The problem of democracy: the Presidents Adams confront the cult of personality

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Publisher:
Viking
Pub. Date:
2019
Language:
English
Description
How the father and son presidents foresaw the rise of the cult of personality and fought those who sought to abuse the weaknesses inherent in our democracy, from the New York Times bestselling author of White Trash.
"John and John Quincy Adams: rogue intellectuals, unsparing truth tellers, too uncensored for their own political good. They held that political participation demanded moral courage. They did not seek popularity (and it showed). They lamented the fact that hero worship in America substituted idolatry for results, and they made it clear that they were talking about Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson. John and John Quincy Adams, the second and sixth presidents, father and son, were brilliant, accomplished men who were disparaged throughout their careers. But this book does considerably more than encompass two essential political lives: it takes the temperature of American democracy from its heated origins through multiple storm events, providing major lessons about the excesses of campaign rhetoric that apply all too obviously to our century. It is a fact that the United States, as originally constituted, was not (nor was even meant to be) a democracy. How we got from there to today's unchallengeable notion of democracy as something real and inviolable is best explained by looking at what the Adamses had to say about the dangers of political deception. By the time John Adams succeeded George Washington as president, his son had already followed him into public service and was stationed in Europe as a diplomat. Though they spent many years apart--and as their careers spanned Europe, Washington, D.C., and their family home south of Boston--they maintained a close bond through extensive correspondence in which they debated history, political philosophy, and partisan maneuvering. The problem of democracy is an urgent problem. The father-and-son presidents grasped the perilous psychology of politics and forecast what future generations would have to contend with: citizens wanting heroes to worship, and covetous elites more than willing to mislead. Rejection at the polls, which each suffered after one term, does not prove that the presidents Adams had erroneous ideas. Intellectually, they were what we today call independents, reluctant to commit blindly to an organized political party. No other historian has attempted to dissect their intertwined lives as Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein do in these pages, and there is no better time than the present to learn from the American nation's most insightful malcontents."--Dust jacket.
John and John Quincy Adams: rogue intellectuals, unsparing truth-tellers, too uncensored for their own political good. They held that political participation demanded moral courage. They did not seek popularity (it showed). They lamented the fact that hero worship in America substituted idolatry for results; and they made it clear that they were talking about Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson.
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ISBN:
9780525557500
9780525557524
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Grouping Information

Grouped Work ID3b34e299-7c67-452c-0ef3-3f0954883e66
Grouping Titleproblem of democracy the presidents adams confront the cult of personality
Grouping Authornancy isenberg
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-03-27 12:04:54PM
Last Indexed2024-03-27 23:07:13PM

Solr Fields

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auth_author2
Burstein, Andrew
author
Isenberg, Nancy
author2-role
Burstein, Andrew,author
author_display
Isenberg, Nancy
detailed_location_eh
East Hampton Adult Nonfiction
display_description
How the father and son presidents foresaw the rise of the cult of personality and fought those who sought to abuse the weaknesses inherent in our democracy, from the New York Times bestselling author of White Trash. "John and John Quincy Adams: rogue intellectuals, unsparing truth tellers, too uncensored for their own political good. They held that political participation demanded moral courage. They did not seek popularity (and it showed). They lamented the fact that hero worship in America substituted idolatry for results, and they made it clear that they were talking about Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson. John and John Quincy Adams, the second and sixth presidents, father and son, were brilliant, accomplished men who were disparaged throughout their careers. But this book does considerably more than encompass two essential political lives: it takes the temperature of American democracy from its heated origins through multiple storm events, providing major lessons about the excesses of campaign rhetoric that apply all too obviously to our century. It is a fact that the United States, as originally constituted, was not (nor was even meant to be) a democracy. How we got from there to today's unchallengeable notion of democracy as something real and inviolable is best explained by looking at what the Adamses had to say about the dangers of political deception. By the time John Adams succeeded George Washington as president, his son had already followed him into public service and was stationed in Europe as a diplomat. Though they spent many years apart--and as their careers spanned Europe, Washington, D.C., and their family home south of Boston--they maintained a close bond through extensive correspondence in which they debated history, political philosophy, and partisan maneuvering. The problem of democracy is an urgent problem. The father-and-son presidents grasped the perilous psychology of politics and forecast what future generations would have to contend with: citizens wanting heroes to worship, and covetous elites more than willing to mislead. Rejection at the polls, which each suffered after one term, does not prove that the presidents Adams had erroneous ideas. Intellectually, they were what we today call independents, reluctant to commit blindly to an organized political party. No other historian has attempted to dissect their intertwined lives as Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein do in these pages, and there is no better time than the present to learn from the American nation's most insightful malcontents."--Dust jacket. John and John Quincy Adams: rogue intellectuals, unsparing truth-tellers, too uncensored for their own political good. They held that political participation demanded moral courage. They did not seek popularity (it showed). They lamented the fact that hero worship in America substituted idolatry for results; and they made it clear that they were talking about Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson.
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Books
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Book
id
3b34e299-7c67-452c-0ef3-3f0954883e66
isbn
9780525557500
9780525557524
itype_eh
ADULT BOOK
ADULT PAPERBACK
last_indexed
2024-03-28T05:07:13.497Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
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973.4 ISE
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East Hampton Public Library
owning_location_eh
East Hampton Public Library
primary_isbn
9780525557500
publishDate
2019
publisher
Viking
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Adams, John Quincy, -- 1767-1848
Adams, John Quincy, -- 1767-1848 -- Political and social views
Adams, John, -- 1735-1826
Adams, John, -- 1735-1826 -- Political and social views
Biography
Democracy
Democracy -- United States -- History
History
Political and social views
Politics and government
Presidents
Presidents -- United States -- Biography
United States
United States -- Politics and government -- 1783-1865
United States -- Politics and government -- Philosophy
title_display
The problem of democracy : the Presidents Adams confront the cult of personality
title_full
The problem of democracy : the Presidents Adams confront the cult of personality / Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein
title_short
The problem of democracy
title_sub
the Presidents Adams confront the cult of personality
topic_facet
Adams, John
Adams, John Quincy
Democracy
History
Philosophy
Political and social views
Politics and government
Presidents

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