Succeeding George Washington in 1797, just as the French started to seize American ships in the West Indies, Adams defied the wishes of both his own Federalist party, which ultimately wanted war, and the Jeffersonian Republicans, who blamed the crisis on the Federalists. It was, in fact, Adams’s insistence on steering his own course that was largely responsible for leaving him without defenders or, as he called them, “puffers,” and for sending him into retirement after only a single term as President. In McCullough’s eyes, the leitmotif of Adams’s public career was his devotion to independence-not just for America but for himself as well. would pay tribute to Adams and his illustrious family. Indeed, if it were up to McCullough, as he made clear in recent testimony on Capitol Hill, the next great monument on the Mall in Washington, D.C. As compared with the other leading men of the founding era-figures like Jefferson, Washington, and Franklin-Adams has always gotten short shrift, especially in the popular imagination.ĭavid McCullough, author of the Pulirzer-Prize-winning Truman (1992) and several other widely read works of American history, aims to remedy this injustice in his lively new biography. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival.”Īdams was slightly off-the moment “celebrated by succeeding generations” would come two days later, when Congress approved the actual Declaration of Independence-but the episode is telling. As he wrote at the time to his wife Abigail, “The second day of July 1776 will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. On July 2, 1776, John Adams watched with satisfaction as the Continental Congress, moved in large part by his own eloquence and force of will, voted to declare American independence from Great Britain.

John adams by david mccullough