JOHN ADAMS:Forgotten Patriot

CBS News ^ | July 1,2001 | Rita Braver

[Lady In Blue]

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John Adams: Forgotten Patriot
NEW YORK, July 1, 2001


In the cool grandeur of the National Archives in Washington, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are enshrined, historian David McCullough is anything but cool about how history has treated one of the major forces behind those two documents: John Adams. CBS News Sunday Morning Correspondent Rita Braver reports.

"There's no statue to him...in Washington," says McCullough. "There's no face on Mount Rushmore. There's no monument. There's no picture of John Adams on our money. There isn't a postage stamp in circulation with John Adams' picture on it. This is a disgrace!"

But now McCullough, one of the most influential historians of our time, has become an Adams advocate, using his skills and his celebrity to introduce Americans to this forgotten patriot, with a massive new biography, "John Adams".

"I started to write a book about Adams and Jefferson and their crisscrossing, intertwining lives," he recalls. "And the more I got into it, the more I read, the more I discovered how much I didn't know about Adams."

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And so he decided to drop Jefferson and focus on Adams, whom he describes as "this rather short, stout, round-faced fellow who loves to talk, loves to have a good case of Madeira, loves his family and friends around him."

Why is Adams the least known of the Founding Fathers? McCullough says it's in part because he was not as dashing as Washington or Jefferson, not as folksy as Benjamin Franklin.

"He's quick tempered," explains the historian. "He's abrasive at times. He's often tactless. He can be vain. He's brilliant. I think that's probably the main thing to know about John Adams: He had a great capacity to move people with the force of argument. He was, himself, a force."

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Read an excerpt from "John Adams" at the Simon & Schuster Web site.

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He sprang from humble beginnings in Quincy, Mass. His father was a farmer who moonlighted as a shoemaker. The family home still stands, described by McCullough as "a straightforward simple bedrock New England salt box – built to last. And right next door, where John and Abigail lived while they were married, is (a) second house, which is actually older than the other house."

It was from that simple house that Adams journeyed to Philadelphia, to lead a revolution, in full knowledge that the British could hang him for treason. In the film "1776," which features one of the few popular portrayals of Adams, he is shown trying to move a reluctant Continental Congress to break from the British. In the end, it was Adams who won the day, recruiting Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence, and then driving it to passage.

"He spoke for two hours," says McCullough. "He spoke for two hours and, as Jefferson said, 'He moved us from our seats.' And if Jefferson was the pen of the Declaration of Independence, Adams was the voice."

And he became his nation's diplomatic voice. When the fledgling nation needed a representative to Europe, during the Revolutionary War, Adams was dispatched. He helped persuade the French to commit more of their fleet to the war, and he secured vital financial help from Holland.

"We were broke. We were bankrupt," says the historian. "We couldn't pay for the war we were trying to fight, and he managed to get the Dutch to come in with a substantial line. The first real line of credit we had in Europe, we needed desperately, and he got it,

We also needed a way to end the war, and he got that, too, negotiating the Treaty of Paris along with John Jay and Benjamin Franklin. We needed a Constitution and so, while he was still overseas, it was modeled after the one Adams had written for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

For 10 long years, affairs of state took precedence over affairs of the heart. Much of the time, Adams was separated from his beloved wife and pining for her.

McCullough terms their partnership "one of the great love stories in American history." And it is also true, documented in 1,000 letters that is one of the greatest collections of American correspondence.

John to Abigail in 1776: "I want to hear you think. I want to see your thoughts. The conclusion of your letter makes my heart throb more than a cannonade. You bid me burn your letters, but I must forget you first."

Abigail to John in 1780: "My dearest friend, how much is comprised in that short sentence. How fondly can I call you mine."

McCullough says, "He felt that women, in general, were probably superior to men, in general, and he respected her intelligence, her mind, as he respected, maybe, nobody else."

But if their marriage was perfect, Adams' political life was not.

He served as the ntion's first vice president, prophetically pronouncing it "the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived." In 1797, he became the second president of the United States, the first ever to live in the White House.

AP

David McCullough

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His greatest accomplishment, McCullough says, was bucking Alexander Hamilton and others who wanted to begin what would surely have been a disastrous war against France over maritime shipping routes.

