John & Abigail Adams: America's First Political Couple - Paperback

by Charles River (Author)

*Includes letters written by John, Abigail, and Thomas Jefferson.
*Includes pictures of the Adamses and important people, places, and events in their lives.
*Includes a Bibliography for further reading.

"A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever." - John Adams
"Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands." - Abigail Adams
John Adams has become one of the more popular presidents in history relatively recently, but it was not always so. For most of his life he was seen as a bit of an outsider, different from his fellow first presidents in his temperament, birth, life and politics. Adams and his son were the only presidents out of the first seven who were born north of the Mason Dixon line, and he was not an easy man to understand or work with. Not only did he have few friends, but he also often fell into long term quarrels with those he had.
Adams remained a celebrated figure in Boston for all the work he did in Massachusetts before and after the Revolution, but his national reputation has experienced quite a renaissance over the past decade, beginning with David Mccullough's best selling biography in 2001, followed in 2008 by the popular HBO series based on it. Then, in 2010, Dearest Friend, a record of the correspondence between Adams and his wife Abigail solidified his position as one of the most darling Founding Fathers of the 21st Century.
Several factors explain the recent boost to his legacy. First, unlike Washington or Jefferson, Adams was not a cultural icon. Therefore, Americans have had more to learn about his life and work, whereas recent historical findings about men like Jefferson are either anti-climatic or disappointing. Moreover, Adams and his son are the only two of the first 10 presidents not to have owned slaves, making it easier and more politically correct to like them. Finally, the extensive letters that passed between him and Abigail have cast him as a romantic figure in a way that few other presidents enjoy.
While her time as First Lady was important, Abigail Adams remains one of the most recognized and respected First Ladies in American history due to her voluminous correspondence with John when they were separated throughout the American Revolution, as she remained in Massachusetts while John found himself in the thick of politics during his time in the Continental Congress and over in France. In addition to providing a comprehensive account of the inner workings of both politics and the home front during that important chapter in history, the letters also demonstrated the strong intellectual and emotional bond the two of them shared, allowing historians a glimpse of just how influential Abigail was on her husband's ideology and decision making. As the acclaimed historian Joseph Ellis noted, the nearly 1200 letters between the couple "constituted a treasure trove of unexpected intimacy and candor, more revealing than any other correspondence between a prominent American husband and wife in American history."
John & Abigail Adams chronicles the amazing lives and legacies of America's first political couple, humanizing the man who could be both mercurial and tender, and the woman who proved his intellectual match and helped keep him grounded. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events in their lives, you will learn about John and Abigail Adams like you never have before, in no time at all.