Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams

by Joseph J. Ellis

A fresh look at this astute, likably quirky statesman, by the author of the Pulitzer Award-winning Founding Brothers and the National Book Award winning American Sphinx.


"The most lovable and most laughable, the warmest and possibly the wisest of the founding fathers, John Adams knew himself as few men do and preserved his knowledge in a voluminous correspondence that still vibrates. Ellis has used it with great skill and perception not only to bring us the man, warts and all, but more importantly to reveal his extraordinary insights into the problems confronting the founders that resonate today in the republic they created." —Edmund S. Morgan, Sterling Professor of History Emeritus, Yale University

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, American History, Presidents, American Revolution, Politics

277 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1993

About the author

Joseph John-Michael Ellis III is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the Founding Fathers of the United States. His book American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson won a National Book Award in 1997 and Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for History. Both of these books were bestsellers.

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book. I found it completely unpersuasive. But it is a fantastic book.

The reason I so heartily commend it is that it engaged me. I wrestled with Ellis. I went back and forth, agreeing and disagreeing, fist pumping one moment only to drop the book in my lap with exasperation the next.

What Ellis sets out to achieve is to understand why Adams is so misunderstood and to appreciate why he has remained unappreciated relative to his peers—Washington and Jefferson certainly, but even Madison and Hamilton too.

And I don't know, I just don't find "Well yeah Adams was a jerk but he was right" that good of an argument?

Or that "He just couldn't control himself, he had to get it out so he erupted on people as a coping mechanism" merits excusing him?

And it takes until page 216—216! out of 242!—until Ellis gets around to exploring why Adams has not been remembered nor as highly regarded as other Founders. This should have been the main chunk of the book (it is mostly about his interpersonal relations) but in any event, here too I was unsatisfied.

"This guy Croly wrote a book that was all about TJ and it became popular in political circles early in the 20th century so Adams got passed over." Really? One book had the power to erase Adams?

"Adams was conservative and America became liberal so Adams, you're out."

"Well we didn't really have his writings available until recently so when they were building statues in DC, we weren't really that aware of Adams legacy yet."

Eh.

Those are caricatures but you get the essence of the thing.

For the record, I agree with Ellis. Adams deserves better. He was a brilliant architect of political structure. Absolutely brilliant. And his understanding of human nature is some of the most profound stuff you will ever encounter. I just did not think Ellis argued the case well. His best point was that Lincoln flubbed it in the Douglas debates by invoking TJ rather than Adams. Now that was a seminal moment in American history that did the carry power to shape retrospective opinion—opinion that omitted Adams.

But my contentions with Ellis are exactly why I love the book. Reading it engaged me in an active and lively conversation with Ellis, a debate in the true Adams spirit. And if Ellis is able to revive Adams within his readers' minds, is that not an even greater success than convincing them of his points?

(That is, a revived Adams less the jerk part, I hope.)

[Donald Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

My bachelor's degree was in Government. It is now called political science. This book is a deep, profound and thought provoking masterpiece in Government (political science) in the midst of an entertaining biography. Professor Ellis makes the case John Adams was a critical force in the independence from Britain and the creation of our Governance system.
This book deserves a review highlighting major themes but I would not do it justice. I do have a greater appreciation for John Adams, a better understanding of Thomas Jefferson, a better understanding of the philosophical differences between them and an updated, though complex, way to think about the American governmental system.

[Lauren Albert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ellis does a great job of showing Adams as the complex man he was--he was a perfect example of the kind of person whose flaws and strengths cannot be separated. He was a realist and that didn't lead to his popularity--in his own time or later. As Ellis wonderfully writes: “Finally, he was linked historically with Jefferson as the supreme embodiment of the American dialogue: he was the words and Jefferson was the music of the ongoing pageant begun in 1776; he was the ‘is,’ Jefferson was the ‘ought’ of American politics.” 213 Yet, though a political realist, he was personally passionate about friendship and could not hold a grudge against someone who had attacked him, as Ellis writes, “he could forgive and forget, not because he had achieved stoic detachment, but because he had never lost a childlike impulse to share his deepest personal feelings.” While being a brilliant thinker, Adams manages also to make you feel like he is everybody's favorite curmudgeonly uncle.

