John Adams
My reading tastes tend towards fiction, but this summer I have picked up David McCullough's John Adams, widely recommended to me.I'd never thought much about John Adams before our trip to Boston last summer and haven't thought that much about him since. But I am thoroughly enjoying the biography so far and had no idea how influential Adams was in the formation of the USA. Adams was the originator of the three separate branches of government idea, with all of its checks and balances, in his "Thoughts on Government."
But, what has endeared him to my heart are his thoughts on education:
Laws for the liberal education of youth, especially for the lower classes of people, are so extremely wise and useful that to a humane and generous mind, no expense for this purpose would be thought extravagant.
posted by CP @ 6:04 PM
3 thoughts
3 Comments:
Doesn't his beautiful relationship with his wife also endear you to him? He's my hero.
I want to read this! We've been renting/watching the HBO miniseries and I am entralled. It makes me want to brush up on my history, since I know I never paid enough attention in 11th grade.
one of my top ten fav books...adams is one amazing dude...read on, he also secured support from the netherlands (when france had deserted us) which basically won our independence from britain...brilliant!
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