Book list
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To make sense of America's twenty-first-century political discontents, Isenberg and Burstein turn to the nation's second and sixth presidents, a father-son pair of one-term chief executives often dismissed as elitists, out of touch with their country's democratic spirit. As the authors recount the Adamses' decades of public service stretching from the Revolution to the Mexican-American War they depict both John and John Quincy as steadfast but tough-minded defenders of democracy. Readers will indeed struggle to square the Adamses' reputation as antidemocratic conservatives with the father's unyielding insistence on transparency as democracy's essential safeguard and the son's unrelenting fight against slavery as democracy's toxic antithesis. Astute students of ancient political thought, the Adamses strive to foster healthy democracy by heeding Cicero's teachings on civic virtue and Plato's warnings about plutocratic corruption. Though the narrative exposes faults in both men, readers will discern in them an admirable independence from democracy-damaging party spirit as they approach major issues, including impeachment and war. But as they watch cults of personality form first around the eloquent rhetorician Jefferson and then around the crude demagogue Jackson, the Adamses warn that such cults imperil democracy by fostering irrational partisanship. The Adamses' anxieties about eighteenth- and nineteenth-century threats to American democracy may bring to readers' minds the latest headlines.--Bryce Christensen Copyright 2019 Booklist

Publishers Weekly
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Historians Isenberg and Burstein (Madison and Jefferson) reteam to provide a densely packed double-decker reassessment of the lives and political foresight of father-and-son presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams. The time period ranges from John's pre-Revolutionary life as a farmer and lawyer to John Quincy's postpresidential stint as a House representative from Massachusetts starting in 1830; in between, the authors revisit key episodes from both lives that highlight the Adamses' nonconformist ways as a staunch warning against the ills of the partisanship, corruption, and personality politics that are rampant today. The authors point out parallels between the lives of their subjects, ranging from their long, successful marriages to the fact that a Hamilton played an instrumental role in both Adamses' losses of their reelection bids. Isenberg and Burstein provide an acute evaluation of the Adamses' intellectual development, and they have a knack for making prescient observations, such as John Adams's warning that candidates with "the deepest purse, or the fewest scruples will generally prevail." Analysis occasionally supersedes narrative, which can make this weighty analysis heavy lifting even for an interested reader. Readers fond of more traditional biographical treatments may want to pass on this one. Agent: Geri Thoma, Writers House. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

An unsettling yet well-presented argument that the failures of John and John Quincy Adams illustrate a disturbing feature of American politics.John Adams (1735-1826) became an early proponent of independence in the Continental Congress. Isenberg (White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, 2016, etc.) and Burstein (Democracy's Muse: How Thomas Jefferson Became an FDR Liberal, a Reagan Republican, and a Tea Party Fanatic, All the While Being Dead, 2015, etc.), professors of history at Louisiana State University who co-authored Madison and Jefferson (2010), show how he disliked aristocracy but worried equally about the problems of a mass electorate. He believed that selfish humans would look after their own interests and persecute minorities they disliked. His solution was a strong president to oppose powerful interests and keep the majority from abusing fellow citizens. Missing the point, Thomas Jefferson considered Adams a closet monarchist. He entered office in 1797 as an independent in a nation with two parties: Hamilton's Federalists and Jefferson's Democratic-Republicans. Both worked successfully to ensure his defeat in 1800. It did not help that Adams was quarrelsome and insecure, lacking Jefferson's cosmopolitan appeal. John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) became his father's secretary as an adolescent and spent a lifetime serving the nation as a diplomat, senator, and secretary of state. Equally testy and independent, he suffered the misfortune of running in the 1824 presidential election, finishing second to Andrew Jackson. No one obtained a majority, so the House of Representatives determined the president, choosing Adams. Of course, this enraged Jackson and his Democratic Party, which controlled Congress, ensuring that Adams endured an unhappy presidency. Besides lively, warts-and-all portraits of the men and the surprisingly nasty politics of the young nation, the authors delve deeply into their philosophies and those of Enlightenment thinkers who influenced them. They conclude that both were more intelligent and experienced than most two-term presidents but lacked the common touch, essential in America, where we "glorify equality but ogle self-made billionaires and tabloid royalty."A top-notch dual biography of two presidents who deserved better. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal
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Isenberg and Burstein (both history, Louisiana State Univ.) examined the diaries, letters, readings, and writings of John Adams and John Quincy Adams to disprove misperceptions regarding their ideas about democracy, as well as their dispositions and motivation. For these authors, the presidents were not the antidemocracy elitists history has commonly depicted them to be. They were principled, dedicated public servants whose reputations were, admittedly, affected by their temperament. But more significantly, their true legacies are clouded because of their nonconformist aversion to the nefarious political practices and popular democratic notions of their times. This book documents their tireless defense of representative government and warnings about the dangers of unrestrained democracy. As leaders, both continually worried about the reliability of a government influenced by divisive political parties, partisan media, and fraudulent politicians, as well as impressionable, emotion-driven voters who favored celebrity over expertise, merit, and seasoned judgement. Neither was afraid to risk unpopularity for the sake of what he considered right. VERDICT Committed general and academic readers will benefit from taking in this well-written and -researched study in its entirety, partly for setting the Adams' legacy straight, and additionally for the implications the story has on modern politics.--Margaret Kappanadze, Elmira Coll. Lib., NY © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.