Last evening HW2 and I completed the John Adams HBO documentary of seven parts. I had read David McCullough's book some time back and at that time had to reassess my opinion of the difficult Mr. Adams. The book alone affected me enough to include John in my list of the ten best Presidents, which I wrote about some time back.
We looked forward to viewing this series, and the very first one was a spell binder. The people who acted in and those that produced this series brought the 90 years of Mr. Adams to life in a way that books seldom can do. We felt as if we were there in that time period. Abigail is, of course, magnificent, and what a wonderful partner she was to John. She managed to be his best and most trusted counselor throughout his life, whether they were together or apart and had to maintain their relationship by a flow of letters. These letters have survived and are a resource for much of the background and, of course, for much of the dialogue.
Tom Hanks is to be commended for producing the series and for his work to bring this history to life. The acting was so superb that we felt that it was Washington, Jefferson, or the Adams speaking to us. The final years of Jefferson's and Adams's letter exchanges were delightful as these lifelong friends, and sometimes political enemies, shared their thoughts and experiences. The finale of both passing on July 4th of the fiftieth birthday of the founding of our republic would be unbelievable if written by an author but absolutely spectacular in reality. John, who passed shortly after Thomas, uttered his last words, "Mr. Jefferson is the last one living," meaning of not only the two of them, but also of the founding fathers. And typically for Mr. Adams, he was wrong. These two men were characterized as the north and south poles of the revolution and in the development of this country. Our strength as a nation comes from this dialogue and with the resultant reality, a compromise, in the best sense of the word. Would that such a dialogue be continuing to this day and times.
If you missed this series or have not read the book, I urge you to do so. Your life will be enriched in ways you can not imagine.
1 comment:
Dennis has watched it all avidly! He tells us all about it later. I can't bring myself to spend that much time down there in that hole. When they come out on DVD, I'll watch the whole thing. He really enjoyed it.
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