On the down side, Adams did sign the infamous Alien and Sedition act, which (until they were done away with a few years later) allowed foreigners to be expelled without due process and infringed on freedom of the press.

And in the end, his old friend Thomas Jefferson, secretly working against him, defeated him for a second term in office.

"They had a big falling out," says McCullough. "They really did dislike each other for a spell. But it probably was inevitable that they would have a reconciliation."

It came when Adams finally wrote to Jefferson, beginning a 10-year correspondence from the home that he and Abigail lived in during their later years.

In 1824, he learned that his son, John Quincy Adams, was elected president. Until George W. Bush took office, the Adamses were the only father and son to both hold the nation's top job.

"Well, first of all, he was excited, he was exhilarated, he was proud, all the emotions that one would expect," says McCullough. "But John Adams, in effect, broke down in tears because he knew what...what an ordeal the son would have to go through as president. He knew from experience how tough it is, how disappointing it can be, how painful it can be to be president."

McCullough's book about Adams has vaulted to the top of the best seller lists, and McCullough is hoping that it has spurred enough interest in his hero to, at long last, move Congress to authorize an Adams memorial.

"John Adams was one of our best ever," says the author. "He was brave. He was honest. His devotion to the service of the country, the public good, was beyond almost any other public example. He was a true patriot in every sense of the word."

Adams lived to be 90. He died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. And, incredibly, it was also the very day that another former president and signer of the Declaration died: Thomas Jefferson, entwined with Adams in death as in life.

Says McCullough, "If it were a movie, and you recreated it exactly as it was, people would say, 'Well, that was overdoing it.' Cannons were booming, rowds were outside. It had started to rain. And when he died, according to all the accounts written at the time, the skies cleared, and this huge burst of sunlight came in. And nobody could ever forget it, who was present."

And, 175 years later, the legacy of John Adams is shining anew. The time is long past due to give him his place in the American pantheon, and in our American hearts.

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For more information:
“John Adams” by David McCullough
Simon and Schuster: www.simonsays.com

Adams National Historical Park: Web site: www.nps.gov/adam/

Massachusetts Historical Society: www.masshist.org

National Archives: www.nara.gov




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[monkey]

Why is Adams the least known of the Founding Fathers?

George Mason is the least known.

The monument to FDR, if you've not seen it, is a kissy-up, socialist advertisement. They could fit five monuments to deserving Presidents, like Adams, in the space.

[Lady In Blue]

I'm ashamed to say that I don't know anything about Mason!(blush)

[sneakers]

I'm still in the first 1/3 of the book. Yes, Dr. Wayne Smith, though a Civil War expert, taught a wonderful early American History class and used John and Abigail Adams as the focal point. He is retired now. Too bad. Truly a patriot. Probably couldn't deal with the liberal atmosphere so prevalent on campus.

[monkey]

Nothing to be ashamed of. I meant that he is the least known because little that he said or wrote survived. Even a general outline of his life can only be vaguely pieced together.

Mason conceived of and wrote the Virginia Bill of Rights, which was the basis for the Bill of Rights, and he was something of a mentor to the brilliant Madison. Mason refused to sign the Constitution (for a whole bunch of reasons, including the lack of a declaration of rights), which caused a falling out with Washington, after which he more-or-less faded from the national scene.

[lockeliberty]

I read a 2 volume set on John Adams by an author who's last name I believe is Page. These books are rather extensive and after reading them you understand how much influence Adam's had over the Continential Congress. Also, Adam's wrote a detailed defense of the Constitution while an ambassador in London. Overall Adams may have been the most influential founding father we had. His efforts in securing loans from the Dutch, French, and Prussians may have been the decisive factor in defeating the British.

[ValerieUSA]

I sent this book to my sister for Christmas, and she still hasn't read it! I can't borrow it from her until she reads it first.

[Lady In Blue]

Thanks for your post. I was just sitting here trying to remember who said the following: "If Washington is the Father of the Nation,then John Adams is the mid-wife." I think that's a great quote.I'm sure all of the Founding Fathers had worries but none and to the extent of Adams!God bless him for his labors and sacrifices for this country!

