From Publishers Weekly
John and Abigail Adams's son was arguably the most brilliant man ever to occupy the White House. He was also probably the least temperamentally fit to do so. Nevertheless, as this straightforward biography reminds us, John Quincy Adams (1767- 1848) led one of the longest, most illustrious and most consequential public careers in the nation's history. Remini, the great modern biographer of Andrew Jackson, might seem the wrong choice to write a life of one of Jackson's most implacable enemies. But in this addition to a series on the presidents edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Remini, a National Book Award winner, paints an admiring portrait of an extraordinary man. Depicting Adams as deficient husband and father and disputably holding his famous parents largely responsible for the torments in all their children's lives, Remini concentrates on Adams's 50-year public career, much of it spent abroad. Remini is surely justified in holding Adams out as the nation's greatest secretary of state, largely responsible for what we know as the Monroe Doctrine. Although Adams as president was out of touch with most of his fellow citizens, it's likely that no one could have succeeded in the White House given the political confusion of those years. Adams's post-White House years (he was one of only two ex-presidents to return to Congress) yielded some of his life's greatest triumphs. He laid the basis for the Free Soil movement that eventually helped defeat slavery, protected the bequest that gave us the Smithsonian Institution and, as many readers will know from the film, defended the Amistad slaves. No one who reads this fine, short study will fail to place Adams in the pantheon of Great Neglected Americans which is just what Remini hopes to achieve and does.Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Remini, the author of many books on Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and the politics of the 1820s and 1830s, here offers a brief biography of the sixth president of the United States as part of the American Presidents series edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. John Quincy Adams's four-year presidency was the least satisfying period in a long public career. He served as diplomat and Secretary of State prior to his election and became the only former president to sit in the House of Representatives, where he remained for 17 years during the increasingly stormy sectional debate. Remini focuses on important incidents throughout Adams's life, demonstrating that he was not the failure he would have been if judged only by his presidential years. Adams has been the subject of two recent longer biographies: Paul Nagel's John Quincy Adams: A Public Life and Lynn Hudson Parsons's capable but generally overlooked John Quincy Adams. Though the book is brief, in keeping with the series, Remini still manages to stay true to his scholarly credentials while targeting a general audience. Some endnotes are included that do not interrupt the flow of each chapter. Recommended for major public or academic libraries. Charles K. Piehl, Minnesota State Univ., MankatoCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From AudioFile
[Editor's Note: The following is a combined review with GROVER CLEVELAND.]--The American Presidents series of brief biographies of all 42 presidents is a perfect audiobook size and length. Each individual biography offers a wealth of information about the period in which it's set and about the American presidency in general, and nowhere is that value better evident than in the biographies of minor or second-tier presidents like Adams and Cleveland. Adams ushered in the age of westward expansion but was politically ineffectual, serving only one term. Cleveland stood for honesty in government just as industrial capitalism was reaching its zenith. This excellent series of biographies, each written by an eminent historian, is a rich and rewarding listening experience. Ira Claffey's brisk, unapologetic tone strikes the proper measure for the politics, initiatives, and setbacks of a failed administration--keeping plain their significance to the times and to the evolution of American government. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine


From Booklist
*Starred Review* The latest gem in Holt's American Presidents series is written by a widely acclaimed specialist in early-nineteenth-century American history and the author of such well-received biographies as Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union (1991). His judicious, eloquent survey of the sixth president's life and career intends not to proffer new and explosive ideas but to fashion recent scholarship into a highly readable overview for the general reader. John Quincy was the son, of course, of the second president, and he benefited from his father's political and diplomatic career, which exposed him to the wider world beyond his native Massachusetts. (But John Quincy could never live up to the unrealistic standards imposed by his controlling mother, Abigail.) Mature for his age, young John Quincy entered into the diplomatic corps, and eventually President Monroe appointed him secretary of state, the greatest figure to occupy that office, so Remini avers. As president, though, John Quincy was a disaster. He was unable to develop political adroitness, always "exud[ing] the air of a scholar, not a leader." Nonetheless, Remini concludes that despite John Quincy's lack of success as president, "everything else in his public life added distinction to [America's] illustrious history." Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Book Description
A vivid portrait of a man whose pre- and post-presidential careers overshadowed his presidency.

Chosen by the House of Representatives after an inconclusive election against Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams often failed to mesh with the ethos of his era, pushing unsuccessfully for a strong, consolidated national government. Historian Robert V. Remini recounts how in the years before his presidency Adams was a shrewd, influential diplomat, and later, as a dynamic secretary of state under President James Monroe, he solidified many basic aspects of American foreign policy, including the Monroe Doctrine. Undoubtedly his greatest triumph was the negotiation of the Transcontinental Treaty, through which Spain acknowledged Florida to be part of the United States. After his term in office, he earned the nickname "Old Man Eloquent" for his passionate antislavery speeches.



