John Adams
A friend gave me the three-CD set of the HBO series, John Adams, a couple of months ago. I finally was able last week to watch it. It was phenomenal. I learned--or relearned--so much, and was very moved by it. I highly recommend it, but not all at one sitting. Be prepared for the rawness of life in the late 1700s.
We have sanitized history so much that our first reaction to this story of our second president might cause one to respond with "they got this wrong" but David McCullough was in on the production to make sure all the facts were right. Jefferson is more revolutionary than people think today (I knew he was), and Adams wants a strong federal government. Hamilton wants an even stronger one and pushes Washington to get it. Hamilton and Jefferson "intrigue," as Adams calls it, to get him elected and then unelected in 1800. Abigail Adams is amazed that Washington serves only two terms "when he could have been president for life," signifying I think that that was expected and he set the two-term limit (until FDR, who didn't lack for hutzpah). It made me want to study the Federalist Papers and read biographies.
We also do not realize how fragile the first thirty or so years of our history were. It is also interesting that Adams and Jefferson died on the same day, July 4, 1826--50 years after the signing. That could not be an accident, but some kind of providence.
History is a foreign country--they do things differently there. One of my favorite quotes.
We have sanitized history so much that our first reaction to this story of our second president might cause one to respond with "they got this wrong" but David McCullough was in on the production to make sure all the facts were right. Jefferson is more revolutionary than people think today (I knew he was), and Adams wants a strong federal government. Hamilton wants an even stronger one and pushes Washington to get it. Hamilton and Jefferson "intrigue," as Adams calls it, to get him elected and then unelected in 1800. Abigail Adams is amazed that Washington serves only two terms "when he could have been president for life," signifying I think that that was expected and he set the two-term limit (until FDR, who didn't lack for hutzpah). It made me want to study the Federalist Papers and read biographies.
We also do not realize how fragile the first thirty or so years of our history were. It is also interesting that Adams and Jefferson died on the same day, July 4, 1826--50 years after the signing. That could not be an accident, but some kind of providence.
History is a foreign country--they do things differently there. One of my favorite quotes.
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