John Adams - David McCullough

I had never really understood the American Revolution until I read this book. I'm not sure I can claim to fully understand it now, but it is far more meaningful than ever before.

John Adams may have been the single greatest advocate for independence from England. He pushed the Continental Congress. He pleaded and argued. And in the end, he won.

Then he single-handedly wrote the Massachusetts Constitution with three separate branches of government. The US constitution is largely based on his work.

Then for the remainder of his life, he worked as an ambassador, Vice President to Washington, and then President. And I would say he was amazingly accomplished at all of them, but I'm not sure he worked the same magic as he did with the Continental Congress.

There is something about how events seemed to unfold despite his work that makes me think that if he would have had more emotional intelligence, he might have accomplished more.

However, his greatest credit should be in his reconciliation with Jefferson before they each died. He practiced the Christianity he claimed to own and forgave the wounds of Jefferson. And then he died on July 4 (the same day as Jefferson) exactly 50 years after the Declaration Independence was signed. How cool is that!