John Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life

An eye-opening story of America on the edge of revolution. History remembers John Adams as a Founding Father and our country’s second president. But in the tense years before the American Revolution, he was still just a lawyer, fighting for justice in one of the most explosive murder trials of the era—the Boston Massacre, where five civilians died from shots fired by British soldiers. Until recently rescued by David McCullough, John Adams has always been overshadowed by Washington and Jefferson. Volatile, impulsive, irritable, and self-pitying, Adams seemed temperamentally unsuited for the presidency. Yet in many ways, he was the perfect successor to Washington in terms of ability, experience, and popularity. The drama of the life of the second president of the United States has been stirringly chronicled both in print and on television. Yet the life of John Adams is so rich in history, emotion, power, and tragedy that no medium can entirely contain its essence. Reading the story of his life is to be introduced to a nation, new and untried, that would rise to prominence in no small part due to his legacy of leadership. John Adams was no bland hero; he had his blemishes, and he made his share of mistakes. He was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and died a citizen of the United States. Along with his wife, the impressive Abigail Smith Adams, the minister’s daughter whose lack of formal education did not hinder her intellectual advances, John Adams sired a political dynasty that served the United States well.