Some of my other favorite quotes:

“Adams objected to Jeffersonian rhetoric because it tended to rhapsodize about the omniscience of popular majorities in much the same way that medieval defenders of papal and monarchical power had claimed a direct connection to the divine. For Adams, the threat to the American republic could just as easily come from the left as the right; democratic majorities were just as capable of tyranny as popes and kings.” 130

“’The best republics will be virtuous,’ he noted in the Defence, ‘and have been so; but we may hazard a conjecture, that the virtues have been the effect of the well ordered constitution, rather than the cause.’” 149

“Adams kept insisting that he was not celebrating the enduring social divisions within America at all; he was only calling attention to their existence, refusing to believe the lovely lie that the American environment acted as a kind of solvent that dissolved away all social distinctions and class differences.” 158

“one of his deepest political convictions: namely, that comprehensive theories of politics were invariably too neat and rational to capture the maddening messiness of the real world.” 172

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

G.K. Chesteron once wrote that the Catholic Church is the only thing that saves a man from the degrading slavery of being a child of his age. I don't know that the Church has a monopoly on timelessness, but some historic personalities have a sense of integrity that bids me think they would remain who they were if they were plucked up bodily and thrown into another age. Robert Ingersoll is one such man; John Adams is another. This sense of integrity isn't magically imbued; it requires a certain force of mind, and the decision to root one's self in deeper principles. Passionate Sage is a rare treatment of John Adams which focuses on him not as an architect of the revolution, or as an executive officer, but as a retired statesman coming to terms with what he and others had wrought -- satisfied with what he'd done, even if he was regarded as an anachronism. He had followed his own convictions, and that was enough.

Ellis' treatment of Adams make me suspect that Adams would be his own man in any time because while classical allusions were rife in the founding era, Adams' very soul was grounded in the classical tradition. Some revolutionaries like Thomas Jefferson believed that the Revolution had made all things new again, that institutions like monarchy which prevented people from fulfilling an innately good nature had been escaped from. Adams held to an older view, however, that man was flawed and would constantly struggle with his inner demons -- that virtue and vice hold us in a perpetual tug of war. Our greatest flaw, Adams believed, was pride and vanity; these would drive men to compete ferociously with one another even if they were economic equals. For Adams, the great problem of politics was how to build a productive government that took human frailty in mind. He was a grim realist in an age of idealism. This led him to promoting unpopular ideas -- for instance, that the presidency should be invested with a certain sense of awe, not to honor the person but for the office and for the law's sake. If people do not believe in the law, have a certain respect for it, it loses its persuasive power. If awe does not work, people resort to brute force -- and things go to pieces. His pragmatism also led him taking a high and lonely road during his administration, when he doggedly pursued a course of non-interference during the Franco-English spats of the time. Federalists looked to trade and defense deals with England, and Republicans looked to France. Adams defied them both, following his studies of philosophy that indicated one must do the right thing even if it was unpopular. Adams hoped that history would vindicate him, and on that matter it has. (Ellis notes that Adams often chose the course of action that would alienate the most people, being suspicious of popularity even as he desired it.)

Although Ellis focuses on Adams' thinking and writing, even still we get glimpses of Adams the man -- reading ferociously, for instance. Adams not only challenged Jefferson in terms of the piles of books they both read, but filled his books with notes arguing and debating the authors. Adams loved a good intellectual bout, though his approach was more a pugnacious boxer's than an exercise in rapier wit. In his exchange of letters to Thomas Jefferson, for instance, he fired off as twice as many letters as he received. Although often bombastic in his criticisms (especially where the "bastard brat of a Scotch pedlar", Alexander Hamilton, was concerned), Adams' delight in conversation meant that he'd mend bridges with people like Jefferson or Mary Otis Warren just so he could lock horns with them again. Although by the time he died Adams was regarded as highly as Jefferson, throughout the 19th century his reputation was steadily surpassed by his old friend, who sometimes seemed to be shadowing Washington. Ellis attributes this to the triumph of Jacksonian democracy, which had and less use for Adams' caution, and still less for his philosophic intransigence.

For my own part, I have found Adams endearing and redoubtable ever since discovering him via 1776 and David McCullough. Although self-conscious about his frailties, particularly his vanity and temper, that never stopped him from charging ahead in a roar, with a mouth firing off fusillades. He had a rare energy that left him only when the grave took him.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://bestpresidentialbios.com/2013/...

“Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams” by Joseph J. Ellis was published in 1993. Though it remains a relatively well-read title on our second president, in terms of sheer popularity and acclaim it has been overshadowed by more recent John Adams biographies. Of the modern books on Adams in my library (everything since Page Smith’s series) “Passionate Sage” is one of the oldest and seemingly the most unique.

Somewhat to my surprise, “Passionate Sage” is not actually a biography at all. Instead, it is more a character analysis of John Adams and, at times, almost as much a book of philosophy as of history. That fact alone makes it no more or less interesting to me than the traditional Adams biographies I’m reading, but does make it difficult to directly compare this work to the others.

Ellis’ key thesis is quickly proposed: that John Adams (at least as of the date of publication) remains one of the most misunderstood and underappreciated of American’s Founding Fathers. In defending this thesis, Ellis uses his book to examine, explore, dissect, analyze and penetrate the character of Adams principally through his writings – to his wife Abigail, with his son John Quincy, with Thomas Jefferson during his retirement years and with multitudes of others. Also used as evidence are his publications such as his Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States of America published in three parts in 1787 and his Thoughts on Governments which he wrote in 1776.

The first third or so of the book is essentially a compendium of the author’s conclusions on Adams – almost a summary I would expect to find at the end of a traditional biography. This portion of the book often presumes a degree of familiarity with Adams which some readers may not possess. Mitigating this somewhat is the fact that the author’s line of reasoning is laid before the reader in significant detail, with reference back to primary sources.

The mid-section of the book was a thoughtful, but often dry and overly academic, discourse on Adams’ political philosophies as revealed through his “retirement years” letters with Thomas Jefferson (written between 1812 and 1826, when they both died) and his correspondence with (and reaction to) John Taylor who in 1814 wrote a comprehensive critique of Adams’ three-volume Defence work nearly thirty years earlier. Though quite interesting at times, this portion of his book often leaves the casual reader bogged down in detail which seems unnecessary to all but the doctoral-level history (or philosophy) student.

The remainder of the book covers the last decade or so of John Adams’ life, focusing particularly on his political philosophies and core principles as evidenced by his letters to son John Quincy and daughter-in-law Louisa Catherine, who in later years almost seemed to serve as a surrogate Abigail (before her death in 1818 she had been John’s most reliable correspondent).

Overall, “Passionate Sage” proves to be a successful, thought-provoking analysis of John Adams, published a decade before the better-known McCullough book and some fifteen years before the HBO mini-series which popularized this early American hero. Though it is not a biography of Adams, at its core it is an interesting and convincing book. Unfortunately, it often wandered a bit within chapters and explored tangents with unnecessary fervor. In addition, I often had the sense when reading this book of being in class, taking notes furiously while listening to a lecturing professor, hoping for everything to become clear in the end. And in the end, the core message is clear, but the journey was not carefree or unobstructed.

For the serious student of political philosophy or someone wishing to more finely calibrate Adam’s political perspectives against those of his peers, ”Passionate Sage” is a well-argued and thorough analysis. For its purpose it is, without a doubt, an excellent book. But for the more casual reader of history, or someone seeking a good introduction to the life and times of John Adams, there are several better places to begin the journey.

Overall rating: 3¾ stars

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book dedicated to Adams that I have read and absolutely loved (the first being McCoullough’s award winning biography), and perhaps I’ve already known this and said this, but it bears repeating with more emphasis… Adams was an extraordinary person!

There is so much in this book to agree with, disagree with, and go into deep thought on. It focuses on Adam’s intellectual and political thought, not by rehashing his life, but instead focusing on the evidence we have from his post-political life and retirement. If you know the basics on Adams, you know he was well read and you know of his famous correspondence with Jefferson in retirement, but this book brings those things to life (and much more) as a worthy subject of their own (they are). I only wish it could have been longer so that Ellis could have dove into the Jefferson/Adams Plato metaphysics conversation that is mentioned but not evaluated. I say this a bit jokingly, as the book is actually a perfectly fine length for it’s goal and subject, but just that this is so firmly in my wheelhouse that I would have been happy to read more sidebars.

