Maybe we all want what we can't have or never knew.
John Adams was a 'new man' who was from a Puritan background in the Northeast. He didn't grow up on a great estate or have real land or title compared with his Southern colleagues like Thomas Jefferson, but you may have not guessed that from his writing.
John Adams praised the aristocrats as those of high breeding and of the 'most capable' stock.
Never before and never after was a president so accused of being a Monarchist. He wanted pomp and circumstance and a sense of awe in government - politicians and military men should have been able to earn fanciful titles such as His Excellency.
He justified these old world ideas of title and honor in government because he felt that in a society, there will inevitably be a group of oligarchs that rise up to form an aristocracy and having a 'higher' office will make them work for the state and not against it.
This is all logical, but in his letters and writings, you can't help but get the sense that he genuinely admired this gifted/moneyed class even though he himself had no regard for his personal interest.
He was certainly not a poor man, but by the standards of the times, he was not a rich man either- he just thought like he was.
Showing posts with label John Adams. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Adams. Show all posts
3/13/09
John Adams: World's Most Unlikely Feminist
As one who does not trust the implicit goodness of his fellow man, I found it surprising that John Adams had such liberal views on women as a person of his times.
He was friends with an early female advocate of the revolution, Mercy Otis Warren. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but for the time, it was.
He came to her defense when newspapers questioned her role in writing a propaganda play during the revolution as similar to the condescension that Great Britain treated its American subjects with.
The stoic Cato of his times remarked on learned ladies to her "I have such a consciousness of Inferiority to them (learned ladies), as mortifies and humiliates my self-love, to such a degree that I can scarcely speak in their presence."
This doesn't sound like the crotchety old Adams we all know.
He was friends with an early female advocate of the revolution, Mercy Otis Warren. This doesn't seem like a big deal, but for the time, it was.
He came to her defense when newspapers questioned her role in writing a propaganda play during the revolution as similar to the condescension that Great Britain treated its American subjects with.
The stoic Cato of his times remarked on learned ladies to her "I have such a consciousness of Inferiority to them (learned ladies), as mortifies and humiliates my self-love, to such a degree that I can scarcely speak in their presence."
This doesn't sound like the crotchety old Adams we all know.
3/10/09
John Adams: The Most Famous Forgotten Founding Father
John Adams was one of the founding fathers, most people know that. But what most people don't know was what he did and why he occupies this high place in history.
I chalk it up to his poor political instincts and/or sado masochism. All his life, he seemed to relish taking on unpopular causes. He always wanted to play the role of the unpopular leader, making the tough decisions that populists could not/would not.
He only served one term, leaving the oval office in the middle of the night - not staying around for the inauguration of his former (redeemed later in life) friend Thomas Jefferson.
He had a huge impact on the early country- making the intellectual case for a break with the British empire, working with Madison on constructing an entire way of government, helped Washington with wartime strategy from his extensive readings on military histories, was the first Vice President and second President.
But his personality alienated his own friends, he had huge outbursts of anger and had high level feuds with his own party, so as much as he wanted to be remembered by history- it seemed like he was determined to not be loved by his people.
Maybe he's the founding father we all thought was uncool when we were teenagers.
I chalk it up to his poor political instincts and/or sado masochism. All his life, he seemed to relish taking on unpopular causes. He always wanted to play the role of the unpopular leader, making the tough decisions that populists could not/would not.
He only served one term, leaving the oval office in the middle of the night - not staying around for the inauguration of his former (redeemed later in life) friend Thomas Jefferson.
He had a huge impact on the early country- making the intellectual case for a break with the British empire, working with Madison on constructing an entire way of government, helped Washington with wartime strategy from his extensive readings on military histories, was the first Vice President and second President.
But his personality alienated his own friends, he had huge outbursts of anger and had high level feuds with his own party, so as much as he wanted to be remembered by history- it seemed like he was determined to not be loved by his people.
Maybe he's the founding father we all thought was uncool when we were teenagers.
3/3/09
America First
I alluded to Adam's desire before to be loved by history but loathed by the people and nothing speaks to this more than his refusal to take action against Britain or France during his term when both countries were slapping the young republic around.
"If virtue was to be rewarded by wealth, it would not be virtue. If virtue was to be rewarded with fame, it would not be virtue of the sublimest kind."
Neither country was treating America with much respect.
The New England delegation of Adam's own party- the Federalists were pushing for warmer relations with Britain while the Jeffersonians wanted better relations with France.
