WHOOSH.
I have been an admirer of John Quincy Adams since I was a kid and read a middle-grade [and as I found out in the reading of this book, a deeply sanitized] biography of him and so I jumped at the chance to read a full-blown biography of this [sigh] "amazing man".

Yeah...
Be careful what you wish for.

In reading this excellently written and meticulously researched biography, I encountered what many experience when reading about people they admire - a big ole slap in the face of the truth of who they really were and it is so very disheartening.

Was John Quincy Adams a brilliant man who did excellent work within his jobs as Ambassador, President of the United States, and then as a member of Congress? Absolutely. His work to abolish slavery [and his work behind the scenes of the Amistad affair was so amazing] 30 years before that fight bubbled over into the Civil War is nothing short of amazing and his tenacity and doggedness n this often brought him death threats, threats of violence and censure from Congress and those around him; yet he never backed down [working until almost his death to abolish the gag order that restricted speech about slavery and new states being admitted as slave states], no matter what was said or done to him. His love of country and of the Constitution and of his fellow man never wavers, no matter what is happening and I will forever admire that.

That said, it was his personal life that was most troubling for me - as well as being extremely selfish, self-centered, and often cold and dismissing [to both his children and his wife especially], he is a classic [and unrepentant] mysogonist, a trait that lasted his whole life, and there were sections of this book that just made me cringe over and over [I cannot imagine having to write some of this - I can only hope the author found some of JQA's behavior as cringe as I did]. Add in how he often ignored and dismissed his children [to be fair, though I am not condoning his behavior, much of this stemmed from how he himself was raised; his mother Abigail Adams believed that laughing and joy in general was not fitting for a believer and discouraged that amongst her children; that was a real WTAF moment for sure] due to his work [when he was the Envoy/Ambassador to Russia, he and Louisa left their two younger children with friends and family in Concord for SEVEN YEARS, and when they came home, they were confused as to why they weren't close to them ::EYEROLL::] or because they were "not living up to their potential" [multiple children struggled with booze and infidelity and out-of-wedlock children], how he expected Louisa to be something she wasn't [though she worked hard at it, even in the midst of all her own personal trials] and to be joyful in having to pull up stakes and trek all over God's green earth [their whole Russian adventure was so harrowing at times and her solo trip back to the US from St. Petersburg was just crazy], and essentially ignored her serious [and some not so serious] health issues [I lost track of how many miscarriages/stillbirth's this poor woman suffered through - it was a true wonder that she lived as long as she did] and was very selfish in regards to that area of their lives [re: he couldn't keep his...um...hands off of her and she was pregnant so many times] and that just seemed to amplify all the other selfishness he presented over and over, and to be honest, this was some of the hardest parts of the book to read.

So, has my admiration for JQA changed? Well...yes AND no. I will always admire his stance against slavery and his deep abiding love of country and his willingness to do whatever it took to secure freedom for everyone and for all to be treated the same [weird considering his home life right?].
BUT...will I ever think of him in glowing terms, especially regarding his personal life? No. And to be honest, even my admiration for his political work will be forever tainted by how he was at home [and with others], and that is a huge disappointment for me.

IF you are looking for a fantastic biography [especially if you are looking for one about someone you "know" but don't REALLY know], that is just fantastically written [and is truly a huge deep-dive into JQA's life], this is the book for you. Even with my disappointment over the man, I am so glad I read this amazing book.

Very well done!!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Randall B. Woods, and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

All but bald, with eyes sharp enough to cut the granite rocks of his native New England in two, a short, somewhat pudgy septuagenarian congressman stands addressing the United States House of Representatives. He has just caused a pandemonium in the House by asking permission to present a petition from a group of female slaves. The Southern congressmen have declared that petitions from women of “infamous character” ought not to be heard in the House. But the New Englander thinks otherwise. “[I]f they were infamous women, then who is it that made them infamous? Not their color, I believe, but their masters! I have heard it said in proof of the fact, and I am inclined to believe it is the case, that in the South there existed great resemblances between the progeny of the colored people and the white men who claim possession of them. Thus, perhaps, the charge of infamous might be retorted on those who made it, as originating from themselves.”


