The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers
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Narrated by:
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Arthur Morey
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By:
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Thomas Fleming
About this listen
With his usual storytelling flair and unparalleled research, Tom Fleming offers a compelling, intimate look at the founders—George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison—and the women who played essential roles in their lives.
From hot-tempered Mary Ball Washington to promiscuous Rachel Lavien Hamilton, the founding fathers’ mothers powerfully shaped their sons’ visions of domestic life. But lovers and wives played more critical roles as friends and often partners in fame. We learn of the youthful Washington’s tortured love for the coquettish Sarah Fairfax, wife of his close friend; of Franklin's two “wives,” one in London and one in Philadelphia; of Adams’s long absences, which required a lonely, deeply unhappy Abigail to keep home and family together for years on end; of Hamilton’s adulterous betrayal of his wife and their reconciliation; and how the brilliant Madison was jilted by a flirtatious fifteen-year-old and went on to marry the effervescent Dolley, who helped make this shy man into a popular president. Jefferson’s controversial relationship to Sally Hemings is also examined, with a different vision of where his heart lay.
Fleming nimbly takes us through a great deal of early American history, as the founding fathers strove to reconcile their private and public lives, often beset by a media every bit as gossip-seeking and inflammatory as ours today. He offers a powerful look at the challenges women faced in the late eighteenth and early 19th centuries. While often brilliant and articulate, the wives of the founding fathers all struggled with the distractions and dangers of frequent childbearing and searing anxiety about infant mortality. All the more remarkable, then, that these women loomed so large in the lives of their husbands—and, in some cases, their country.
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- By: David McCullough
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 29 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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McCullough's John Adams has the sweep and vitality of a great novel. This is history on a grand scale, an audiobook about politics, war, and social issues, but also about human nature, love, religious faith, virtue, ambition, friendship, and betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of noble ideas. Above all, it is an enthralling, often surprising story of one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived.
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An outstanding biography
- By Davis on 07-10-06
By: David McCullough
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A Perfect Union
- Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation
- By: Catherine Allgor
- Narrated by: Anne Twomey
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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An extraordinary American comes to life in this vivid, incisive portrait of the early days of the republic—and the birth of modern politics hen the roar of the Revolution had finally died down, a new generation of American politicians was summoned to the Potomac to assemble the nation's newly minted capital. Into that unsteady atmosphere which would soon enough erupt into another conflict with Britain in 1812, Dolley Madison arrived, alongside her husband James.
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A great first lady!
- By Anna Walker on 04-04-11
By: Catherine Allgor
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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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Eliza Hamilton
- The Extraordinary Life and Times of the Wife of Alexander Hamilton
- By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Fans fell in love with Eliza Hamilton - Alexander Hamilton’s devoted wife - in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s phenomenal musical Hamilton. But they don’t know her full story. A strong pioneer woman, a loving sister, a caring mother, and, in her later years, a generous philanthropist, Eliza had many sides - and this fascinating biography brings her multifaceted personality to vivid life.
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Eliza Deserves Better
- By jmn89 on 12-20-19
By: Tilar J. Mazzeo
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Eleanor Roosevelt
- Volume I, 1884-1933
- By: Blanche Wiesen Cook
- Narrated by: Kate Reading
- Length: 22 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Eleanor Roosevelt was born into the privileges and prejudices of American aristocracy and into a family ravaged by alcoholism. She overcame debilitating roots: in her public life, fighting against racism and injustice and advancing the rights of women; and in her private life, forming lasting intimate friendships with some of the great men and women of her time.
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One of the Great Americans I knew too little about
- By Ray M on 07-19-20
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Twilight at Monticello
- The Final Years of Thomas Jefferson
- By: Alan Pell Crawford
- Narrated by: James Boles
- Length: 11 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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Much has been written about Thomas Jefferson, with good reason: His life was a great American drama, one of the greatest, played out in compelling acts. He was the architect of our democracy, a visionary chief executive who expanded this nation's physical boundaries to unimagined lengths.
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After Leaving Office
- By Roy on 09-23-10
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First Family
- Abigail & John Adams
- By: Joseph J. Ellis
- Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning, best-selling author of Founding Brothers and His Excellency brings America’s preeminent first couple to life in a moving and illuminating narrative that sweeps through the American Revolution and the republic’s tenuous early years. John and Abigail Adams left an indelible and remarkably preserved portrait of their lives together in their personal correspondence: Both Adamses were prolific letter writers (although John conceded that Abigail was clearly the more gifted of the two), and over the years they exchanged more than 12,000 letters.
