Review: Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Gordon S. Wood

Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson by Gordon S. Wood

When I saw this title on sale at a book store recently, I knew I had to get it. The story is timeless for Americans - two founding fathers who were close friends, then political enemies, only to resume their friendship for the sunset of their lives - but now more than ever in these highly polarized times. What drew them apart? And, perhaps more importantly, after all that happened between them how did they ever resume their friendship?

This title is an intriguing history of both figures, running through their upbringings all the way to their impact on Lincoln. While I have a feeling the author's purpose was to highlight John Adams' humanity, he does a good job of presenting both founding fathers "warts and all".

The John Adams reflected in this book is fascinating - a key revolutionary who was also an arch-cynic. Most importantly, while he was probably the most instrumental founding father in terms of instituting democratic representation, he was also one of the most strident that that representation be contained and held in check - one of the most enlightening themes of this book was how Adams only wanted democracy to be confined to one house of government (at the federal level, the House of Representatives) - with the aristocracy represented for life in the upper house (Senate) and a strong executive/monarch (President). This last point is key, and really makes a great impression - as Adams' thoughts evolved over the years to where his views became "all men are created UNequal", his support for an American monarchy grew, to the point of supporting hereditary monarchy. One note here: in the Alexander Hamilton biography that inspired the musical, the author had said that the only time Hamilton had supported a monarchy was one time in a "brainstorming session" during the Constitutional Convention that was supposed to remain private; in this book, Hamilton is quoted as saying that all forms of government besides hereditary monarchy have failed and that America should evolve to match. Not sure where the disconnect lies.

Jefferson, on the other hand, is a walking paradox. A born aristocrat who stumped for democracy. A states-rights advocate who vastly increased the power of the federal government. Most importantly to his legacy, the writer of "all men are created equal" and abolitionist (at least in theory) who still found excuses to keep slaves. The most shocking finding was that, while Jefferson's legacy outweighs Adams' by far, in the last years of his life, after seeing the way Americans were instituting the systems Jefferson had put in place, he all but admitted that Adams' worldview was right all along.

As mentioned above, one of the key portions of the book was finding out how these profound yet deeply flawed figures, who ran against each other in the election of 1800 and had no contact for over a decade after that, eventually found a way to come back together. Reading through their correspondence shows how they were eventually able to accept and forgive, to see each other for what they really were and not re-open old wounds (although Adams couldn't help digging in a couple of needles). It really is a touching story.

This book is recommended to anyone interested in learning more about our founding, or more about friendship.

Final score: 8/10 hot dogs.