The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams
by John Adams
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Book Summary Information
Author: John AdamsEditor: Lester J. Cappon
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1988-09-30
ISBN: 0807842303
Number of pages: 690
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Book Reviews of The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams
Book Review: Orion's Belt
Summary: 5 Stars
** Page 451 - John Adams to Jefferson - "Who shall write the History of the Revolution? Who can write it? Who will ever be able to write it? The most essential documents, the debates and deliberations in Congress from 1774 to 1783 were all in secret, and are now lost forever."
** Page 452 - Thomas Jefferson to Adams - "You ask 'Who shall write it? Who can write it? Who will ever be able to write it? ' Nobody; except for merely it's external facts."
For any American History enthusiast, this surely should be recommended without reservation. Much has been written by others, but nothing is told quite so well or completely as that which derives from the pen of the men and women who took the time to set it down "in vivo". Within the pages of this remarkable set of documents, we observe two of the forefathers spend their lives in devout service to their new nation - as though we walk beside them. We watch as youthful vigor turns to experienced maturity as they did the work of the people and suffered the personal consequences of such an undertaking; subsequently and sorrowfully, the subsiding into the resignation of waiting out the waning years as mortal health but not mind or memory forsake them both; and finally, the letters abruptly end, but the brilliance left behind will never die.
How fortunate we were to have people of such courage of conviction willing to step forward under pain of death to do the incredibly difficult, often thankless work of a new nation. These letters bring to light the very soul of the beginnings; the intimate insight into the restless minds and hearts of three of them who opted to share among them the burdens, the experiences and undoubtedly, the euphoria that went with it - of moral support in a daunting task accomplished when it was well thought out; trusted criticism when it needed a bit more of thoughts amended.
Jefferson, in his brilliance, is all business when writing to John Adams, but less so when he is conversing with Abigail - it's as if he lets his guard down and is freer of constraints with her; his sense of humor tries to come through and makes it as far as decorum of that era will allow. However, it is also somewhat apparent that she did not forgive him their eventual political differences as did her husband, for her part of the once-lively correspondence suffers a sea-change and, as I saw it, becomes duty-bound courteous responses, mostly as addendum to John Adams letters. A fascinating glimpse into the playful under-psyche of a genius, we also find an unshakable granite vein of common sense which is what I found so remarkable about him.
While both men were in the trenches on the forefront, their approach and their politics were fundamentally different; Adams was a fierce competitor, obviously thriving on the frey even as he missed his farm and homeland; Jefferson had little taste for the twit and twitter of politics, and in fact, intimated that he would prefer to quit entirely rather than stoop to some of it. (page 70) Adams too, had a flair for the dramatic humor at times, referring to the Duties that the English ships would avoid by simply "frenchizing, Dutchizing, Swedishimizing" their ships. Their responsibility toward the country's limited financial means is noteworthy by today's debauched standards; they were discussing the prudence of financing a suit of clothes for one of their trusted messengers in order for him to be presentable in the court of the dignitaries.
I marvel at how diligently they overcame the communications difficulties; their important missives had to cross entire oceans to and from. Think of the loss of precious time - no planes, no electronics, no instant means by which to make decisions - the only method via ships taking several weeks in the best of conditions to reach a destination and deliver the business correspondence (by pen) of entire countries (and the children) to the waiting.
It is clear they valued one another highly, both professionally and personally, and though driven apart by differences of opinion (much of it personal) and political pressures placed on them by the parts they would play in the developing Nation, the bond was ultimately too strong to break, and they would once again reunite to spend their last years in friendship. It is also clear that the wisdom of Dr. Benjamin Rush played a role in stimulating their forgiveness of one another).
For Jefferson and Adams, bound by fate as they lived, even unto death they rode together - on Independence Day.
It is ironic that Abigail Adams would never cast her vote for either man. Abigail Adams could not vote.
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Summary of The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams
An intellectual dialogue of the highest plane achieved in America, the correspondence between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson spanned half a century and embraced government, philosophy, religion, quotidiana, and family griefs and joys. First meeting as delegates to the Continental Congress in 1775, they initiated correspondence in 1777, negotiated jointly as ministers in Europe in the 1780s, and served the early Republic?each, ultimately, in its highest office. At Jefferson's defeat of Adams for the presidency in 1800, they became estranged, and the correspondence lapses from 1801 to 1812, then is renewed until the death of both in 1826, fifty years to the day after the Declaration of Independence.Lester J. Cappon's edition, first published in 1959 in two volumes, provides the complete correspondence between these two men and includes the correspondence between Abigail Adams and Jefferson. Many of these letters have been published in no other modern edition, nor does any other edition devote itself exclusively to the exchange between Jefferson and the Adamses. Introduction, headnotes, and footnotes inform the reader without interrupting the speakers. This reissue of The Adams-Jefferson Letters in a one-volume unabridged edition brings to a broader audience one of the monuments of American scholarship and, to quote C. Vann Woodward, 'a major treasure of national literature.'
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