Some of the details in Adams’ thinking and in trying to understand how he differed in this realm from the other intellectual heavy weights of the time like Jefferson might be too much for some readers. There’s a lot of detailed analysis of thought. This would be especially true if you don’t have a solid background on Adam’s life already, or the generic landscape of early American politics. I would definitely recommend reading some less tightly focused works first if you haven’t already (McCoullough’s Adams is one of the best biographies I have ever read and should be read first imho). Once you have, and if you are interested in the political philosophy of the time, I think this is a must read to help understand the complexities of thought surrounding the founders, the different and nuanced opinions on general political philosophies that they had, and how remarkable some of these men were.

There are some things that aren’t great here, for example, like Adams himself, Ellis seems to be quite sure of his negative assessment of Hamilton. This not only creates a highly negative caricature of him, but also leads to leaving out another dimension that could have been explored in more detail. We are left only with some interesting introductory comments from Adams (and Jefferson) on capitalism and finance, without a figure that could provide ideas in that realm to be a springboard for Adams to play his contrarian role (given the nature of Adams, I know he could not have been silent here).

I think I've said enough here; I have to get back to my reading list and try to catch up, as I'm aiming to reach a point where I've read 1/100th of what Adams read.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me obsessed with John Adams. He's flawed and thoughtful and wise and honest, and seems like the sort of person who would be a difficult and rewarding friend. I considered and reconsidered my political/societal beliefs in trying to understand his.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Adams was a well read, shrewd political thinker and a realist who never mastered the calm exterior of Washington or the lyrical writing of Jefferson. He was well aware of his flaws but this makes him more human and even more accessible then others of his generation. His view is often forgotten or dismissed as it does not fit into the mythology of America, but it was and is needed as it balances the idealistic views we often associate with Jefferson.

[William Bahr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is another excellent book by author Joseph Ellis. I have to say, however, I was somewhat disappointed that I could not find explicit reference to Adams’ signing the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798, given that it continues to tarnish his reputation and was a primary reason for his losing to Jefferson in the election of 1800.

That said, let me share with you what I’ve discovered researching the more or less sainted George Washington’s perhaps surprising support for the Alien and Sedition Acts. From similarly renowned author David McCullough’s later published “John Adams”:

“Though it [the Sedition Act] was clearly a violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing freedom of speech, its Federalist proponents in Congress insisted, like Adams, that it was a war measure, and an improvement on the existing common law in that proof of the truth of the libel could be used as a legitimate defense. … Even George Washington privately expressed the view that some public actions were long overdue punishment for their lies and unprovoked attack on the leaders of the union.”

And from from Marshall Smelser’s “George Washington and the Alien and Sedition Acts,” The American Historical Review, 01 Jan 1954, pgs 322 -334:

”I [George Washington] highly approve of the measures taken by the Government…. I even wish they had been more energetic.” In correspondence to former general Alexander Spotswood, Washington, who abhorred lies and dishonesty, “defended the Alien Act and made no mention of the Sedition Act.”

One must remember that the Alien and Sedition Acts were enacted in the time of the Quasi-War with France from 1798 to 1800. There was fear of a French invasion, as well as subversion from the large number of French and “wild” Irish immigrants and their sympathizers. While president, Washington himself had been threatened with lynching by mobs in Philadelphia stirred up by France’s “Citizen Genet” and the Democratic-Republican societies (who wanted the U.S. to join revolutionary France in its war with England), and was saved only by a yellow fever outbreak that cleared the city of many of its inhabitants. James Callender (Thomas Jeffersons’s hired journalist/scandalmonger) and Benjamin Bache (Benjamin Franklin’s grandson) were instrumental in publishing heated and often untrue charges (lies) and thus turning the press poisonously political. As seen in 1793 France with the beginning of the Terror, an unrestrained press, such as that operated by Marat, could bring a country to its knees.

Again, recall that those supporting the Alien and Sedition Acts believed that the population was effectively being incited to riot by the unrestrained press (in a conspiracy with the French) and that libel laws would protect those agitators who spoke/wrote the truth, all in a time of wartime crisis. As it turned out, Adams, after great effort and diplomacy, was able to avert the war with France. Nevertheless, and again, bitter remembrance of the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts was a prime reason Adams lost to Jefferson in the election of 1800. It’s interesting to note that Adams signed into law the “Sedition Act” on 14 July 1798, the ninth anniversary of the day of French insurrection and mob action, Bastille Day.

