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The Problem of Democracy
- The Presidents Adams Confront the Cult of Personality
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 22 hrs and 15 mins
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Publisher's summary
"Told with authority and style.... Crisply summarizing the Adamses' legacy, the authors stress principle over partisanship." (The Wall Street Journal)
How the father and son presidents foresaw the rise of the cult of personality and fought those who sought to abuse the weaknesses inherent in our democracy, from the New York Times best-selling author of White Trash.
John and John Quincy Adams: rogue intellectuals, unsparing truth-tellers, too uncensored for their own political good. They held that political participation demanded moral courage. They did not seek popularity (it showed). They lamented the fact that hero worship in America substituted idolatry for results; and they made it clear that they were talking about Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Andrew Jackson. When John Adams succeeded George Washington as President, his son had already followed him into public service and was stationed in Europe as a diplomat. Though they spent many years apart - and as their careers spanned Europe, Washington DC, and their family home south of Boston - they maintained a close bond through extensive letter writing, debating history, political philosophy, and partisan maneuvering.
The problem of democracy is an urgent problem; the father-and-son presidents grasped the perilous psychology of politics and forecast what future generations would have to contend with: citizens wanting heroes to worship and covetous elites more than willing to mislead. Rejection at the polls, each after one term, does not prove that the presidents Adams had erroneous ideas. Intellectually, they were what we today call "independents", reluctant to commit blindly to an organized political party. No historian has attempted to dissect their intertwined lives as Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein do in this audio, and there is no better time than the present to learn from the American nation's most insightful malcontents.
Critic reviews
"A top-notch dual biography.... An unsettling yet well-presented argument that the failures of John and John Quincy Adams illustrate a disturbing feature of American politics." (Kirkus Reviews)
"In this daring, lucid, and provocative book, Nancy Isenberg and Andrew Burstein challenge founding myths to reveal democracy as an incomplete, contested, and often distorted ideal. By exploring the failed presidencies and probing ideas of John and John Quincy Adams, The Problem of Democracy exposes the deep roots of contemporary demagogues and their polarizing deceptions." (Alan Taylor, author of American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804)
“Although the current occupant of the White House is nowhere mentioned by name in this book, his prodigious shadow looms large. The trends that so distressed the Adamses in the nation’s early years have intensified to a degree they could scarcely have imagined, thanks to virulent social media, the injection of vast sums of money into American campaigns, a politicized judiciary and rising economic inequality. We can only be grateful that father and son were spared this vision of their worst fears coming true.” (The New York Times Book Review)
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling author of Founding Brothers and His Excellency brings America’s preeminent first couple to life in a moving and illuminating narrative that sweeps through the American Revolution and the republic’s tenuous early years. John and Abigail Adams left an indelible and remarkably preserved portrait of their lives together in their personal correspondence: Both Adamses were prolific letter writers (although John conceded that Abigail was clearly the more gifted of the two), and over the years they exchanged more than 12,000 letters.
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"Real History"
- By leslie on 11-15-10
By: Joseph J. Ellis
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Washington's Farewell
- The Founding Father's Warning to Future Generations
- By: John Avlon
- Narrated by: John Avlon
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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George Washington's Farewell Address was a prophetic letter from a "parting friend" to his fellow citizens about the forces he feared could destroy our democracy: hyper-partisanship, excessive debt, and foreign wars. Once celebrated as civic scripture, more widely reprinted than the Declaration of Independence, the Farewell Address is now almost forgotten. Its message remains starkly relevant. In Washington's Farewell, John Avlon offers a stunning portrait of our first president and his battle to save America from self-destruction.
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Very well written and performed
- By Michael Reading on 03-02-17
By: John Avlon
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The Americanization of Benjamin Franklin
- By: Gordon S. Wood
- Narrated by: Peter Johnson
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Central to America's idea of itself is the character of Benjamin Franklin. We all know him, or think we do: In recent works and in our inherited conventional wisdom, he remains fixed in place as a genial polymath and self-improver who was so very American that he is known by us all as the first American.
