My Favorite Founding Father

Having read and loved David McCullough's biography John Adams, my husband and I were very excited to watch the HBO version when it came out on DVD. We were not disappointed. John Adams is one of my favorite historical figures, and this series does him credit. What is it about John and Abigail Adams that I love so much? Author McCullough said it best in a televised interview with Charlie Rose: It's the caliber of these people. John Adams is brilliant and so very honest, a man of the utmost integrity, and his relationship with his wife is delightful. She is wise, and she truly helps him to be great.

Director Tom Hanks remains true to McCullough's excellent historical research. The author told Rose how Hanks gained his confidence: At their first meeting, Hanks produced a dog-eared copy of the biography, numerous bookmarks fringing the top and notes and underlining marring most pages. This thoroughness is evident in the vividness of the scenes and attention to detail in the film. (Although some details were too graphically portrayed for my taste, such as a man being stripped, then tarred and feathered; some gruesome knife shots of vaccinations being performed; and what appears to modern eyes as a barbaric operation on the Adamses' daughter.)

Especially well-done is the portrayal of Adams' role as the defense attorney for the British soldiers who had killed five Americans in the "Boston Massacre." Adams was not a popular man in America after he agreed to defend the Redcoats who had fired on a menacing mob. But he agreed that it was important for the colony of Massachusetts to uphold English law by making sure these soldiers were given a legal trial, and he skillfully and wholeheartedly pled their case. This indeed is an important point, showing that the colonists were willing to do for England what they wanted England to do for them: to abide by the legal system already put in place by the Mother Country herself.

The portion of the series set in France contains some of my favorite scenes. Adams meets with Franklin there after being sent to help negotiate a treaty with that country. The trip across the Atlantic is harrowing, and Adams has risked not only his life but that of his young son, John Quincy. Understandably, Adams is disgusted to find that the treaty has already been signed by the time he gets there. "But, Father, the treaty is a good thing, isn't it?" asks John Quincy. "Yes, yes, yes, yes..." mutters his father. Adams' ardor for independence can never be in doubt, but he is clearly irritated that he has been cut out of the treaty process and that his expertise has not been taken into account -- not to mention that he has braved the seas for nothing. The film, like the book, does not shy away from painting all the complexities of Adams' character. Is this pride or selfish ambition rearing its ugly head? Or is it a reaction that can be justified by legitimate concern over the details of the treaty? Or, more likely, a little of both.

His blunt personality does not always win him friends, especially in France. Adams is repelled by Franklin's immorality and his appearance of idleness. Yet Franklin is beloved and embraced by the French. (At a dinner party, Adams lifts up his plate to stare at the profile of Ben Franklin -- to his evident disgust.) Indeed, God used Ben Franklin to charm this country and forge an alliance, even while the man appeared to be doing absolutely nothing. But for Adams to play a similar game is not even a possibility. He charges forth, demanding to hammer out the specifics of the treaty, pointing out that not nearly enough French ships have been committed to help the American cause. He says what he thinks -- while Franklin plays coy, adjusts to French ways and ultimately gets his own way. Adams' dogged impatience, so imperative to making things happen back in the colonies, is an utter flop in France, and it only makes us love him more.

It is so easy for historians to caricature John Adams as ambitious or vain or bitter. I have read several biographies that characterize him in this light. But his story, told best in his well-known letters to his wife, his "Dearest Friend", shows that of an extremely honest sinner, fighting to mortify the indwelling sin while pressing on. This is the kind of man I most admire.

John Adams spoke his mind, and when a man does that, he tends to make some enemies along the way. (You always have to wonder about the person whom everyone love: "Woe to you when all people speak well of you." Luke 6:26) But God used John Adams and while his praise among men may be overshadowed by other Founding Fathers, such as Jefferson or Franklin, great is his reward in heaven.