John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, A Private Life by Nagel, Paul C - 1997

Knopf, 1997. 1st Edition . Hardcover. New/New. New, May Have Minor Shelf Wear To Dust Jacket. - For More Information On Condition. Please See All Photos. Nagel Probes Deeply Into The Psyche Of This Cantankerous, Misanthropic, Erudite, Hardworking Son Of A Former President Whose Remarkable Career Spanned Many Offices: Minister To Holland, Russia, And England, U.S. Senator, Secretary Of State, President Of The United States (1825-1829), And, Finally, U.S. Representative (The Only Ex-President To Serve In The House). On The Basis Of A Thorough Study Of Adams' Seventy-Year Diary Among A Host Of Other Documents, The Author Gives Us A Richer Account Than We Have Yet Had Of Jqas Life - His Passionate Marriage To Louisa Johnson, His Personal Tragedies (Two Sons Lost To Alcoholism), His Brilliant Diplomacy, His Recurring Depression, His Exasperating Behavior - And Shows Us Why In The End, Only Abraham Lincoln's Death Evoked A Greater Outpouring Of National Sorrow In Nineteenth-Century America. We Come To See How Much Adams Disliked Politics And Hoped For More From Life Than High Office; How He Sought Distinction In Literary And Scientific Endeavors, And Drew His Greatest Pleasure From Being A Poet, Critic, Translator, Essayist, Botanist, And Professor Of Oratory At Harvard; How Tension Between The Public And Private Adams Vexed His Life; And How His Frustrations Kept Him Masked And Aloof (And Unpopular).