A review by socraticgadfly
John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life, by Paul C. Nagel
4.0
A good, solid bio of someone who was perhaps a bit the George H.W. Bush of his day,only better at it. Not a real "partisan," he voted Jeffersonian not Federalist half the time when a U.S. Senator. The author of the "Monroe Doctrine," and the defender of the US issuing the idea alone, not in conjunction with Britain. Dedicated to free speech as a Congressman. A man miserable as president.
And miserable trying to live up to a domineering mother, a weight of family history and a scolding self-conscience. Paul Nagel does a good job of filling in the life of Adams the person. I learned most about his relationship with Abigail, followed by that with his sons, the oldest two of whom, along with a brother, all died of alcoholism, directly or indirectly.
Yet, I can't quite five-star this book. That's as much my feeling, upon reading this book ... that there's just not quite enough "There" there for a five-star life story. Is that some fault of Nagel's, or is that the bottom line about JQA? Still not sure.
That said, there is one other thing I learned. Yes, he may have had more than his share of "integrity," but, a lot of what people call "integrity" in him is actually prickliness that surpassed even his dad's.
And miserable trying to live up to a domineering mother, a weight of family history and a scolding self-conscience. Paul Nagel does a good job of filling in the life of Adams the person. I learned most about his relationship with Abigail, followed by that with his sons, the oldest two of whom, along with a brother, all died of alcoholism, directly or indirectly.
Yet, I can't quite five-star this book. That's as much my feeling, upon reading this book ... that there's just not quite enough "There" there for a five-star life story. Is that some fault of Nagel's, or is that the bottom line about JQA? Still not sure.
That said, there is one other thing I learned. Yes, he may have had more than his share of "integrity," but, a lot of what people call "integrity" in him is actually prickliness that surpassed even his dad's.