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From back to school to tackling your to-do list, the Today Show is your best start to the day. It's a new season, and every morning, we're here to help you take it all off. As the forecast calls for football all across the country. Blockbuster stars, live concerts, and so much more. Wake up to where it's all happening.
We're getting back to all of it, and the best way to start is together. Watch The Today Show, weekday mornings at 7 a.m. on NBC. This is Danielle Fischel from Pod Meets World. Parents, quick question.
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Greenlight is a debit card and the number one family finance and safety app used by millions of families, helping kids learn how to save, invest, and spend wisely. Parents can send their kids money and track their spending and saving while kids build money confidence and skills in fun ways. Start your risk-free Green Light trial today at greenlight.com/slash iHeart. That's greenlight.com/slash iHeart. This is Lee Habib and this is Our American Stories, the show where America is the star and the American people.
And up next, a story about one of our founding fathers. A star of all stars. And that is John Adams. To tell the story is David McCullough, who wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning biography. which turned into an HBO series.
The John Adams story you're about to hear was given by McCullough. the John Adams Institute. in the Netherlands. We'd like to give a heartfelt thank you to the John Adams Institute and their podcast. Bright Minds for allowing us to share this story.
with our listeners. Here's David McCullough. with a story. of John Adams. I've often stopped in recent years to try to figure out what it is.
I've been writing about in my writing life. For a long time, I thought maybe I must have a water obsession. The first book was about the Johnstown Flood, the second was about a bridge over the East River, the third was about the Panama Canal. But I think at root, everything that I have been trying to do in my work is about courage. And Principally.
Chiefly. The courage of one's convictions. And the story of John Adams again and again and again is a story of courage. I thought I would begin my remarks with the painting that hangs in our national capital. It's the most famous.
Painting ever done by an American. It is seen by more people than any other painting ever painted by an American, as it hangs there where millions go through as visitors every year. It's John Trumbull's signing of the Declaration of Independence. It is July 4th, 1776. And almost everything about it is inaccurate.
The room didn't look like the room is portrayed. The curtains at the windows are not the same. The furniture is wrong. The doors are in the wrong place. The uh The Declaration of Independence was not signed.
on the 4th of July, 1776. They didn't begin signing it. Until August of 1776, and not everyone was present for the signing. Because many of them hadn't returned to Congress yet, some of them didn't show up until fall, and one man didn't get back until 1777. But there is one thing about it that's entirely accurate, and those are the faces of the people portrayed.
The signers of the Declaration. A Declaration that set out to really change the the world. And it wasn't something handed down by a king or a potentate or a czar. but the decision of a group of citizens acting on their own, acting very bravely on their own. Because by signing that document, They were signing their death warrants.
They were committing treason. If captured, they would be hanged.
So when it says at the end, we pledge our lives, our fortunes, our sacred honor, that's not just rhetoric. That's not just talk. That's the literal truth. If you study the painting, you'll notice that all the lines of perspective all come down to three characters. in the foreground.
John Adams. Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. Who are the three responsible? for the document itself. Jefferson did the draft, Adams and Franklin were sort of his collaborators.
But if you study it further, you'll see that the figure that stands in the exact center of the painting, and clearly the intention. of the artist is to draw your eye to him, is John Adams. John Adams was not the author of the Declaration of Independence. He chose the author of the Declaration of Independence. He said it must be written by Jefferson.
What he did was make it happen. He got the Congress to vote for it. He was the driving spirit. If Jefferson was the pen, Adams was the voice. He was, in that sense, one of the most important Americans who ever lived, and had he done nothing else with his career.
He would be a figure that we would know about. From that time. We know very little about what he said in his great speech. We know very little about what he said in any of his speeches because all the Sessions of Congress were conducted behind closed doors in secrecy. Philadelphia was full of spies.
There was every chance that the word would get out. Adams went on then to have one of the most astonishing careers in all of American history. He became our emissary to France. with Franklin. He became his own emissary to the Netherlands.
Spent two years here. And he succeeded on his own against all kinds of odds without authorization to begin with, not knowing the language, not knowing anybody here. bringing two of his little boys with him, He succeeded. in negotiating a loan from the Netherlands, from the Dutch bankers, of five million guilders or two million dollars, at a point where we were in desperate need of money to fight the war. There was by no means any guarantee that we would win the war.
In fact, every sign suggested that we hadn't a chance. But there were some people who would not give up. And Adams was one of them. He then, after the war, became our first Ambassador to the Court of St. James's, as at the same time he was still the ambassador to the Netherlands.
And as a consequence, he came back and forth many times. From London. Two, Amsterdam and The Hague. to negotiate further loans. After he left the Court of St.
James, as he returned to the United States, to become our first Vice President. and then succeeded. George Washington as president. He served one term, after which he was defeated by Thomas Jefferson in one of the most rancorous. difficult, closest elections in our history.
with vicious Charges being made on both sides. And a contest that wound up in the House of Representatives and was only settled after 36 votes. When one man Changed his vote.
