John Quincy Adams — A Surprisingly Good Read

After reading biographies of Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Madison and Monroe, I figured a biography of John Quincy Adams would be a real snooze.

Silly me. John Quincy Adams, A Public Life, A Private Life, by Paul C. Nagel, is one of the most interesting biographies I’ve read. The country’s sixth president and son of John Adams, John Quincy Adams (JQA) was an American original. Although his one-term presidency was largely a disaster, JQA was a superb statesman, poet and writer. Nagel captures JQA’s personality in a funny, interesting and fast-moving book.

One of my favorite stories was when Adams swam the Potomac River with Antione Guista and nearly drowned after his skiff sank halfway across the river. Guista stripped off his clothes and swam to shore naked while Adams stupidly left on his shirt and pantaloons, and nearly died. When he finally made it to shore, he gave his clothes to Guista so that his partner could search for a vehicle to carry them back to the Executive Mansion. Now entirely naked, Adams sat on a rock and pondered his folly.  How quickly would that image appear on YouTube today?

Although he ultimately resolved many of his issues with his famous parents, John and Abigail Adams, the book spends a great deal of time discussing JQA’s often tortured relationship with his mother, who is portrayed as an overbearing and tightly-wound shrew (not exactly like Laura Linney’s portrayal on the HBO mini-series).

If you are planning to read Jon Meacham’s brilliant biography of Andrew Jackson, American Lion, read it in tandem with Nagel’s book.  Both men hated each other and the stories from their biographies intertwine and provide tremendous perspective.

JQA’s courtship and marriage to Louisa Catherine Johnson is fondly recalled by Nagel through poetry, anecdotes and numerous diary entries by husband and wife. The poetry is often racy and very seldom dull.

This is a great book that would make a wonderful follow up movie to John Adams.   Are you paying attention Tom Hanks?