John Adams, By David Mccullough

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Recommended: The legacy of John Adams

John Adams, by David McCullough, tells the life story of the second president of the United States of America, from his Puritan ancestors first setting foot in New England, to his eventual death in 1826. David McCullough has been called “one of America’s greatest living writers”, by the Washington Post, and “the citizen chronicler”, by Librarian of Congress, James Billington. He has written many other books on a variety of different historical subjects and figures including, but not limited to, the Wright brothers, the Johnstown flood, and Harry S. Truman. He has won two Pulitzer prizes, one for John Adams, the other for The Johnstown Flood. He has also given lectures at notable places, including the White House. John Adams was originally published back in 2001, and was met with almost universal critical acclaim by critics. Originally John Adams was actually meant to be a joint biography of the lives of both John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, but McCullough feared that if he were to dedicate the book to both, then Jefferson would naturally trump Adams. On Goodreads, John Adams currently holds a 4 ½ out of 5 star rating. The text is written in a third person narrative chronicling the life and accomplishments of John Adams, and persuades the reader to look at him from a different point of view.
John Adams was born in Braintree, Massachusetts. He went to Harvard to study to become a pastor, but instead decided to become a lawyer. Later he would be a delegate from Massachusetts to both the first and second continental congress. He would also venture to several European countries including Holland, Britain and France, all for diplomatic purposes. When the Constitution was written in 1787, it was decided that Adam...

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...ult and fear ”.
Though the book could be very biased at times about just how great and important John Adams was, It did prove to be an enlightening novel about the life of a president of whom played a large role in the evolution of our government. Never had I ever known so much about a president as I do now about John Adams. I never imagined to find him to be an interesting person to read, but now that I have finished the book I would have to rank him above Jefferson who previously held the position of my favorite founding father. John Adams did not only give me more knowledge about the second president, it also enlightened me on what life was like during the early years of this country. This is a book that would recommend to any history buff who wishes to know more about the early history of this great nation and the evolution of modern government.

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