Brookhiser could have more effectively focused on a central overall concept that tied together the lives of John
Adams, John Quincy, Charles Francis, and Henry Adams.
As unlikely a modern hero as John
Adams, John Quincy recently had his moment of celebrity with the simultaneous appearance of a critically acclaimed biography by Paul Nagel and a starring role in the Steven Spielberg film Amistad.
As the son of John and Abigail
Adams, John Quincy carried a sense of his own inescapable destiny.