[Lady In Blue]

Overall Adams may have been the most influential founding father we had. His efforts in securing loans from the Dutch, French, and Prussians may have been the decisive factor in defeating the British.

Agreed! This new born country was so poor and with so little credit but due to Adams diplomatic skills,he was able to get the U.S.first loan from the Dutch.

[Lady In Blue]

Mason conceived of and wrote the Virginia Bill of Rights, which was the basis for the Bill of Rights, and he was something of a mentor to the brilliant Madison. Mason refused to sign the Constitution (for a whole bunch of reasons, including the lack of a declaration of rights), which caused a falling out with Washington, after which he more-or-less faded from the national scene.

Thanks for the info! I think I heard something this morning on my local all news radio.The report said that after 14 years,congress has approved a monument for Mason somewhere near the Jefferson memorial.Now,if they can do that for Mason,why in the world can't they do it for Adams?!

[Lady In Blue]

He sounds great! It's too bad that his course wasn't taped.I bet he could have made mucho bucks on it!

[dvwjr]

We needed a Constitution and so, while he was still overseas, it was modeled after the one Adams had written for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

From what I've read about the Constitutional Convention, this is not exactly so. Anyone else think any differently?

[blackie]

No, I haven't read the book...

[CougarGA7]

Its good to see someone standing up for John Adams. I'm a direct decendent of his. I didn't know about this book but I will go out and buy it today. One of the stories my father told me was of a bet that John Adams had with Thomas Jefferson. They made a bet on who would live longer. When John Adams uttered his last words, "Thomas Jefferson survives" he did not know that Jefferson had died a few hours earlier in Virginia. Both of them died on Independence Day in 1826. John Adams had won the bet but never knew it.

[Lady In Blue]

You're a direct descendant of John Adams?! That's wonderful.Do you have any of his features? I used to work with a lady who was a descendant of his on her mother's side.The picture of him on the cover is a famous painting.And boy,when I first saw it,I couldn't believe the similiarity in all of the features,even the color of the eyes,shape of the brow and the facial bone structure.You're very fortunate to be a descendant of such a great man.If you have a mind to,please contact your congressman and senators and ask them to start the process for a national monument.Thanks.

[Charles Henrickson]

Our family listened to the audio version of the book last summer on our way out to Williamsburg and D.C. for vacation. Adams truly has to rank up there with the most important of our Founding Fathers. And he was so smart!

McCullough does a fine job in writing this book, and he himself is an excellent speaker. I heard him speak here in St. Louis last June, on Adams. I had heard him also give a talk here a couple of years earlier. A wise man. And a great voice, too.

[Lady In Blue]

I agree with you on all points.I heard McCullough on C-Span during the first National Book club festival last year and he was great! I wish that I could go to Quincy,Mass.to Adams cript.I was reading some of the reviews,from regular folks,on Amazon.com the other day.One review was particularly moving to me.A guy was so moved and impressed with President Adams after reading the book that he made a pilgrimage to Quincy.He said that when he got inside,he placed his hand on John Adams cript and said:"Howdy-do,thank you."

[Lady In Blue]

I guess I should have searched first before I went on my crusade for a monument to John Adams.I just did and this is what I came up with:

Statement on Adams Memorial  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 12, 2001	CONTACT:  Jim Zoia (202) 225-6065
Remarks of Rep. Nick Rahall Ranking Democrat Committee on Resources  June 12, 2001
As this bill’s language points out, somewhere along the way, we lost sight of the extraordinary national contributions of John Adams and those of his wife Abigail and their offspring.  Among the gleaming marble facades of our presidential constellation along our  national mall, among the many sites where we pay homage to individuals throughout America’s history here in our Nation’s Capital, there is a void, an Adams void,  that should be filled.  I want to thank historians Joseph J. Ellis and David McCullough for being here today to make the case for an Adams Memorial, and also for reigniting interest in the life and legacy of John Adams and his family.  I am pleased to take this opportunity to reinforce their message with some other voices from our history.  Though we as a Nation are reacquainting ourselves with the Adams family, primarily thanks to the two gentlemen testifying today, near and at the end of John Adams’ life, Adams was remembered  along side the other founders as part and parcel to their ultimate success.  Former Librarian of Congress  Daniel Boorstin has highlighted for me a passage in a letter Thomas Jefferson sent Adams recalling the joint efforts of the two old revolutionaries, “We were fellow-laborers in the same cause... Laboring always at the same oar, with some wave ever ahead, threatening to overwhelm us, and yet passing harmless under our bark, we knew not how we rode through the storm with heart and hand, and made a happy port... and so we have gone on, and shall go on puzzled and prospering beyond example in the history of man.”  In 1826, Daniel Webster commemorating the lives of Adams and  Jefferson on their demise, placed them side by side.  Webster proclaimed, “They live in their example: and they live, emphatically, and will live, in the influence which their lives and efforts, their principles and opinions, now exercise, and will continue to exercise, on the affairs of men, not only in their own country but throughout the civilized world.”   “A truly great man,” Webster continued, “is no temporary flame.”   Rather he concluded it is “a spark of fervent heat, as well as radiant light, with power to rekindle the common mass of human kind; so that when it glimmers in its own decay, and finally goes out in death, no night follows, but it leaves the world all light, all on fire from the potent contact of its own spirit.”  It is time we reignited the flame of Adams genius and work.  Our flint and steel will be an interpretive memorial for generations to visit, perpetually sparking their curiosities of this great American, John Adams, and his family.  Joseph Ellis has called Adams, “the supreme political realist of the revolutionary generation” and cautions, “Adams tells us what we need to know.  Perhaps now, and only now, are we prepared to listen.”   David  McCullough reminds us of Adams’ clarity and vision for America’s tomorrow,  when upon the fiftieth anniversary of our independence Adams chose precisely two words:   Independence forever!   As an American, and as the Ranking Democrat of the House Resources Committee,  I can only humbly add to the efforts to create an Adams Memorial two words: Build it.
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[Lady In Blue]

Roll Call: Opinion

June 14, 2001

Honor Adams

Washington is monument city, crowded with large and small memorials to our greatest presidents, many Civil War generals, the wars America has fought and even some poets. What's missing is recognition for founding father John Adams, America's second president, but we're pleased that attention is now being paid via a House bill sponsored by Rep. Tim Roemer (D-Ind.) and a Senate measure by Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.).

Attention to Adams - long overdue - has been stimulated by two new books by distinguished historians David McCullough and Joseph Ellis, who testified this week along with Roemer before the House Resources subcommittee on national parks and public lands. Roemer's bill would create a monument honoring not only Adams but his wife, Abigail, one of America's most accomplished first ladies; their son, John Quincy Adams, the sixth president; and other members of a family distinguished for its public and academic service.

As with the World War II Memorial, a controversy has arisen over the placement of the Adams monument. Roemer said it should be on the Tidal Basin between the monuments to George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. That's certainly fitting historically, but three federal commissions have voted to ban new monuments in that vicinity. The Fine Arts Commission, the National Capital Memorial Commission and the National Capital Planning Commission jointly agreed last year to block additional construction in that area of the Mall because they judged that too many structures were being erected there.

This judgment has to be ratified by Congress, however. The Senate passed the ban last year, but the House didn't. Commission members interviewed by The Washington Post said this week that they are not prepared to make an exception for John Adams. One person who serves on two of the commissions, John Parsons of the National Park Service, said, "The relationship between Jefferson and Adams is so strong, we will have to find a site relative to each; but not on the Tidal Basin." That might be an opening for a location near the Tidal Basin, but not on it.

We hope that Congress will indeed honor the Adams family. But Congress should also let the various commissions do their work before rushing to judgment about where an Adams memorial should go. People were in such a hurry to honor "the greatest generation" that Congress stepped in to decree approval for an architecturally undistinguished World War II Memorial that would be planted in the wrong place. The Adamses deserve an elegant memorial honoring their wisdom and service.

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[Paulus Invictus]

You are absolutley correct! The tasteless monument to FDR was pushed through by the RATs. In my estimation FDR did not come close to comparing with John Adams as a great leader. The biography of Adams was one of the best I've ever read about a president. He was a giant and deserves our gratitude and the praise of the nation.

[Lady In Blue]

All I can say blackie is that it is a real treat.My eyes are getting so weak that if I had thought about it,I would have bought the audio.I use to love listening to audios when I was commuting to work and back. It's really a great read.