But back to Ellis’ book itself: As per the majority of the previous reviewers and as a fellow author, I highly recommend it for any student of the character of John Adams and other Founders.

[Bill Christman · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Adams is the most well known of the founders. Jefferson never revealed his feelings, sphinx like, Martha burned most of Washington's correspondence (great person in life, truly loved George, bitch to historians for this act). John Adams knew he was writing for history, yet at the same time couldn't help being blunt about his feelings especially with intimates.

This book is on the years after Adams' presidency. The first years of which he still had anger towards many federalists. He would never forgive nor show mercy towards Alexander Hamilton which I consider a shame considering their intellectual might between them. If Hamilton lived perhaps there would have been an understanding, but I doubt it as the attacks were too personal. Adams who was thin skinned grows a thick skin in his later years. He seems resigned to what will happen to his reputation, that he will practically disappear until historians really looked at the evidence of the past. He proved correct as history evolved and by the 1950s his reputation began to rise.

Adams did not believe in revolutions where things changed overnight. He believed in evolutions and spent a lot of time arguing that the American revolution began earlier and perhaps its seed was planted with Jamestown. I feel Adams is right that there is never a revolution in thinking. People can only get ideas based on the knowledge they know, whether scientific or political. In this sense Adams does rank with Washington to me because both men were not dreamers. They were practical and saw humanity for what it was, in all its compassion, intelligence, ignorance and ugliness. The new term of ideology had come into being with the French revolution and Adams hated those who were the true believers. He saw the problem with reducing humanity into ideology and that was it dismissed human nature completely. People do not base their decisions the same way as their neighbors. Nor do they make the same decision twice in a row, consider any hold my beer decision. Adams understood humanity was not always rational but it needed to be, then again to Adams great changes only came with passion.

Joseph J. Ellis is one of the greatest historians America has and one can never fail to learn something, no matter your knowledge base of the subject, when reading his work. Ellis' work are short in comparison to others but it is his pithy style, not lack of information. I will always recommend Joseph J. Ellis to anyone wanting to know more about the Founders.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was interesting not least because it preceded McCullough's full John Adams biography. It thus offers a unique perspective on Adams' historical importance and relevance before the popular upward revision in his assessed value prompted by the later book. It focuses on Adams' retirement years with the reconciliation and correspondence with Jefferson figuring prominently. Ellis compares and contrasts the two very skillfully as he portrays Adams as the most engagingly human of the founders as he points out the inherent contradictions in his character. Despite this, though, he illustrates that most of his political enemies were unable to dislike him personally. I like to read about the founding generation in order to try to make sense of our present political and societal climate. It's interesting that while Jefferson saw nothing but an optimistic future for the country post-revolution, Adams foresaw the cyclical nature of politics and the tenuous hold of our form of government based on his refusal to believe in American exceptionalism. To summarize his thinking, if Rome and Athens fell, America is likely to fall, too. More than anything else, though, I took the fundamental difference between Jefferson and Adams to be the emphasis of freedom for the former vs. equality for the latter. I'd never considered the essential opposition of these two ideals. This opposition remains with us today with one party emphasizing liberty over all while the other places primacy on fairness. This has been true throughout human history and I can't imagine it ever changing since it strikes me as a basic tenet of human nature.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Irascible, contrarian, and fascinating.

Ellis' "American Sphinx" was an unsparing and intensely interesting look into the quixotic and generally duplicitous character of Thomas Jefferson. This earlier work on John Adams takes the same approach of looking at the man's character and how he thought moreso than his political accomplishments with a particular focus on Adams post presidential life.

Adams has always been one of the more interesting of the Founders because he was so very human. He wasn't the stoic marble man like Washington nor the wide eyed ideological dilettante like Jefferson. Adams was always... Adams. Cantankerous, punchy, vain, and simultaneously the Founder that was both the most and least self aware.

Ellis theorizes that Adams reveled in being contrarian to the point that his fierce intellectual independence often resulted in his isolation. Time and time again this proved true and while on one level Adams realized this, he never really changed. Naturally that damaged his early reputation within the pantheon of the Founders but it was the release of his papers on microfiche that enabled modern scholars to dive more deeply into his very impressive, and sometimes very entertaining, writing.