So when we read about presidents of the United States becoming president by a very slim margin. or by a controversial Contest. It all is a very old story. Adams then returned. to his home in Braintree, Massachusetts.
where he lived for another twenty-five years.
Now, here was a man who traveled farther in the service of his country at greater risk. and a greater discomfort? and greater chance of his losing his life, not to say his livelihood, to support his family of any of the major figures of that time. And you've been listening to David McCullough tell this story like no one else can. The story of John Adams continues.
Here. on our American stories. Lee Habib here, the host of Our American Stories. Every day on this show, we're bringing inspiring stories from across this great country. Stories from our big cities and small towns.
But we truly can't do this show without you. Our stories are free to listen to, but they're not free to make. If you love what you hear, go to ouramericanstories.com and click the donate button. Give a little, give a lot. Go to ouramericanstories.com and give.
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From back to school to tackling your to-do list, the Today Show is your best start to the day. It's a new season, and every morning, we're here to help you take it all off. As the forecast calls for football all across the country. Blockbuster stars, live concerts, and so much more. Wake up to where it's all happening.
We're getting back to all of it, and the best way to start is together. Watch the Today Show, weekday mornings at 7 a.m. on NBC. This message is sponsored by Greenlight. With school out, summer is the perfect time to teach our kids real-world money skills they'll use forever.
Green Light is a debit card and the number one family finance and safety app used by millions of families, helping kids learn how to save, invest, and spend wisely. Parents can send their kids money and track their spending and saving while kids build money confidence and skills in fun ways. Start your risk-free GreenLight trial today at greenlight.com slash iHeart. That's greenlight.com/slash iHeart. Toe Ina.
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of John Adams. Let's pick up where we last left off. I have been interested in Jefferson since I was a youngster and went to visit Monticello for the first time. And I felt that uh Jefferson was a figure I would like. to write about.
I had never ventured into the 18th century. and it was a country I felt I wanted to visit. And now that I've been there, I may never come back. But um I had the idea because I was very interested in the fact that John Adams. and Thomas Jefferson had died on the same day.
Incredibly on the same day, and that it was their, in effect, day of days, July 4th, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, eighteen twenty six. And I thought, what if I began with the death of these two men, these two very important and very different men representing entirely different parts of the country? My concern was that how was I going to keep Glamorous Uh famous. Thomas Jefferson. from uh forever upstaging this uh short, stout, uh cranky Yankee, John Adams.
And um It was only when I got into the material. that I realized that this was a biographer's dream. A writer's job is to get below the surface, it seems to me. And to do that with Jefferson would be extremely difficult. because among other things he didn't want you to get below the surface.
any more than necessary, and as a consequence he destroyed every letter that his wife ever wrote to him and every letter he wrote to her. In fact, we don't even know what she looked like. By contrast, there are over 1,500 letters just between John and Abigail Adams. And they pour it out. You know exactly what they felt.
You don't have to speculate. I wonder how he felt about that fellow, or what kind of. Mood were they in that morning? You know, exactly, because all there. And they wrote such letters to their children and to many of their close friends.
So I was drawn by the material. drawn by the fact that how could it be that this Tiny little population. on a remote frontier. Keep in mind that the settlement of the United States at that point was only about 50 miles inland. Along the eastern seaboard.
That's all it was. Massachusetts in 1776 was still two-thirds, not just woods, forest. As was Pennsylvania. How did these men come to be? How did they arise without the benefit of?
Great. educations in Europe and availability of books to everyone and the rest. How did that happen? That to me is close to a miracle. And the more one reads about the revolution, more than one reads particularly about fighting the war.
Because after all, the Declaration of Independence was only that, a declaration, unless they won the war. And when you see what happened, And why it happened? You have to think again and again, it was very nearly a miracle. That when When the direction of the wind It changed. the course of history.
On one night.
So all of this is of extreme interest to me. And those people, they're so endlessly interesting. I want to begin by reading you something John Adams wrote about himself. And he wrote this when he was feeling quite low. He had not succeeded very well in his first.
turn at diplomacy in France. and he was going home after a relatively brief stay. And he stopped and looked at himself in the mirror, and he wrote about his face. He said, By my physical constitution I am but an ordinary man. The times alone have destined me to fame.
He saw too much weakness and languor in his nature. When I look in the glass, my eye, my forehead, my brow, my cheeks My lips all betray this relaxation. Yeah. He could be roused, he knew. Yet some great events, some cutting expressions, Some mean scandals, hypocrisies have at times thrown this assemblage of sloth, sleep, and littleness into a rage a little like a lion.
That's John Adams. He is a flesh and blood human being. And when he says, by my physical condition, I am but an ordinary man, the times alone have destined me to fame, I can guarantee you that he's. Fishing. He doesn't believe it for a minute.
He knows he's not an ordinary man. He's anything but ordinary.