About the Author
Robert V. Remini is Professor Emeritus of History and the Humanities at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Called the foremost Jacksonian scholar of our time by The New York Times, he is the recipient of a National Book Award. His most recent book is Andrew Jackson and His Indian Wars.

Series editor, Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., is the preeminent historian of our time. For more than half a century, he has been a cornerstone figure in the intellectual life of the nation and a fixture on the political scene. He served as a special assistant to John F. Kennedy; won two Pulitzer Prizes for The Age of Jackson and A Thousand Days; and in 1998 received the National Humanities Medal. he published the first volume of his autobiography, A Life in the Twentieth Century, in 2000.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Heavy were the burdens of John Quincy Adams's upbringing. Son of the forbidding John Adams and the domineering Abigail, puritanical New Englanders both, he was driven from the earliest age to a life of faith, observance, and public distinction - a life that was considered to be his birthright and his obligation. While his natural tendencies were toward a contemplative life filled with art and literature, his path was predestined - the law and then public service. It is no wonder that later, as a grown man, accomplished and admired, he was spoken of as cold and austere, even misanthropic.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

John and Abigail Adams's son was arguably the most brilliant man ever to occupy the White House. He was also probably the least temperamentally fit to do so. Nevertheless, as this straightforward biography reminds us, John Quincy Adams (1767- 1848) led one of the longest, most illustrious and most consequential public careers in the nation's history. Remini, the great modern biographer of Andrew Jackson, might seem the wrong choice to write a life of one of Jackson's most implacable enemies. But in this addition to a series on the presidents edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Remini, a National Book Award winner, paints an admiring portrait of an extraordinary man. Depicting Adams as deficient husband and father and disputably holding his famous parents largely responsible for the torments in all their children's lives, Remini concentrates on Adams's 50-year public career, much of it spent abroad. Remini is surely justified in holding Adams out as the nation's greatest secretary of state, largely responsible for what we know as the Monroe Doctrine. Although Adams as president was out of touch with most of his fellow citizens, it's likely that no one could have succeeded in the White House given the political confusion of those years. Adams's post-White House years (he was one of only two ex-presidents to return to Congress) yielded some of his life's greatest triumphs. He laid the basis for the Free Soil movement that eventually helped defeat slavery, protected the bequest that gave us the Smithsonian Institution and, as many readers will know from the film, defended the Amistad slaves. No one who reads this fine, short study will fail to place Adams in the pantheon of Great Neglected Americans-which is just what Remini hopes to achieve and does.

Publishers Weekly

John and Abigail Adams's son was arguably the most brilliant man ever to occupy the White House. He was also probably the least temperamentally fit to do so. Nevertheless, as this straightforward biography reminds us, John Quincy Adams (1767- 1848) led one of the longest, most illustrious and most consequential public careers in the nation's history. Remini, the great modern biographer of Andrew Jackson, might seem the wrong choice to write a life of one of Jackson's most implacable enemies. But in this addition to a series on the presidents edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Remini, a National Book Award winner, paints an admiring portrait of an extraordinary man. Depicting Adams as deficient husband and father and disputably holding his famous parents largely responsible for the torments in all their children's lives, Remini concentrates on Adams's 50-year public career, much of it spent abroad. Remini is surely justified in holding Adams out as the nation's greatest secretary of state, largely responsible for what we know as the Monroe Doctrine. Although Adams as president was out of touch with most of his fellow citizens, it's likely that no one could have succeeded in the White House given the political confusion of those years. Adams's post-White House years (he was one of only two ex-presidents to return to Congress) yielded some of his life's greatest triumphs. He laid the basis for the Free Soil movement that eventually helped defeat slavery, protected the bequest that gave us the Smithsonian Institution and, as many readers will know from the film, defended the Amistad slaves. No one who reads this fine, short study will fail to place Adams in the pantheon of Great Neglected Americans which is just what Remini hopes to achieve and does. (Aug. 20) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal

Remini, the author of many books on Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, and the politics of the 1820s and 1830s, here offers a brief biography of the sixth president of the United States as part of the American Presidents series edited by Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. John Quincy Adams's four-year presidency was the least satisfying period in a long public career. He served as diplomat and Secretary of State prior to his election and became the only former president to sit in the House of Representatives, where he remained for 17 years during the increasingly stormy sectional debate. Remini focuses on important incidents throughout Adams's life, demonstrating that he was not the failure he would have been if judged only by his presidential years. Adams has been the subject of two recent longer biographies: Paul Nagel's John Quincy Adams: A Public Life and Lynn Hudson Parsons's capable but generally overlooked John Quincy Adams. Though the book is brief, in keeping with the series, Remini still manages to stay true to his scholarly credentials while targeting a general audience. Some endnotes are included that do not interrupt the flow of each chapter. Recommended for major public or academic libraries. Charles K. Piehl, Minnesota State Univ., Mankato

Kirkus Reviews