Ellis covers all this with a generally sympathetic approach because frankly, it's hard not to sympathize with Adams even at his most annoyingly argumentative.

[Riq Hoelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Could have been called John Adams: The Retirement Years, and After

Rather harsh on Hamilton, as might be expected. His foolish plan to make war on France with a mere 10K troops. And then to march them to Louisiana, Mexico and even Peru! The American Caesar.

Book has a couple sloppy errors.
-Reference to John Trumbull's famous painting of the Declaration at one point says it's about the constitutional convention.
-Reference to the "Council of Nice" was no doubt meant to be the "Council of Nicea".

Even though the author attended Jefferson's alma mater, it's pretty clear Adams is his favorite of the founders.

One great thing is that it summarizes or at least provides the highlights of Adams's difficult to read books on politics: Defence of the Constitutions and Discourses of Davila. Adams would have preferred that the presidential veto be final, with no chance of override. And yet he wondered why the Jeffersonians branded him a monarchist. By the way, interesting fact: neither Adams nor Jefferson ever used the veto, not John Quincy Adams either, this despite other early presidents using the veto: Washington - twice, Madison - 7 times, Monroe - once and Jackson - 12 times. Most surprising of all, U.S. Grant used it 93 times and was overridden four times.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engrossing and incisive study of the politics, personality, psychology (and variable place in the pantheon of American patriarchs) of the impliable John Adams. Based on Adams's writings over the many years of his retirement at Quincy, Ellis shows with plenty of evidence that: "[m]ore than any other member of the revolutionary generation, politics for Adams was psychology writ large, a heaving collection of irrational urges that moved across the social landscape..." As Adams had done at Quincy, Ellis brings Adams and the founding generation down to earth with all its foibles and contradictions. His analysis of Adams's famous correspondence with his political nemesis and old friend, Thomas Jefferson, allows us a deep look into the workings of this improbable friendship and how it reflects the tide of American politics over the centuries. No scholar knows the Founding Fathers like Joe Ellis. If you have even the slightest interest in the legacy of the revolutionary generation, this is a book you should not miss.

[Julie Yates · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are only going to read 1 book about Adams ... this is not it! However, you are want to really understand Adams, this is a must read! I feel this book is the perfect addition to John Adams - where McCullough details a full biography and explains only some of the thought process, Passionate Sage, looking over many of the letters of Adam's long retirement, really describes his personality (but there is no biography - it's understood you already know the basic facts, like his rupture with Jefferson, his fights with the high Federalists etc.) It is clear how much Ellis likes Adams, and I often laughed out loud at his descriptions. It is truly like talking about your genius but irascible uncle, who you love but also astounds you with his temperament.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is always good to find a well-written, well-researched book detailing the history of the Founding Fathers and what they were like. Far from icons of perfection, they were people of flaws and contradictions. Ellis brings this out for Adams, but shows us the humanity thoroughly. We get a sense of the prickly man behind the legend, who fought with so many of his compatriots. But the effort he put forth gave us a great nation for many years. A wonderful addition to our history lessons.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a political and intellectual history of John Adams through the lens of his post-presidential years. I found much of it interesting, and you can't help but appreciate the author's clear fondness for his subject. At points I think it was repetitive and dragged a bit, but overall a worthy read for those who are already familiar with Adams and his life.

[Tom Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part retirement biography, part character sketch, and part examination of political philosophy. It sounds boring, but I enjoyed it.

[Guy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was highly recommended by Clay Jenkinson on the Thomas Jefferson Hour podcast. Ellis is arguably the best writer on the early republic and Passionate Sage might be his best book. Ellis is clearly in love with Adams and by the end of the book, so are his readers.

[Elizabeth Artemis Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting analysis of a flawed yet endearing old curmudgeon! Focuses narrowly on John Adams’ post-presidential writing, so I’d recommend this to readers who already know the basics of Adams’ life and want to dive deeper.

[Philip · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some time, I avoided picking up this book because I was so disappointed with Ellis’ treatment of Jefferson in American Sphinx and perhaps I was still impressed with McCullough’s treatment of Adams in his masterful biography. But I finally summoned up the energy to tackle Passionate Sage—and I’m glad I did.