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"Real History"
- By leslie on 11-15-10
By: Joseph J. Ellis
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Team of Rivals
- The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
- By: Doris Kearns Goodwin
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 41 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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On May 18, 1860, William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward Bates, and Abraham Lincoln waited in their hometowns for the results from the Republican National Convention in Chicago. When Lincoln emerged as the victor, his rivals were dismayed and angry. Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery was leading inexorably to secession and civil war.
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Beautiful, Heartbreaking, and Informative
- By JJ on 09-10-12
What listeners say about The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers
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- stacey a. wright
- 04-11-18
Thought Provoking and Detailed History Showcasing the Influence of Women in the Lives of the Founding Fathers
This is a well-researched and nicely presented summary of five of the US’s Founding Fathers and the influence, love and contributions of the women in their lives. Recommended for anyone hoping to learn general histories of our earliest politicians, the events of the forming of the nation and the roles of the women who surrounded the male history makers.
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The presidents’ wives, children, and intimates
Narration is somewhat plodding and induces boredom.
Meticulous details of the lives of the presidents’ children, wives, and other family members.
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- Gene Lewis
- 07-14-18
Enjoyed it, but
Being somewhat of a histryofile, (okay, I know that not a word, but you know what I mean), I enjoyed the book as I do enjoy most of Fleming’s work. And the narrator was competent enough, the only thing was his voice had 2 distinct timbres, or at least I thought so. Once I got comfortable with his words he’d go off with the other voice. I became distracted listening and also waiting for the timbre to switch back, because I knew it was going to, the only question was when. I’m not sure how this came about, my first thought was maybe they decided to expand the abridged version so he added words at a later time, but I don’t guess that makes a lot of sense. So maybe the producers decided to revoice (another made up word, I guess) certain sections for clarification and he had a cold or something else effecting his voice, that day. I feel the timbre factor was 70/30. But again I enjoyed the story, I just wish I had heard it in one voice.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Devon
- 07-03-14
Interesting, but unbalanced, angle
I did learn some new things in this book, and some of the chapters were quite enjoyable. However, throughout the whole thing, the author seemed to display judgmental prejudice against some founding fathers while giving a much more generous and fair treatment to others on similar topics (morality, slavery, debt).
I learned a few things and enjoyed hearing more about the founding father's personal lives and how they shaped their public personas. This book has some good content, but is detracted by its lack of impartial discussions on historical figures - particularly Jefferson, whom Fleming seems to think was lucky, but overrated and under-talented - a fact he drives home whenever he can. I most sincerely disagree.
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4 people found this helpful
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- annie
- 04-25-11
some interesting dirt on our national heroes
One of the best books written about the founding fathers; people we thought were gods. Surprisingly, these "gods" had very human failings. George Washington, it seems, hated being president and refused to run again, until he was absolutely pressured into it. Jefferson failed miserably at being the Governor of Virginia. Alexander Hamilton, who set up this country's banking system, and was the first Sec. of the Treasury, had to admit to an affair to keep from being indicted for stealing out of the public coffers (found to be not true when he died.)The book is interesting, well written, and the narration is superb.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Boots
- 10-20-12
Wish I could've been there!
Any additional comments?
Thomas Fleming, possibly one of the best historical writers of the 1980s and 90s. He does, as always, places the information in such a format to bring the reader into the story and live the events depicted by the subject. I found it useful while listening to the book to use a paper and pencil to sketch out timelines for each founding father in the people that surrounded his life. This enabled me to keep track and refer back to names places and dates as the book marched through the founding fathers. This book is certainly a must read volume and will bring facts to life which you never learned in school.
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- Kathleen Glasscock
- 08-07-18
excellent!
I really enjoyed Fleming's book. He is thoughtful and articulate. He not presents his ideas but also the opinions of those whose ideas run counter to his and methodically and logically debunks their claims. Recommended reading!
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- Brandy
- 10-29-12
Information I didn't need to know
From time to time I like to flavor my reading of fiction with a book on history, a biography, or some other non-fiction literature. This is usually easy and rewarding as there are so many excellent books available lately that inform and are also entertaining. For this reason I decided to try the Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers.
I must admit that the mistake was mine. I did not pay careful attention to the title, which had I done so, already gave the clue. What possible interest would I have in the intimate lives of people who have been dead for over 200 years? However, the publisher's review promised that we would learn how wives influenced from behind the scenes. From reading the review I felt that I would be receiving an inside look at how political positions were formed and how strong women guided and supported their husbands.
I barely had the patience to listen through all of George Washington and part of Benjamin Franklin before deciding that for the first time in my two years as an avid Audible listener, I am not going to finish a book.
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4 people found this helpful