Those words were uttered by John Quincy Adams in 1837, six years into his 17-year-long career in the House of Representatives. Such an outspoken, divisive man, one would guess, was only fit for a career in Congress, for he doubtless did not have the broad regional appeal or political skills needed for any higher national office. And yet, less than ten years before this speech, John Quincy Adams was president of the United States. Before that, he was secretary of state under President James Monroe, a member of the Southern slavocracy Adams later so thoroughly detested.


Randall Woods, a professor of history at the University of Arkansas, tells the remarkable story of John Quincy Adams in his big new book John Quincy Adams: A Man for the Whole People. The book’s subtitle might seem somewhat odd in light of John Quincy’s later career, but it fits his earlier career well.


The son of the Founding Father and second president John Adams, John Quincy Adams came to prominence as one of the infant republic’s best diplomats and politicians, a man with no party who was thoroughly devoted to simply advancing his whole country’s interests, not his own. Or this is at least what he wanted people to think. Thoroughly his father’s son in regards to politics, Adams believed in a federal government that would (in Woods’ words) give the people “the example of good government,” one that would be strong enough to unite the nation’s disparate regions, provide them with a myriad of services, and give them all a shining beacon to gaze in wonderment at. These were oddly idealistic sentiments to be possessed by a misanthropic realist like John Quincy Adams. Adams himself frequently failed to live up to his dreams of national moral and political excellence—as Woods is fully willing to point out, with minimal excuse-making.


When Secretary of State Adams is negotiating the treaty that will give the US Florida and extended America’s land claims all the way to the Pacific, Woods notes that, in order to achieve these ends, Adams “was willing to tolerate the expansion of slavery into newly acquired territories, sacrifice those Native Americans who stood in his way, and violate the provision in the Constitution giving Congress and Congress alone the power to declare war.” All this “confirmed the nations of Europe in their opinion that the United States was just another avaricious empire. The only difference between them and America was the latter’s self-righteousness.”


Woods treats everything in John Quincy’s career with such clear-sightedness. Indeed, John Quincy Adams: A Man for the Whole People provides a more objective and astute portrait of the man than any recent cradle-to-grave biography of him.


Woods is just as good on the personal Adams as he is on the political Adams. In the first half of the book especially (in chronicling a life as full as John Quincy Adams’, Woods spends a surprisingly long time the events of John Quincy’s youth, with the first few chapters of his book reading more like a biography of John Adams than of John Quincy Adams), Woods does an excellent job of showing the full range of John Quincy’s personality. Adams was infamously abrasive and unlikable, concealing his insecurities and immense mistrust of the world with an icy demeanor and a sharp tongue.


Woods cannot help but accentuate the negative aspects of Adams’ personality, given their prominence in Adams’ life. But he also manages to frequently show the more likable, and all-too-elusive, side of John Quincy Adams (whom Woods at one point takes the unprecedented step of describing as “a hail-fellow-well met”):

…when [Adams] was in the bosom of his family or at dinner with people he respected[,] his inhibitions softened by wine, he was a witty, charming raconteur, toasting, singing, rhyming, and dancing. … ‘Under an exterior of, at times, almost repulsive coldness [observes a colleague of Adams], dwelt a heart as warm, sympathies as quick, and affections as overflowing as ever animated any bosom. His tastes too were all refined. Literature and Art were familiar and dear to him.’


Though important moments are occasionally not written as dramatically as they should be (see: the chapter on the famous Amistad case), Woods’ prose is usually energetic and clear. His prodigiously detailed, coldly objective book is a very good one-stop shop for those interested in learning about the ever-fascinating sixth president of the United States—or those just looking for a well-done biography.

As a history teacher, I'm constantly trying to read widely to eliminate as many historical blind spots as I can. This book is a great help to that endeavor. It begins tracing JQA'a lineage back a bit, then dives in depth into the American Revolution. At first, I was a bit put off by the focus on John Adams, the father, as this wasn't his biography, but Woods quickly contextualized JQA's role and experiences during the War. As this was a kindle copy, I had not idea it was going to be a lengthy as it is, but it reads well and is very engaging. Woods does a great job bring JQA to life and helped to dispel my vague understanding of this Founding Son as something of a gruff, aloof President in our nation's history. This was an excellent read over the long Presidents' Day weekend!