Ellis’ focus in this biography is on Adams’ later years, from the time he left presidential office until the time of his death. Substantial time is spent examining the mercurial Adams who stood in sharp relief to his more subdued compatriots. One of Ellis’ excellent observations is that Adams felt before he thought. And it was this passionate temperament that led him to be both revolutionary and also less influential than his contemporaries.

This biography does much to rehabilitate the image of Adams. Instead of the Adams of aristocracy and high Federalism, we are presented with Adams the pre-modern Classicist. Adams’ desire to elevate caution over progress, morality over money, and ideal leaders over mob rule are all explained in a fresh and stimulating way—particularly coming to a surface in the Jefferson-Adams letters.

Unlike Jefferson American Sphinx, Ellis’ treatment of Adams involves both interesting biographical information as well as thorough engagement with Adams’ thought. While Ellis is quick to caution readers not to read too much of the current debates into the modern-classical debate of Jefferson and Adams, the touchstones of the debate seem far clearer and more applicable than in the other volume.

I would highly recommend this biography to anyone interested in early American history. It would be worth pairing this biography with McCullough’s work in order to get a bigger picture of the entire life of this enigmatic Founding Father.

[Greg Boswell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of the four Adams biographies I've read, this is the only one that I can say that I felt ambivalent about. I would not recommend this book to anyone who only wanted to read one book about John Adams.
Ellis provides an overview of Adams' political theories and does so accurately and fairly, but one would hard-pressed to nail down a compendium of his policies, accomplishments and victories that truly define the man for posterity.
More importantly, the author does a pretty amazing job of rendering a psychological profile of our nation's 2nd president. Ellis does not simply pull things from the air to critique Adams, mainly because he does not have to. There is probably no political figure that ever existed that left behind more documentation than Adams. Ellis has given the reader a very educated character portrait of the subject, not to be taken lightly.
My only real problem with this book is that I felt that the author exceeded his bounds when judging Adams emotional constitution and animation. As I read it, I felt like every outpouring of emotion from Adams was a negative in his account as far as Ellis was concerned. Adams simply did not fit the status pro quo. At times, I felt as though Ellis might be a resurrected enemy from Adams' past. A question that kept popping up in my mind was "If You don't like the man, why did you take the time to write about him?" All in all, by the end of the book I changed my mind about him and was glad I had read it. I still disagree with him on some things but he's probably more right than I am.
I recommend this book but only as an addendum to a full length biography on John Adams.

[Paul Bond · Rating 4 out of 5]

The naturally prickly among us have to find our own ways to contribute. Adams did. Ellis explains how Adams, a bitter pessimist, contributed psychological realism to the political DNA of the country. Adams knew and distrusted the animal passions of his fellow "founding brothers" and countrymen. He knew that partisanship and glory-seeking are intrinsic to human nature. Washington himself may be above party politics, but the nation as a whole would not remain so. In part, the political genius of the American system consists in structural features designed to turn self-interest to the common good. It took people like John Adams to think through that process. While we're far from the ideal linkage between individual and common interest that later philosophers like John Rawls would champion, that theme is there from the start. It seems Ellis reinvigorated interest in Adams, though it's fun to reflect on the scathing corrections and objections Adams might pen reading the book from Heaven. Some people are most safely appreciated after they're dead.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite interesting history and analysis of John Adams' retirement years. This is a kind of psychoanalysis of Adams peculiar nature and an apology of sorts for why Adams created so many enemies leading up to his retirement. A good deal of the book is devoted to the famous reconciliation with Jefferson through the hundreds of letters they corresponded leading up to the incredible coincidence of they're both dying on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The author gives his theories on why it is Jefferson who is remembered today and not Adams. This is a very scholarly work and probably only of interest to fans of John Adams.

[Ben · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. John Adams is arguably our most misunderstood and underappreciated member of the founding generation. After nearly 150 years in the wilderness of American memory, his achievements and role in the American Revolution has become more clear over the past few decades as a result of this, and other, scholarship. If you want to learn more about Adams and the legacy he has left us, whether we fully realize it or not, this is right up your alley. This is a must read for students of American history and political thought.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Adams has become my favorite founding father because he, like myself, cannot learn to keep his mouth shut to save his life. Or in his case his legacy. Adams was a man ahead of his time his respect and friendships with learned woman was breath of fresh air. Humorous, interesting and provides content that is timely in our current quest to continue this experiment with democracy.

