Nice little short intro to the life of our sixth president. ( )

What especially interested me about this book was the way in which the author, a noted Jackson scholar, was able to take a fresh look at the way Adams came to the presidency in 1824. To Jackson, and therefore Jacksonians, this was a corrupt deal between Adams and Clay, who then was rewarded with the office of Secretary of State. Remini was able to look at the incident anew through the eyes of Adams and see that the appointment was fully in accord with JQA's principles; Clay was to him the best qualified candidate for the job. That it would look suspicious to his opponents was a further instance (neither the first nor the last) of his political naivete. Kudos to Remini for putting aside the Jacksonian view. ( )

Celebrated chronicler of the Jacksonian Age Remini undertakes to explain the paradox of one of America's greatest diplomats and legislators being one of its poorer presidents, and by and large succeeds, delving deeply into Adams' saturnine personality. Remini ascribes a great deal of blame for Adams' aloof and combative public manner to his parents from hell and his own difficult sons. Substantively, this is a fine book. The prose could use some work. Remini deploys sentence fragments quite liberally--perhaps too liberally, in my view--to emphasize and dramatize his points. He has a peculiar weakness for the wrong word; two men don't "all" agree on something, they "both" agree, and emperors don't "resign", they "abdicate". This book is never less than entertaining and informative, but grammarians may cringe at times. ( )

Early proof of the regenerative powers of the U.S. Senate, the post-Presidential career of JQA (as the book affectionately calls him) makes for some of the more interesting reading in this entry in the American Presidents series. This tome brings to life the highs and lows of this, one of the more interesting men to set foot in the White House. The details of his harsh relationship with his mother certainly paints a dark picture of Abigail Adams. The tragedy of JQA's eldest son is something that is chronicled but left me wanting for more. This book serves as an excellent concise biography of our 6th president. ( )

good character study of our difficult 7th president ( )