Book Review: The Problem of Democracy by Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein
The Presidents Adams, father and son, were each incumbents who were defeated in their bid for re-election by a populist opponent purporting to espouse "democracy", while in reality sowing the seeds of strong partisanship that would evolve into the political polarization that we know so well today. In their recent work The Problem of Democracy: The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality, the authors Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein trace the history of the famous father and son Chief Executives in a manner than only two classical academics would, with lengthy analytical prose of Goldilocks proportions: sometimes too superficial, sometimes too deep and sometimes just right.
John Adams was the second President of the United States, and is sometimes described as a "party of one". Though nominally a Federalist, he was rejected both by Thomas Jefferson's Republican faction, as well as by Alexander Hamilton's wing of the Federalists, as he tried to steer a course between monarchy and the mayhem of populist rule. Labelled as an aristocrat and an elitist, the strong-willed and strongly principled Massachusetts lawyer and diplomat was respected for his service to his nation, but never loved by the populace. His son would share many of his father's experiences as well as his political beliefs, though he was clearly his own man. But he too would fall to defeat at the hands of a populist challenger and would also be assailed by demagogue tactics that sought to label him derisively, like his father, as an elitist and an effete, out of touch pedant.
The authors do a superb job of exploring and explaining the relationship between these two intellectual and political giants and how they shaped their careers and their ideologies. The second and sixth Presidents carried on a lifetime correspondence that is ably canvassed and mined by the authors. The letters exchanged between the two provide some of the best insight into many of the more mystifying aspects of their respective presidencies and political careers, including the younger Adams' defection from the Federalists and each man's reluctance to respond in kind when their political opponents were turning presidential elections into popularity contests.
The book's failing is its inconsistency. Parts provide too much detail, especially in aspects of their lives that are less relevant to history, such as which books and other works each man read, with accompanying speculation about how such might have shaped the political decisions each made. Parts of the book offer too little information, particularly on some substantial issues during each man's presidency. Very little is also said about the younger Adams' outstanding career as one of the nation's leading Secretaries of State. Parts of the book are too unctuous or fawning. For example, the authors fail to take the elder Adams to task for his role in the Alien and Sedition Acts, which ended up being used as a tool to silence political enemies. Nor is any criticism offered of John Quincy's failure to realize that he needed congressional support to make his policies reality.
The worst parts of the book are the authors' own speculations and their overly academic and pedantic analysis, especially in the book's 30 page introduction and in its concluding chapter (pretentiously named "exordium" and "ad consummandum" respectively). Much of the book's nearly 500 pages are unnecessarily verbose ramblings that dilute other parts of the book in which the authors tell the story of the Adams presidents brilliantly.
It is difficult to decide whether or not to recommend this book given these inconsistencies in style and substance. For those with a deep interest in John Adams and John Quincy Adams, it offers an comprehensive, if partially incomplete, analysis of each man. For those with more of a Joe Friday approach to history, wanting "just the facts", there are better accounts of their lives and of their presidencies to be found.
John Adams was the second President of the United States, and is sometimes described as a "party of one". Though nominally a Federalist, he was rejected both by Thomas Jefferson's Republican faction, as well as by Alexander Hamilton's wing of the Federalists, as he tried to steer a course between monarchy and the mayhem of populist rule. Labelled as an aristocrat and an elitist, the strong-willed and strongly principled Massachusetts lawyer and diplomat was respected for his service to his nation, but never loved by the populace. His son would share many of his father's experiences as well as his political beliefs, though he was clearly his own man. But he too would fall to defeat at the hands of a populist challenger and would also be assailed by demagogue tactics that sought to label him derisively, like his father, as an elitist and an effete, out of touch pedant.
The authors do a superb job of exploring and explaining the relationship between these two intellectual and political giants and how they shaped their careers and their ideologies. The second and sixth Presidents carried on a lifetime correspondence that is ably canvassed and mined by the authors. The letters exchanged between the two provide some of the best insight into many of the more mystifying aspects of their respective presidencies and political careers, including the younger Adams' defection from the Federalists and each man's reluctance to respond in kind when their political opponents were turning presidential elections into popularity contests.
The book's failing is its inconsistency. Parts provide too much detail, especially in aspects of their lives that are less relevant to history, such as which books and other works each man read, with accompanying speculation about how such might have shaped the political decisions each made. Parts of the book offer too little information, particularly on some substantial issues during each man's presidency. Very little is also said about the younger Adams' outstanding career as one of the nation's leading Secretaries of State. Parts of the book are too unctuous or fawning. For example, the authors fail to take the elder Adams to task for his role in the Alien and Sedition Acts, which ended up being used as a tool to silence political enemies. Nor is any criticism offered of John Quincy's failure to realize that he needed congressional support to make his policies reality.
The worst parts of the book are the authors' own speculations and their overly academic and pedantic analysis, especially in the book's 30 page introduction and in its concluding chapter (pretentiously named "exordium" and "ad consummandum" respectively). Much of the book's nearly 500 pages are unnecessarily verbose ramblings that dilute other parts of the book in which the authors tell the story of the Adams presidents brilliantly.
It is difficult to decide whether or not to recommend this book given these inconsistencies in style and substance. For those with a deep interest in John Adams and John Quincy Adams, it offers an comprehensive, if partially incomplete, analysis of each man. For those with more of a Joe Friday approach to history, wanting "just the facts", there are better accounts of their lives and of their presidencies to be found.