Books

I just finished A Magnificent Catastrophe on the 1800 election. It was a quick read, and a pretty fascinating one, of the first real presidential "campaign," and it truly exposed how vitriolic those races were, even 200+ years ago. Jefferson and Adams, who lived such parallel lives, until they died on the same day, are both fascinating men. I'm looking forward to reading American Sphinx next, on my current kick of reading about the founding fathers. I go back and forth between my favorite, though it certainly is not Jefferson, who seemed like such a hypocrite at times. Hamilton was selfish, impulsive, and deserves more than his share of blame for Adams loss. Adams was stubborn, but he really deserves a great deal of credit for his inspiration and conviction at that time. I think both he and Jefferson partially redeemed some of their less than admirable qualities through the letters they shared in the last decades of their lives. I guess ultimately, Washington was the most noble, though in some way he seemed the least "bright" in the intellectual sense. But his honor, foresight, and his courage really seemed to be the guiding light of the founding brothers. A few have suggested it was Benjamin Franklin who was the wisest of them all, but I need to read up on him. Anyway, I enjoyed the book, its exploration of the role of belief vs. deism, the crucial roles a couple of states played (PA, NY, SC, Delaware), and how absolutely vindictive the press and certain candidates were. And I guess I should say my least favorite of them all is Aaron Burr. I have yet to read of a redeeming trait he possessed!