
Making the Presidency
John Adams and the Precedents That Forged the Republic
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Narrated by:
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Lindsay M. Chervinsky
About this listen
An authoritative account of the second president of the United States that shows how John Adams's leadership and legacy defined the office for those who followed and ensured the survival of the American republic.
The United States of 1797 faced enormous challenges, provoked by enemies foreign and domestic. The father of the new nation, George Washington, left his vice president, John Adams, with relatively little guidance and impossible expectations to meet. Adams was confronted with intense partisan divides, debates over citizenship, fears of political violence, potential for foreign conflict with France and Britain, and a nation unsure that the presidency could even work without Washington at the helm.
Making the Presidency is an authoritative exploration of the second US presidency, a period critical to the survival of the American republic. Through meticulous research and engaging prose, Lindsay Chervinsky illustrates the unique challenges faced by Adams and shows how he shaped the office for his successors. One of the most qualified presidents in American history, he had been a legislator, political theorist, diplomat, minister, and vice president—but he had never held an executive position. Instead, the quixotic and stubborn Adams would rely on his ideas about executive power, the Constitution, politics, and the state of the world to navigate the hurdles of the position. He defended the presidency from his own often obstructionist cabinet, protected the nation from foreign attacks, and forged trust and dedication to election integrity and the peaceful transfer of power between parties, even though it cost him his political future.
Offering a portrait of one of the most fascinating and influential periods in US history, Making the Presidency is a must-read for anyone interested in the evolution of the presidency and the creation of political norms and customs at the heart of the American republic.
©2024 Lindsay M. Chervinsky (P)2024 Dreamscape MediaListeners also enjoyed...
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- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Tom Parker
- Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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John Adams, one of the Founding Fathers of our nation and its second president, spent nearly the last third of his life in retirement, grappling with contradictory views of his place in history and fearing his reputation would not fare well in the generations after his death. And indeed, future generations did slight him, elevating Jefferson and Madison to lofty heights while Adams remained way back in the second tier.
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Stays true to Audible's description
- By Neil on 10-24-09
By: Joseph J. Ellis
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Friends Divided
- John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
- By: Gordon S. Wood
- Narrated by: James Lurie
- Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could scarcely have come from more different worlds or been more different in temperament. Jefferson, the optimist with enough faith in the innate goodness of his fellow man to be democracy's champion, was an aristocratic Southern slave owner while Adams, the overachiever from New England's rising middling classes, painfully aware he was no aristocrat, was a skeptic about popular rule and a defender of a more elitist view of government.
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A Great Read
- By Jean on 12-22-17
By: Gordon S. Wood
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Mourning the Presidents
- Loss and Legacy in American Culture
- By: Lindsay M. Chervinsky - editor, Matthew R. Costello - editor
- Narrated by: Holly Adams
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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The death of a chief executive, regardless of the circumstances—sudden or expected, still in office or decades later—is always a moment of reckoning and reflection. Mourning the Presidents brings together renowned and emerging scholars to examine how different generations and communities of Americans have eulogized and remembered United States presidents since George Washington's death in 1799. Over twelve individually illuminating chapters, this volume offers a unique approach to understanding American culture and politics by uncovering parallels between different generations of mourners.
By: Lindsay M. Chervinsky - editor, and others
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This Fierce People
- The Untold Story of America's Revolutionary War in the South
- By: Alan Pell Crawford
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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A groundbreaking, important recovery of history; the overlooked story—fully explored—of the critical aspect of America’s Revolutionary War that was fought in the South, showing that the British surrender at Yorktown was the direct result of the southern campaign, and that the battles that emerged south of the Mason-Dixon line between loyalists to the Crown and patriots who fought for independence were, in fact, America’s first civil war.
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Ghastly
- By Wayne on 09-09-24
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The Quartet
- Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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From Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian Joseph J. Ellis, the unexpected story of why the thirteen colonies, having just fought off the imposition of a distant centralized governing power, would decide to subordinate themselves anew.
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bias is not good history
- By Craig on 01-24-18
By: Joseph J. Ellis
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Cosmosapiens
- Human Evolution from the Origin of the Universe
- By: John Hands
- Narrated by: Gildart Jackson
- Length: 31 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Who are we, and how did we get here? These are two of the most fundamental and far-reaching questions facing scientists and cosmologists alike and have rested at the center of human intellectual endeavor since its beginning. They are questions that stretch across numerous disciplines. Philosophy, theology, evolutionary biology, and mathematics are just some of the fields looking to explain the emergence of human life.
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Nothing like taking all the fun out of science
- By Gary on 04-04-16
By: John Hands
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Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power
- By: Jon Meacham
- Narrated by: Edward Herrmann, Jon Meacham
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In this magnificent biography, the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Lion and Franklin and Winston brings vividly to life an extraordinary man and his remarkable times. Thomas Jefferson: The Art of Power gives us Jefferson the politician and president, a great and complex human being forever engaged in the wars of his era.
