America's First Dynasty; The Adamses, 1735-1918

New York: The Free Press, 2002. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Good. Jeanne Strongin (Author photograph). [12], 244 pages. Signed by the author with sentiment on fep. Illustrations. Notes. Index. DJ has edge wear and som soiling. Richard Brookhiser (born February 23, 1955) is an American journalist, biographer and historian. He is a senior editor at National Review. He is most widely known for a series of biographies of America's founders, including The Adamses, Alexander Hamilton, Gouverneur Morris, and George Washington. He has written books that deal either with the nation's founding, or the principles of America's founders, including What Would the Founders Do?, a book describing how the Founding Fathers of the United States would approach topical issues that generate controversy in modern-day America. Brookhiser began writing for National Review in 1970. He earned an A.B. degree (1977) at Yale, Although admitted to Yale Law School, Brookhiser went to work full-time for National Review in 1977; by the time he was 23, he was a senior editor, the youngest in the magazine's history. He has written for a variety of magazines and newspapers. Brookhiser both wrote and hosted the documentary films Rediscovering George Washington, by Michael Pack, broadcast on PBS on July 4, 2002, and Rediscovering Alexander Hamilton, also by Pack, broadcast on PBS on April 11, 2011. His book Alexander Hamilton, American led to the "Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America" exhibition at The New-York Historical Society (2004-2005), for which he was the historian curator. There is some material on Theodore Roosevelt. The Adamses are the only family in American history to play a leading role in American affairs for nearly two centuries. Brookhiser focuses on John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Charles Francis Adams, and Henry Adams. Derived from a Kirkus review: A concise history of four famous men from the house of Adams. John (1735-1826), John Quincy (1767-1848), Charles Francis (1807-86), and Henry (1838-1918) were a prickly bunch who always maintained their sense of self-importance, even after they failed to realize their goals and the family started its long slump into obscurity. Their other shared trait, after all, was contrariness. John was in favor of a kingly presidency, but he despaired of George Washington's regal air even as he sought but failed to acquire it. Historian and journalist Brookhiser calls John the first loser in American presidential history, alienating so many during his single term that he couldn't get re-elected. John Quincy was a strident enemy of slavery not because he wanted to free slaves but because he believed that their masters wanted to lord it over free men as well. Charles Francis despised partisanship, yet he would have gotten nowhere if he hadn't hooked up with William Seward, who as Secretary of State made him ambassador to England. And Henry, who found post-Civil War politics vulgar, nonetheless moved to Washington and became a political journalist. Brookhiser is fascinated by the Adamses' tendency to play out in the public arena exploits that were really directed toward family members. John wanted to impress Samuel Adams. John Quincy had to impress his father. The work Charles Francis most appreciated was the editing of his father's diaries. And Henry could breathe a sigh of relief only after he wrote "Mont Saint Michel and Chartres" as a testament to his family's genius. One wishes that the female members of the tribe had received some attention here. They must have been impressive characters, or no Adams would have married them in the first place. Brookhiser elegantly undermines his subjects even as he sympathetically records their importance as a crucial link between Americans of several generations and their national past.