As the French grew more bold and insulting towards America, many were screaming for the country to declare war on France. At this point, French privateers were seizing American commercial ships.
When an American peace delegation went to Paris, they were literally asked for a bribe. Adams however, refused to give in to the gut reaction of declaring war and continued to press for peace.
He built up the Navy as a way to form a 'wooden wall' around the country, protect commercial vessels and prevent foreign invasions while not provoking war. He recognized that either an alliance with France or Britain would force the young country to war against the other and the best options was to remain as Switzerland would in the 20th century.
As a man who was offended so easily, it's surprising that Adams had such a 'humble' foreign policy.
I wonder what he would think of the 'War on Terror' we're fighting today?
"If virtue was to be rewarded by wealth, it would not be virtue. If virtue was to be rewarded with fame, it would not be virtue of the sublimest kind."
Neither country was treating America with much respect.
The New England delegation of Adam's own party- the Federalists were pushing for warmer relations with Britain while the Jeffersonians wanted better relations with France.
As the French grew more bold and insulting towards America, many were screaming for the country to declare war on France. At this point, French privateers were seizing American commercial ships.
When an American peace delegation went to Paris, they were literally asked for a bribe. Adams however, refused to give in to the gut reaction of declaring war and continued to press for peace.
He built up the Navy as a way to form a 'wooden wall' around the country, protect commercial vessels and prevent foreign invasions while not provoking war. He recognized that either an alliance with France or Britain would force the young country to war against the other and the best options was to remain as Switzerland would in the 20th century.
As a man who was offended so easily, it's surprising that Adams had such a 'humble' foreign policy.
I wonder what he would think of the 'War on Terror' we're fighting today?
3/2/09
The Separation of Powers
Adams was one of the first and greatest proponents of a bicameral legislature. While Thomas Jefferson's Democratic-Republican party was pushing for a more Athenian style democracy in America with one house of directly elected representatives, Adams pushed back with demands that there be a senate with the more aristocratic members of society as well as a Supreme Court.
Adams knew the power of populism and emotion and looked at it as something that needed to be controlled rather than promoted. As one who was fit to rage and sending letters that he may have later regretted, he understood better than anyone the dangers of a pure democracy where the mob's raw emotion rules the day.
He studied the French Revolution and the writers who influenced it and saw not the triumph of the many over the few, but the inevitable path to despotism. He was right, as it turned out, that the masses when given pure democracy would be disorganized and would eventually look to an authority- Napoleon, to give them the law and order they no longer enjoyed.
He always felt that what the common man wanted and what was the fad of the day, would never be what's best for the long term health of the young country.
John Adams would not have been a fan of Joe the Plumber as the new face of the Republican Party.
Adams knew the power of populism and emotion and looked at it as something that needed to be controlled rather than promoted. As one who was fit to rage and sending letters that he may have later regretted, he understood better than anyone the dangers of a pure democracy where the mob's raw emotion rules the day.
He studied the French Revolution and the writers who influenced it and saw not the triumph of the many over the few, but the inevitable path to despotism. He was right, as it turned out, that the masses when given pure democracy would be disorganized and would eventually look to an authority- Napoleon, to give them the law and order they no longer enjoyed.
He always felt that what the common man wanted and what was the fad of the day, would never be what's best for the long term health of the young country.
John Adams would not have been a fan of Joe the Plumber as the new face of the Republican Party.
3/1/09
#2 John Adams- The Original Maverick
I really didn't know much about John Adams before I started reading this book.
I knew that he was a 'founding father' and helped write the declaration of independence and was the second president.
Beyond that, I didn't know much.
John Adams seems to have both needed and deplored political success. He was a crotchety man who always complained about 'the passions' and keeping them under control
He was known for incredible outbursts of anger and he was not an easy person to work with in the Continental Congress. He has a bad mark in history (unjustified perhaps) for leaving the White House on the night before the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson.
All these faults however could not outweigh the impact his great mind had on the founding of this country and the construction of its government.
I knew that he was a 'founding father' and helped write the declaration of independence and was the second president.
Beyond that, I didn't know much.
John Adams seems to have both needed and deplored political success. He was a crotchety man who always complained about 'the passions' and keeping them under control
He was known for incredible outbursts of anger and he was not an easy person to work with in the Continental Congress. He has a bad mark in history (unjustified perhaps) for leaving the White House on the night before the inauguration of Thomas Jefferson.
All these faults however could not outweigh the impact his great mind had on the founding of this country and the construction of its government.
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