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A Man and Biography Relevant to Our Day
- By Darwin8u on 11-14-12
By: Jon Meacham
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Abraham Lincoln: A Life, Volume Two
- By: Michael Burlingame
- Narrated by: Sean Pratt
- Length: 53 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In volume 2, Burlingame examines Lincoln's presidency and the trials of the Civil War. He supplies fascinating details on the crisis over Fort Sumter and the relentless office seekers who plagued Lincoln. He introduces listeners to the president's battles with hostile newspaper editors and his quarrels with incompetent field commanders. Burlingame also interprets Lincoln's private life, discussing his marriage to Mary Todd, the untimely death of his son, Willie, to disease in 1862, and his recurrent anguish over the enormous human costs of the war.
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A Magnificent and Important Book
- By G. Green on 03-03-16
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Footprints in the Butter
- The Ingrid Beaumont Mysteries, Book 1
- By: Denise Dietz
- Narrated by: full cast
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Original Recording
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Ingrid Beaumont's 30th high school class reunion turns up a few surprises. Her friend, world-renowned artist Wylie Jamestone, turns up dead; her ex-husband turns up alive; and her high school sweetheart turns up at her door. Wylie's love of riddles forces Ingrid to turn sleuth if she wants to keep the killer from turning her life completely upside down.
By: Denise Dietz
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Martin Van Buren
- America's First Politician
- By: James M. Bradley
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 26 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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This new biography of Van Buren—the first full-scale portrait in four decades—charts his ascent from a tavern in the Hudson Valley to the presidency, concluding with his late-career involvement in an antislavery movement. Offering vivid profiles of the day's leading figures (Andrew Jackson, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, John Quincy Adams, DeWitt Clinton, James K. Polk), James Bradley's book depicts the struggle for power in the tumultuous decades leading up to the Civil War.
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Compelling Narration
- By Malachi on 05-08-25
By: James M. Bradley
What listeners say about Making the Presidency
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- Michael C. Martirone
- 11-27-24
We almost lost it all…
Making the presidency is an amazing look at how fragile the early republic was and still is. John Adams is often overlooked between Washington and Jefferson, but he was the one that took the baton from Washington to establish president and he was the one that passed off the baton to Jefferson And contentious election as you’re reading you can’t help but draw parallels between 1800 and 2020 and beyond. It’s an insightful book and poor John Adams had much to deal with including descent from within his own cabinet. This is a great for student of American history or political science.
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- Dina
- 11-08-24
Jefferson’s and Hamilton’s machinations
Learning about Adams and how he helped enshrine the peaceful transfer of office, which lasted until January 6, 2020.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-15-25
Lots to learn about Mr. Adams and the forming of our government
This is an excellent book and a must read for anyone interested in how our government was formed.
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- DB1089
- 09-22-24
A non-comprehensive deep cut on Adam's Presiency
if you want a well-rounded account, you've got David McCullough. Here you will get a clear and concise portrait of a Presidency that lacked precedent, involved a ton of backstabbing, and brought us to the brink of war with France, which was deftly averted by Adams' diplomacy.
This is a slice of political life from before the turn of the 19th century, and it is very well researched and told. A modern reader might raise an eyebrow with the references to January 6. 2020, as the author seems to take care from avoiding the pitfall of presentism until the bell lap (it's in the epilogue). But hey...the New York times wants to paint Adam's and Kamala Harris as peers because both were Vice Presidents, and falls all over itself suggesting democracy was saved when Harris became the nominee, despite some very apparent messiness behind the scenes. This author tells the tale of messiness during Adams' reign, and does it remarkably well. Highly recommended for anyone who likes a tale full of intrigue, but doesn't have 30+ hours for it to unfold.
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- Karen Groomes Morgan
- 10-08-24
Well researched and compelling story about
Well researched and compelling story about the remarkable public service of this often overlooked, but great president. Dr. Chervinsky's timely work portrays a fragile republic without critical precedents, and John Adams' recognition of the magnitude of his decisions as he leaned into The Constitution to guide him. This should be required reading for every American.
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- Lorraine Dias Herbon
- 10-17-24
Fantastic!
I enjoyed pretty much everything about this work. The historical research was thorough, the interpretation credible, and the author’s reading of her own words was flawless.
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- Anonymous User
- 10-14-24
A Must Read
Excellent read. All Americans should read this book. The writing is superb and the narration is very good.
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- Kim
- 04-11-25
Authors Are Not Narrators
Did not like author's butchering of pronunciation. Author did not spend much time applying the facts to her thesis that Adams was a groundbreaker
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- Barry M. Chattillion
- 10-27-24
Great
Great look at a mostly unforgotten founder of this country.
The author is a powerful historian who writes for the average person.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-20-24
highly detailed... highly boring
The detail in this book is like no other John Adams book I have ever read... outstanding. terrific job. Unfortunately it's all politics. there's no real good nuggets of information regarding John and the presidency etc..
More information about what a weasel Thomas Jefferson truly was. I would have liked to have read more about what brought the two of them together later in life after all of the damage that Thomas Jefferson did to John Adams reputation.
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