A.Ham Book Club discussion
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John Adams
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Chapter 8
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Tsk tsk Hamilton.Well after being behind for weeks I finally caught up so I'll share some of the notes and thoughts I had on this chapter..
"Americans were long accustomed to putting the interests of region or state ahead of those of the nation"- A quote that rings true, especially in today's climate where we have a whole swathe of people living in bubbles with no vision beyond their own little towns. It seems like that even 200+ years later many Americans are still deeply rooted in this tradition.
Adams on making public offices unpaid positions "Adams had written earlier while in London, then the consequence would be that “all offices would be monopolized by the rich; the poor and the middling ranks would be excluded and an aristocratic despotism would immediately follow.”- Again another one of Adams visions that rings true. Though we do pay our public servants, we have become a nation where in order to become one a person has to be of means in order to simply run.
Ok I'll leave it at that for now.
Hello, people I met on Twitter. So I read this years and years ago but to be honest much of it has flown out of my head in the intervening time so if you don't mind my joining midway through? I will endeavor to participate if so. Thanks!
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Jane, so happy you are here! I so need a swift kick in the behind on this book... I am the worst. Discipline: a resolution for 2017.
Well I decided I would begin with chapter 8 instead and I am glad I did, as it is a good one. Poor John Adams getting trashed by everyone in Congress for suggesting the president have a title. Jefferson comes off just as poorly here as he did in AH; what a sneaky prick he was. I find it easy to believe that toward the end of their cabinet service, he and Hamilton couldn't even stand to be in the same room together. The population of Philadelphia at this time was around 28k. That's a small town; I bet you couldn't walk around all day without running into someone you knew. Lol. God the drama must have been epic. I also did not realize that Charles Adams clerked in Hamilton's law office while they lived in New York. So it wasn't always acrimonious.
Welcome! the more the merrier.
As you all know I'm painfully behind (just getting into Chapter 9) but have some momentum now. I want to make a quick inconsequential and patently unnecessary comment here: I wish Adams had happily retired to his farm that summer of 1796, as it might have avoided a lot of grief. But then I might not be reading the book.I can see McCullough is certainly taken with his subject matter, which makes great sense, and I respect that. Why write a book about someone you can't stand? I appreciate also his view of Jefferson. But, boy howdy, McC's attitude toward Ham, who is practically sprouting horns and a tail already -- can't wait to see where that goes!
I know, it's probably just me in my Ham Defender mode.
Discuss here if you're caught up. Confession: I only just started Chapter 8. I find myself much more engaged when McCullough is talking about Abigail Adams or Thomas Jefferson though. Is John Adams that dull of a person that a book about him is only palatable because of auxiliary characters?