Friends Divided: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson

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

Although it probably wasn’t the intention of the author, this is really a great book to read during the current period of the United States simply because it illustrates that in the world of politics, nothing has really changed. It’s so tempting to see the ubiquitous bickering of the two political parties inflamed by tools such as social media and think that things have really gotten out of hand. Author Gordon S. Wood shows us that this behavior has been happening since the beginning of our country’s history. Adams and Jefferson were the first two presidential candidates who faced off against each other (George Washington was a unanimous selection as the first president). These two started out quite amiable towards each other, yet over time the differences between the two began to outweigh the similarities. This caused a plethora of insulting name-calling, bruised egos, faltered friendships and a divided country. Yes, even in its infancy, the United States was anything but united.

This book really isn’t a “co” biography. We learn a lot about both of these founding fathers, but the main highlight of this volume is the differences between the two. Sometimes this style of writing works, other times it felt a bit awkward. At least for my tastes. Maybe I was wanting more “biographical” information about the subjects? I’ve read excellent biographies of both of these individuals and felt like I already knew much about what author was telling his readers. That’s not a slam of the book, only an observation. For me, though, the parts of this book that I enjoyed the most were when these differences were told around specific event in history. My favorite part was during John Adams’ tenuous presidency with Jefferson serving as his vice-president (running mates weren’t selected as they are now; they were elected). You could definitely see the differences between the two expounded on and see how their already fragile feelings start to become more fractured. Other times, though, I felt as if I was sitting in a boring philosophy class with a very tepid instructor. We read an awful lot, for example, of the deep feelings and beliefs around topics such as a “constitution” and what it should include and involve. It can be quite drab reading.

Still, though, the pros of this book far outweigh the cons. What is particularly fascinating is that we are reading about a brand-new country. No one knew whether or not this “experiment” would work, and Adams and Jefferson had radically different ideas of success. In their minds, if things weren’t done their way, the whole country would collapse faster than it was assembled. Ironically, we see benefits and pitfalls of both of their philosophies and most clear-thinking people might argue the same is true with the political climate today.

Adams was the hard-core Federalist, who essentially wanted the new nation to mirror the government of Mother England. Yes, order was important, but he wanted to go as far as having hereditary succession. His belief was that all men were definitely NOT created equal and that only a certain level of a mind should be trusted to lead a nation. Jefferson, on the other hand, was of the rebellious Republican breed who thought government should be almost invisible. He DID believe all men were created equal, but by ‘equal’, well….among other things….that didn’t include Black people. So nothing was perfect back then either.

It should also be pointed out that both of these men died on the same day. Ironically, it was July 4, 1826 – the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. So in some strange way, these two individuals are probably more ‘connected’ than maybe they should be. In their latter years after serving in office, they seem to mellow their attitudes significantly towards each other. To be honest though, both of these individuals came across as being rather grumpy and uncompromising; especially towards each other. Still, though, it’s a great part of the history of the United States that needs to be learned. A good read despite the fact that it does get bogged down in places. You may want to start with a straight-up biography of the two men before tackling this one.