Book Report: John Adams, My Best, Dearest, Worthiest, Wisest Friend in this World

So, I have been chipping away at John Adams for approximately three months. At 651 pages, this non-fiction is one of the finest I have ever read. My favorite quote from this book was the one I included in the title. In one of his many letters to Abigail, Adams referred to her as his "best, dearest, worthiest, wisest friend". The unflagging support of Abigail, his maintenance of a debt free lifestyle, and his complete freedom from allowing the care and opinions of others to influence his decisions make John Adams one of our greatest presidents. Father of the American Navy and one of our first statesmen and ambassadors, John Adams is worth reading for his accomplishments alone. However, what gives this story such heart are the frequent exerts from letters between John and Abigail that reiterate the deep love and respect between them.

For instance, this excerpt from a letter to John, written by Abigail reads as follows:

The cold has been more severe than I can ever before recollect. It has frozen the ink in my pen, and chilled the blood in my veins, but not the affection for him for whom my heart beats with unabated ardor through all the changes and vicissitudes of life, in the still calm of Peacefield ( their home), and the turbulent scenes in which he is about to engage.

Amazing, right? As a family, they had five children. John Quincy was off to Russia at the age of 14, receiving diplomatic training that would make him a natural for our sixth president. Charles and Thomas would descend into alcoholism, a daughter Susannah died at the age of two, another daughter Nabby died at 40 after a long struggle with breast cancer. McCullough is able to give these long gone characters heart. The death of Nabby affected me just as emotionally as the death of Shelby in "Steel Magnolias", and I was inconsolable when Abigail died.

Another reason to read is the behind the scenes notes that you get from Abigail's constant journalling and correspondence. For instance, it is Abigail who first meets Sally Hemmings (Thomas Jefferson's mistress who was one of his slaves as well as his wife's half-sister) and deems her too young to be working with Jefferson's children. We also see Jefferson's life long money difficulties and Benjamin Franklin's philandering and ridiculous antics in the French Court.

Oh, this book is great!!! The mini-series is great as well.