Reviews for Joshua R. Giddings and the tactics of radical politics

The average rating for Joshua R. Giddings and the tactics of radical politics based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-05-08 00:00:00 Lindsey Keller Samuel Flagg Bemis' second volume on John Quincy Adams picks up as Adams is preparing to run for president in 1824. This election was one of the most disputed in American history, and is still the only one that had to be decided by the House of Representatives. Bemis shows how Adams, normally a highly principled man, misplaced many of his principles in his quest to live up to the mighty expectations placed upon him by his type-A personality parents. Being told that if you don't become president, you will have failed, is an almost impossible thing to live up to. Adams did, but only with the not-so-secret help of Henry Clay. Adams needed Clay to wield influence and have delegates who had voted for Clay, switch over to Adams so that he could beat Andrew Jackson in the electoral college, despite Jackson getting more popular and more electoral votes than Adams did when the states voted. Bemis comes down pretty squarely on the side that there was a “bargain” between Adams and Clay, even if it was an unspoken one. After reading the first volume, I was expecting another relatively policy-based book, with scant attention paid to Adams' personal life. Fortunately, the first half of this book proves to be otherwise. Bemis writes at length about Adams' time in the White House, his strained relationship with his with wife Louisa, the tragic death of his son George Washington, and his concern with the carrying on of the Adams legacy. Adams, always a dour individual, could never bring himself to seemingly enjoy anything in life, even when he reached the pinnacle of power. Perhaps that is because Adams sacrificed his own lofty principles in order to attain that achievement. While Bemis does not pose this question, I wondered if Adams felt that he was somewhat of an illegitimate president. Obviously, Jackson was the overall #1 choice of the majority of the country. Nobody disputed that. So Adams should not have been rewarded with the office over someone who had a firmer stake to it. Unfortunately, once Adams leaves the presidency in 1831, Bemis goes back to his formula of focusing very little on Adams' personal life, and mostly on his professional doings. Adams had an outstanding and highly respected second career in the House of Representatives. It is difficult to imagine a modern-day president holding any other office after he leaves office, but I like that Adams did not consider being a Congressman to be beneath him. He also tried for Senator and Governor of Massachusetts but failed in both of those attempts. The fact that the people of his district drafted him for the job, and kept reelecting him (normally without any serious opposition) until he died seemed to give him great pride. He embraced the fact that his hometown citizens looked to him for leadership and to represent their interests. I would like to see a former president in today's world go do something similar instead of creating another “foundation” and then traveling around the country and world making expensive speeches. Adams went right back to the people. Quaint, perhaps, but I like it. Adams' wife disappears from the second half of the book and reappears only at the end when he dies. Bemis does a good job of covering his death and also the national reaction to it. Adams, who consistently received violent threatening letters (one letter writer said he would cut Adams' throat from ear to ear) from people in the South over his opposition to slavery, was mourned by almost everyone when he died. Very few people in our country's history could match Adams for the degree of public service that he provided. This man was in public life for over half a century in either elected or appointed office. George H. W. Bush is another person that comes to mind when thinking of Adams' longevity and accomplishments. But there aren't many others out there in the same league. Bemis covers Adams' career in the House in-depthly, sometimes agonizingly so. He definitely did his research for this book, and at the time it was published it was no doubt the preeminent biography for this faithful patriot. But there have been many biographies written since then. That does not necessarily mean that they are better, but I suspect that they are more easily readable. Bemis' writing style, while not turgid, is somewhat dated now. His scholarship is top-notch, and if you were wanting to write a research paper about some aspect of Adams' life, you absolutely would want to consult one or both of these volumes. But entertaining reading it does not make. This is not an unworthy read by any means. But only if you are really interested in Adams or politics in the first half of the 19th century will you find this fulfilling. Grade: B-

Review # 2 was written on 2012-11-20 00:00:00 Avenier Frank Always trust Stewart to deliver a worthy monograph regarding antislavery and abolition.