[John Windt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, excellent, excellent! A new found appreciation regarding John Adams after reading this book. A wonderful portrait of the Sage of Quincy.

[Paul Arbogast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book on Adams, one of the most forgotten Founders.

[StephenM · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one understands the inner workings of the minds and personalities of the Founding Fathers like Joseph J. Ellis, and few historians write so many quotable lines. A masterful little book.

[Andrew Canfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Few chroniclers of U.S. history are as gifted at communicating the founding generation's saga as Joseph J. Ellis. His ability to write about this period with clarity and succinctness is matched by only a small number of authors.

Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams sets out to tell the story of the second president's post-presidency. Anecdotes from his four years in office do figure prominently in efforts to buttress or give context to statements made during his retirement, but the goal of Passionate Sage is to give the lay of the land during Adams's twilight years.

The letters between Adams and political ally Benjamin Rush play a small role in Passionate Sage, and guidance provided to his son John Quincy is looked at during the latter's entry onto the secretarial and eventually presidential stage.

One of the book's overriding themes is the pride the elder Adams took in being a promoter of unpopular causes. Passionate Sage makes him out to be a man who was willing to pursue what he perceived to be in the national interest regardless of the popularity of the particular item in question's popularity. He is also made out to be an unappreciated contributor during the lead up to the Declaration of Independence, overshadowed by the likes of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Ellis chalks this up, not completely in jest, to a lack of good public relations folk in his immediate inner circle.

The book's second, and most frequently recurring theme, is the implication of the relationship between Adams, the sage of Montezillo (the tongue-in-cheek title given to his Massachusetts home, "little hill") and Thomas Jefferson, the sage of Monticello. The political heavyweights were fierce rivals during their active years on the national scene, with the former losing out to Jefferson during the election of 1800.

It was only in the years after the Jefferson administration wrapped up in 1809 that they put aside their animosity and began a mostly cordial correspondence. This was allegedly done at the insistence of Benjamin Rush, and the subsequent correspondence between these two men of the founding generation allowed Ellis to examine their governing philosophies.

Although a Federalist during his years on the political stage and therefore expected to possess a pro-British slant, Adams throughout remained critical of High Federalists of the sort who called the borderline secessionist 1815 Hartford Convention. His disdain for Alexander Hamilton, nominally a fellow Federalist yet a man who he held in absolute contempt, far exceeded his dislike for the republican Jefferson.

Adams held a more cynical view of human nature than Jefferson, adopting a conservative view of evolutionary change that recoiled at the same French Revolution cheered by the Sage of Monticello.

Adams felt government should be present as a corrective to the greed inherent in human nature and had a duty to curb both social and economic excesses. Jefferson, on the other hand, seemed to be much less suspicious of materialism and wanted the new government to provide fertile breeding ground for constant economic expansion. He was more favorably disposed to the idea of democracy in general, whereas Adams viewed it as a double-edged sword that did not always produce the outcomes most in line with the nation's interest.

The issue of slavery was one both men mostly shied away from during their letter exchanges. As a southerner and prominent Virginian slaveholder, Jefferson held mixed views on a way of life the Massachusetts born-and-bred Adams viewed with contempt. They all but ignored the topic once it became clear neither man would budge much on this issue.

Abigail Adams was as close to a feminist as one could be expected to come in the early nineteenth century, and the small sections on the relationship between Adams and his wife make for compelling reading. Adams's dismissal of the likes of Mary Wollstonecraft, however, showed the limits to which he would entertain feminist notions.

The exchanges between Adams and Virginian John Taylor further demonstrate the former's ability to respectfully engage men on the side of the political spectrum. Taylor was highly critical of the Federalist Adams, yet they were able to carry on a meaningful dialogue about the way each viewed the world. The author seemed driven to write this book largely out of a desire to demonstrate the high intellectual plane of much of the early nineteenth century's debate and discussions.

Passionate Sage provides a unique take on a former president. Looking solely at the out of office years grants readers a perspective not often provided in presidential biographies, yet this tactic ends up enriching the story and shows the point of view of a man looking back on a long-ago sowed harvest.

Both Adams and Jefferson passed away on July 4th, 1825, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing.

-Andrew Canfield Denver, Colorado