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I have good news and bad news
- By Ernie on 07-22-04
By: Gordon S. Wood
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Alexander Hamilton
- By: Ron Chernow
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 35 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Historians have long told the story of America’s birth as the triumph of Jefferson’s democratic ideals over the aristocratic intentions of Hamilton. Chernow presents an entirely different man, whose legendary ambitions were motivated not merely by self-interest but by passionate patriotism and a stubborn will to build the foundations of American prosperity and power.
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An Outstanding & Riveting Book!
- By Kevin on 03-04-05
By: Ron Chernow
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Fallen Founder
- The Life of Aaron Burr
- By: Nancy Isenberg
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Generations have been told that Aaron Burr was a betrayer: of Alexander Hamilton, of his country, of those who had nobler ideas. But that version has been shaped by historians and writers from the 18th century on who were blinded by tabloid reports and propaganda created by Burr's political enemies during his lifetime. It is time to discover the real Aaron Burr.
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Very Burr-Centric
- By Derek on 11-11-07
By: Nancy Isenberg
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Agony and Eloquence
- John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and a World of Revolution
- By: Daniel L. Mallock
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The drama of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson is the foundational story of America - courage, loyalty, hope, fanaticism, greatness, failure, forgiveness, love. Agony and Eloquence is the story of the greatest friendship in American history and the revolutionary times in which it was made, ruined, and finally renewed. In the wake of Washington's retirement, longtime friends Thomas Jefferson and John Adams came to represent the opposing political forces struggling to shape America's future.
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Great Listen
- By Kyle B. on 03-12-21
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Inventing a Nation
- Washington, Adams, Jefferson
- By: Gore Vidal
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht, Gore Vidal
- Length: 5 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Volumes have been written about George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, but no previous work captures the intimate and vital details the way Inventing a Nation does. Vidal's consummate skill takes you into the minds and private rooms of these great men, illuminating their opinions of one another and their concerns about crafting a workable democracy.
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Reader Beware: Mixed with a political agenda
- By Robert on 09-09-04
By: Gore Vidal
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Jefferson
- Architect of American Liberty
- By: John B. Boles
- Narrated by: Michael Johnson
- Length: 24 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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From an eminent scholar of the American South, the first full-scale biography of Thomas Jefferson since 1970. Not since Merrill Peterson's Thomas Jefferson and the New Nation has a scholar attempted to write a comprehensive biography of the most complex Founding Father. In Jefferson, John B. Boles plumbs every facet of Thomas Jefferson's life, all while situating him amid the sweeping upheaval of his times. We meet Jefferson the politician and political thinker - as well as Jefferson the architect, scientist, bibliophile, paleontologist, musician, and gourmet.
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Makes Jefferson Human
- By MichaelBuffalo on 06-23-20
By: John B. Boles
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Thomas Jefferson
- By: R. B. Bernstein
- Narrated by: Phil Holland
- Length: 7 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Thomas Jefferson designed his own tombstone, describing himself simply as "Author of the Declaration of Independence and of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and Father of the University of Virginia". It is in this simple epitaph that R. B. Bernstein finds the key to this enigmatic Founder - not as a great political figure, but as leader of "a revolution of ideas that would make the world over again". In Thomas Jefferson, Bernstein offers the definitive short biography of this revered American - the first concise life in six decades. Bernstein deftly synthesizes the massive scholarship on his subject into a swift, insightful, evenhanded account.
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In-Depth and Interesting
- By Sarahi Nieves on 04-24-19
By: R. B. Bernstein
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James Madison
- By: Richard Brookhiser
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Eminent historian Richard Brookhiser presents a vivid portrait of James Madison, the “Father of the Constitution” and one of America's greatest statesmen.
