America’s First Political Dynasty

A witty and charming new biography by a well-known New York author and columnist recounts the history of America’s greatest political family, the talented Adams family.

Exclusive to American Free Press

By John Tiffany

The vigorous and free-thinking Adams family is certainly one of the most interesting in American history. So how does author and historian Richard Brookhiser recount the sweeping saga of what could be considered America’s first political family, across four tempestuous generations, in his latest book, America’s First Dynasty, the Adamses, 1735-1918*?

Everyone knows John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams were the second and sixth presidents of the United States, but there were no subsequent presidents of their line. In fact, the most prominent descendant of John Adams in the sixth generation, George Caspar Homans of Harvard, does not even bear the family name. However, they are all part of this great dynasty, which includes outstanding writers as well as leading statesmen.

As Brookhiser sees it, the crown of the dynasty, so to speak, passed from John Adams to his son John Quincy Adams, to his son Charles Francis Adams, and finally to his son Henry Adams.

Brookhiser begins with John Adams, born in Braintree, Mass., in 1735, to a farming family that was neither powerful nor famous. Young John wanted to be a simple farmer like his father, but old John Adams (1691-1761) forced him to go to school.

John Adams is one of history’s most underrated statesmen and presidents. He was also remarkable as a political philosopher and wrote voluminously on the topic.

Great credit is generally given to Thomas Jefferson as author of the Declaration of Independence, with less credit given to John Adams. But it was Adams’s wise handling of the infamous XYZ Affair of 1797-98, which showed his patience and compassion under the heat of intense political pressure.

The second most famous Adams, the learned John Quincy, a great writer as well as a great statesman, receives fair treatment by Brookhiser.

Born in Braintree, Mass., in 1767, John Quincy led an active life, serving in the Massachusetts state Senate and the U.S. Senate, a professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard, secretary of state, and sixth president of the United States.

J.Q. had a significant career after he left the presidency, serving 17 years in the House of Representatives, where he was an outspoken enemy of slave holders and their congressmen. Brookhiser quotes extensively from the diaries of John and John Quincy, providing his readers with spicy comments about their contemporaries.

Charles Francis Adams (1807-1886), J.Q.’s son, served in the Massachusetts legislature from 1831 to 1836. He was U.S. minister at London from 1861-1868, including the crucial Civil War years; and married the youngest daughter of Peter Chardon Brooks. He was instrumental in persuading the British government not to grant formal recognition to the Confederacy. Had it done that, Britain and France would likely have offered to arbitrate the conflict, and that in turn would almost certainly have split the American republic.

It is interesting that Charles Francis (known as ”The Voice of Honor”) is rated as “presidential timber,” al though he never occupied that high office that his father and grandfather had served in. Even more interesting is that he thought politics a bore and had no faith in the future of the United States. He probably would have agreed with his brother Brooks, who seemed to have little respect for democracy. Indeed, a distrust of the masses was typical of all the Adamses from John Adams on down, like most of the Founding Fathers.

Charles Francis’s third son, Henry Adams, would, among other things, become one of the greatest historians the United States has ever produced; his nine-volume History of the United States During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison is still regarded as a classic. Henry wrote that the “progress of evolution, from President Washington to President Grant, was alone evidence enough to upset Darwin.”

The last four chapters are particularly interesting, as they weigh one Adams against another, and against the enduring questions of American political life, such as that of republic versus empire. This section is perhaps especially relevant to modern events.

Brookhiser’s compact book (not much more than 200 pages) entails a great depth and breadth of understanding of American history. Only a handful of historians know the story of American developments from the Revolution to World War I well enough to have done what Brookhiser has done here. It is a joy to read, and solid history as well.