This weekend I watched the HBO mini-series on DVD, "John Adams", based on the book of the same title by David McCullough. I found it compelling and fascinating and it was extraordinarily well acted. They had quite a stellar cast of Paul Giamatti (left) as John Adams, David Morse as George Washington, Laura Linney as Abigail Adams, Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson and others. What I found to be most fascinating was how much difficulty there was in creating a country from scratch, from ideas, and then seeing it through to fruition. It was a quite a venture at the time and these men risked their lives to do the unheard of, to carve out a new country in a new land with new and never before heard of governance, a country of the people, by the people and for the people, as opposed to hereditary nobility ruling over people of a far lower class than themselves. Sure, it's taken its lumps over the centuries, and in the times in which we live now, the Constitution has never before been so threatened, so part of the reason I wanted to watch this series was to gain a greater insight into our Founding Fathers and see if I couldn't ascertain what it was that they wanted to create. It fascinated me that Adams at one point proposed calling our President "His Majesty" or "His Highness" or even "His Excellency", but naturally he was shouted down by members of Congress who were just shaking off nobility that had ruled over them for centuries and wanted a new government that conveyed no titles like that of royalty. And so we refer to our leader as merely "Mr. President" (ah, and may there someday be a "Madam President", if only someone could come along and successfully break that proverbial last glass ceiling that has yet to be broken in our overly paternalistic land!).
Another thing I found particularly interesting was the fact that Adams and Thomas Jefferson (portrayed by Stephen Dillane, left), were almost yin and yang to each other. Adams yang was loud, obnoxious, outspoken, pugnacious but a deep thinker, to Jefferson's more cerebral and aloof yin character. And yet despite being occasional bitter rivals, they also were great friends, especially toward the end of their lives as they watched all of their fellow Revolutionaries pass away. They'd both lost family members and were, in their old ages, reflective of what they accomplished as they faced their twilight years and concerned for what the younger generations were doing with what they laid the ground work for. Adams thinker easily complemented Jefferson the writer, and together, they both created this country and united it behind a common goal. They were the brains and brawn behind the Declaration of Independence, and they both knew it. They both made great personal sacrifices to see the new nation brought to fruition and they recognised the cost to their families and to their personal lives, but they were both immensely proud of their service to the country as patriots and presidents. They both made mistakes (Adams most egregious being the Aliens and Seditions Act, and unfortunately, history has managed to repeat itself with the USA Patriot Act, very reminiscent of the Aliens and Seditions Act. Well, I guess some folks are perfectly ignorant of their country's history, particularly its darker moments.......). But throughout it all, our country was extraordinarily lucky to have the confluence of so many brilliant minds in one place and at one time to create our country that has lasted down through the ages. The Yin and Yang of Adams and Jefferson was probably just the right formula that this country needed at the time to bring us our independence from Britain. And that they both met their demise on the same day, July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, strikes me as no coincidence. I truly think that it was meant to happen that both of these framers left us on a significant day to both of them and to all of us down through the ages. Somehow, fate saw to it that both of these men died together so that they could join eternity together forever. And may they ever be remembered by their countrymen for what they lived and died for, a free country
of the people, by the people and for the people, just as Abraham Lincoln saw it four score and seven years later in his immortal Gettysburg Address.
This weekend I watched the HBO mini-series on DVD, "John Adams", based on the book of the same title by David McCullough. I found it compelling and fascinating and it was extraordinarily well acted. They had quite a stellar cast of Paul Giamatti (left) as John Adams, David Morse as George Washington, Laura Linney as Abigail Adams, Stephen Dillane as Thomas Jefferson and others. What I found to be most fascinating was how much difficulty there was in creating a country from scratch, from ideas, and then seeing it through to fruition. It was a quite a venture at the time and these men risked their lives to do the unheard of, to carve out a new country in a new land with new and never before heard of governance, a country of the people, by the people and for the people, as opposed to hereditary nobility ruling over people of a far lower class than themselves. Sure, it's taken its lumps over the centuries, and in the times in which we live now, the Constitution has never before been so threatened, so part of the reason I wanted to watch this series was to gain a greater insight into our Founding Fathers and see if I couldn't ascertain what it was that they wanted to create. It fascinated me that Adams at one point proposed calling our President "His Majesty" or "His Highness" or even "His Excellency", but naturally he was shouted down by members of Congress who were just shaking off nobility that had ruled over them for centuries and wanted a new government that conveyed no titles like that of royalty. And so we refer to our leader as merely "Mr. President" (ah, and may there someday be a "Madam President", if only someone could come along and successfully break that proverbial last glass ceiling that has yet to be broken in our overly paternalistic land!).
Another thing I found particularly interesting was the fact that Adams and Thomas Jefferson (portrayed by Stephen Dillane, left), were almost yin and yang to each other. Adams yang was loud, obnoxious, outspoken, pugnacious but a deep thinker, to Jefferson's more cerebral and aloof yin character. And yet despite being occasional bitter rivals, they also were great friends, especially toward the end of their lives as they watched all of their fellow Revolutionaries pass away. They'd both lost family members and were, in their old ages, reflective of what they accomplished as they faced their twilight years and concerned for what the younger generations were doing with what they laid the ground work for. Adams thinker easily complemented Jefferson the writer, and together, they both created this country and united it behind a common goal. They were the brains and brawn behind the Declaration of Independence, and they both knew it. They both made great personal sacrifices to see the new nation brought to fruition and they recognised the cost to their families and to their personal lives, but they were both immensely proud of their service to the country as patriots and presidents. They both made mistakes (Adams most egregious being the Aliens and Seditions Act, and unfortunately, history has managed to repeat itself with the USA Patriot Act, very reminiscent of the Aliens and Seditions Act. Well, I guess some folks are perfectly ignorant of their country's history, particularly its darker moments.......). But throughout it all, our country was extraordinarily lucky to have the confluence of so many brilliant minds in one place and at one time to create our country that has lasted down through the ages. The Yin and Yang of Adams and Jefferson was probably just the right formula that this country needed at the time to bring us our independence from Britain. And that they both met their demise on the same day, July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, strikes me as no coincidence. I truly think that it was meant to happen that both of these framers left us on a significant day to both of them and to all of us down through the ages. Somehow, fate saw to it that both of these men died together so that they could join eternity together forever. And may they ever be remembered by their countrymen for what they lived and died for, a free country of the people, by the people and for the people, just as Abraham Lincoln saw it four score and seven years later in his immortal Gettysburg Address. 
3 comments:
Interesting viewpoint, Sally. People forget, I think, that the United States could have become a monarchy. There was, I think, a brief time when some of the colonists considered "Bonnie Prince Charlie" for king.
I wonder if the course of history would have changed had that happened. I suspect the "Special Relationship" woul have been cooler to start with.
Most folks forget how close we came to becoming another monarchy. It was through the fortunate confluence of a lot of visionary men that we became the country that we did. We could sure use a strong dose of their wisdom today as our Constitution faces increased threats from our very own government, who seems to think that it is nothing more than a "quaint piece of paper" not fit for our current times, when in fact they created a timeless document that was meant to serve the ages as the rule of law in this country.
I have to say that I view the political future in the US with foreboding. Even if Obama were to be elected, I'm not sure if he can undo the damage, both at home and abroad, which the current Administration has done. Whatever his own view, which at times seems a bit unclear, I suspect he'll be constrained by the system.
And in the UK we seem to have no real political leadership at all.
Hopefully I'm being pessimistic.
And I have an uncomfortable feeling, with events like Georgia in mind, that McCain may scrape home ahead
Post a Comment