Oxford University Press
440 Pages
Making the Presidency by Lindsay M Chervinsky is one of the newest books published about John Adams. It was published in September 2024. The subtitle is, “John Adams and the Precedents that Forged the Republic.” Much like the last John Adams book that I reviewed, this one was among my favorites. It seems like our often overlooked second President is starting to be reappraised with fresh eyes, and it is improving his standing among our list of Presidents. This book does a superb job looking at Adams while he served his single term. While most earlier historians focused on the Alien and Sedition Acts, Chervinsky takes a deeper dive into what Adams did as the successor to George Washington.
Chervinsky takes a singular, long look at the four years that Adams was President. This was the first and only book that I read that focused on his single term. Many of the other books take a deep look at the Alien and Sedition Acts, basically ignoring anything else that happened during his term. The lone exception was the infamous XYZ Affair. Still, most of Adams’ presidency is often relegated to a secondary status in his life when biographers release their works. Their focus, instead, is on his Congressional service, ambassadorship, and his finicky relationship with Thomas Jefferson. I was happy that Chervinsky took on filling a hole in the life of John Adams.
Chervinsky breaks down multiple facets of his presidency. After reading many books that showcase John Adams in some manner, it seems that most historians go out of their way to make him look bad. While Adams had moments that were heinous (refer back to the aforesaid Alien and Sedition Acts), one or two moments should not define a man. There is no such thing as single factor causation. The rest of the presidency of John Adams needed to be explored. This book fulfills this promise and it was wonderful.
Lindsay Chervinsky writes in such a way that the average reader can quickly understand what’s going on. She writes an engaging narrative that is easy to follow and gives a considerable amount of information. She takes time to analyze not only the decisions that were made by John Adams during his term, but some of the reasoning behind said decisions. The history around some of those decisions makes their impact that much greater. Understanding the choices these historic figures made in the context of their times is extremely important. Chervinsky gives is that without tainting the story with too many modern morals critiquing the choices made. When she does, she plainly indicates it rather than try to imbed it in a revised history.
Making the Presidency by Lindsay M Chervinsky was among my favorite of the books about John Adams. As one of the newest books about Adams, it was a solid addition to my Presidential Reading Project. I would recommend it to anyone who wanted to read about the presidency of John Adams, regardless of whether they were doing a reading project or not. It was very well done, and well deserving of a high placement on my reading list.
Craig Bacon keeps finding more reasons to admire the overall man that John Adams was. Maybe after two and a half centuries, he can finally get a fresh, unbiased look.
NEXT UP: Founding Partisans by H.W. Brands