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OK book but not a biography
- By Joel Mayer on 08-05-12
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The Birth of Modern Politics
- Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and the Election of 1828
- By: Lynn Hudson Parson
- Narrated by: Milton Bagby
- Length: 10 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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The 1828 presidential election, which pitted Major General Andrew Jackson against incumbent John Quincy Adams, has long been hailed as a watershed moment in American political history. It was the contest in which an unlettered, hot-tempered southwestern frontiersman, trumpeted by his supporters as a genuine man of the people, soundly defeated a New England "aristocrat" whose education and political resume were as impressive as any ever seen in American public life.
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a very good popular history book
- By D. Littman on 01-29-10
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Profiles in Courage
- By: John F. Kennedy
- Narrated by: John F. Kennedy Jr., Caroline Kennedy
- Length: 3 hrs and 10 mins
- Abridged
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Overall
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During 1954-1955, John F. Kennedy, then a US senator, chose eight of his historical colleagues to profile for their acts of astounding integrity in the face of overwhelming opposition. These heroes include John Quincy Adams, Daniel Webster, Thomas Hart Benton, and Robert A. Taft. Awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1957, Profiles in Courage - now reissued, featuring a new introduction by Caroline Kennedy as well as Robert Kennedy's foreword written for the memorial edition of the volume in 1964 - resounds with timeless lessons.
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Abridged
- By Tom R on 01-04-17
By: John F. Kennedy
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In 1958, the US Air Force nuked the moon as a show of military force. In 1967, the CIA sent live cats to spy on the Soviet government. In 1942, the British built a torpedo-proof aircraft carrier out of an iceberg. Of course, none of these things ever actually happened. But in Nuking the Moon, intelligence historian Vince Houghton proves that abandoned plans can be just as illuminating - and every bit as entertaining - as the ones that made it.
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Manchild writes book filled with his opinion
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What listeners say about The Problem of Democracy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mike Sinks
- 08-09-22
Good Account, Clear Bias
This is a decent account of historical events and it is certainly thorough, if not biased in approach. To their credit, the authors make that plain when they both open and close the book. Their stated intent is to re-examine the two Presidents and try to make the case that they were not as “distant” of figures as other historians have portrayed. All in all, a decent book, but would recommend balancing this with other accounts as well.
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- Edmo11
- 05-31-19
Limited horizon
The book concentrated on the presidencies of father and son, John Adams and John Quincy Adams. While the authors have a lofty aim, the vehicle is of limited interest.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Alednam A Uonopk
- 11-27-21
Good book... worth listening to thrice....
All in all I enjoyed listening to this book. The Adams are probably watching as America falls to their prophetic utterances.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Tbaley
- 08-14-19
Many Threads
At first I was discouraged with the multiple threads and the hopping back-and-forth comparing the two Adamses, father and son, their youths, their educational background, the intensity and propensity of voracious reading, their extensive years of travel in service to their country and ideals, and all of the other myriad things that comprise their individual contexts.
About halfway, though, it all started to focus and built and built until it had me thoroughly engaged.
Don't give up; it's worth it.
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- William
- 05-12-19
Very insightful and rewarding adding understanding
To our current Trumpian nightmare. We need an Adams to help set our republic back on course.
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7 people found this helpful
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Story
- John W. Hadley
- 03-31-20
Intimate and Illuminating
A dual-recollection of the individual and combined exploits of the Adams presidents, this book dedicates most of its time to analysis of their characters and the coincidences and relationships that unite their stories throughout the early American republic.
Wonderfully and engagingly read, this book does a great job of elaborating on the Adams’ world-views as well as their outlooks on political theory and the evolving landscape of the over eighty years their story covers. For those interested in the history and characters of the presidents, they will not be disappointed. The commentary on their diaries and correspondence make you feel as if you know them intimately by the end.
As far as political theory, the book does a good job of exploring how drastically the democratic system changed over the early years of the United States, and the last few chapters especially are used to good effect in postulating what the Adams would think of contemporary American politics.
It is very moving, and it highlights a relationship between father and son that feels familiar and yet is unique by its position in history. Definitely recommend to fans of McCullough’s JA biography. It takes the typical Adamsian approach and paints the world through their self-critical yet self-righteous lenses. It has biases that are easy to identify but that’s not uncommon in any biography.
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