not known before, so it was worth the time it took for me to read this one. I am also glad to have it off my TBR shelf.