The Archetypal Patriot
I've been listening to an abridged recording of David McCullough's biography of John Adams as part of my continuing reading about the Founding Brothers (as John Joseph Ellis called them). Adams is a fascinating character whose greatness I'd never fully appreciated. While I think that the author is a little too much in love with his subject, and I'd like to have heard the sections about Adams' diplomatic missions immediately before and after the peace of 1783, I greatly enjoyed it and want to read the entire book someday. But first, I'd like to read Cappon's The Adams-Jefferson Letters.

For me, the most admirable thing about Adams was his integrity. Two incidents in his career illustrate that integrity. The first was his successful defense of the British captain and the British soldiers (in two separate trials) who were accused of murder in the Boston Massacre in 1770. Thirty years later, his efforts as President led to a treaty with France that preserved peace, in spite of the opposition of much of his own Federalist party led by Alexander Hamilton. He was criticized, even attacked, by many for his actions in both of these events - a difficult thing for someone as sensitive and vain as Adams. But he stuck to his principles regardless of the outcome. And while the outcome of the first ultimately enhanced his reputation, the second probably cost him a second term as president.