Now he is commonly thought of as a rich Boston blue blood. He was none of those. He wasn't rich. He wasn't a Bostonian. He wasn't a blue blood.
He was a farmer's son. A farmer's son who, through a scholarship, had the good fortune to go to Harvard. His father Yeah. Write his name, but that's about all. His mother almost certainly was illiterate.
And when he went to Harvard, as he said, I discovered books and I read forever. He became the most widely and deeply read American of that very bookish day. And he knew right away that he wanted to excel.
Now that's a little different from ambition. You wanted to excel. He wanted to be good at what he did, and he wanted to serve the public good. The Americans of that time had no history. They had no history to read, no history to have as part of their own sense of who they were.
What they had was classical history, educated Americans. And most of the founders were educated men. They had not just learned to read, And write in Latin and Greek, but they knew Roman history and Greek history. And they knew from the Roman and Greek history the classic models. of valor of honor.
and virtue. When Adams finished Harvard, He went. to become a school teacher. He was the first of our presidents to be a teacher. begin his career as a school teacher.
And In that period, when he's searching to find out what he's going to do with his life, what he's going to make of his life. He poured out his innermost feelings as he would all of his life in writing. on paper. And those little diaries have all survived. They are about the size of the palm of your hand.
and they're in a microscopic handwriting. I had to use a magnifying glass to read it. And of course that's in part because Paper was so expensive, and this boy, this young man, had no money. I will read you an excerpt from July 21st, 1756. In other words, 20 years before 1776.
He's twenty years old. I am resolved to rise with the sun and to study scriptures on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings, and to study some Latin author the other three mornings. Noons and nights I intend to read English authors. I will rouse up my mind and fix my attention. I will stand collected within myself and think upon what I read and what I see.
I will strive with all my soul to be something more than persons who have had less advantage than myself.
Now clearly that is a young man with a rare idea of what he might be and a very good mind. It's so admirable. But then The next morning, he slept until 7 o'clock. And the one-line entry following: a very rainy day, dreamed away all my time. When I read that, I knew I had my man.
Here's somebody that I can identify with. He's a human being. And you are listening to David McCullough tell one heck of a story. about the great John Adams. And it's so interesting to hear how McCullough even chose Adams.
is it was not his intention. He had started by wanting to cover Jefferson. and tell Jefferson's story. But the more he prodded, the more he poked. the more he realized that Adams was more interesting.
In the end, Let's face it, Adams chose Jefferson. as he said, to write the declaration. Jefferson was the pin. But Adams the Voice. And if you go to Monticello, and I went to the University of Virginia Law School in Charlottesville.
Everything Jefferson, all the time. What I learned in three years there, reading almost everything, you can't know Jefferson. He hid himself. And by the way, we have friends like this and people like this in our lives. You don't know them.
They don't tell you anything about themselves. The story of John Adams continues, and boy, do we know a lot about John Adams. You're about to hear so much more.
So much more we all need to know and learn. And we'd like to give a heartfelt thank you to the John Adams Institute. And their podcast, Bright Minds, for allowing us to share this story. with our listeners. The Institute's name commemorates the man who was the first American emissary to the Netherlands in 1780.
The story of John Adams continues with David McCullough here. on our American stories. When you're a pro, you need a project partner who delivers results. Ferguson Home understands that selection and availability are critical to transforming visions into realities. That's why they offer the best selection of home improvement products, spanning the latest trends, traditional styles, unique finishes, and smart technologies.
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From back to school to tackling your to-do list, the Today Show is your best start to the day. It's a new season and every morning. We're here to help you take it all along. as the forecast calls for football all across the country. Blockbuster stars, live concerts, and so much more.
Wake up to where it's all happening. We're getting back to all of it, and the best way to start is together. Watch the Today Show, weekday mornings at 7 a.m. on NBC. You heard it before many times.
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And perhaps thee found her. John Adams. Let's pick up. Where we last left off. He finally decides that he is not going to be a school teacher.
And he's not going to be a minister as his father had hoped. as most parents of students who went to Harvard hoped, as most of the faculty expected the students to become. preachers, ministers. Protestant ministers. Instead, he decides he will become a lawyer.
He will enter public life. And this was a great struggle because he knew he was going against his father's wishes, and he adored his father. And one Sunday after church, He was a very devout Christian, I should emphasize, inspired by the sermon he had heard, He went out under the night sky. to behold the glorious spectacle of a starry night. And beholding the night sky, he wrote, the amazing concave of heaven sprinkled and glittered with stars.
I am thrown into a kind of transport. He knew that such wonders were the gifts of God. And then he writes, But the greatest of all was the gift of an inquiring mind. But of all the provisions that he has made for the gratification of our senses, this same twenty-year-old wrote. are much inferior to the provision, the wonderful provision, that he has made for the gratification of our nobler, nobler powers of intelligence and reason.
He has given us reason to find out the truth. and the real design and true end of our existence. He then says it will be hard work to become an attorney, to learn the law. to qualify for the bar. But the more difficult and dangerous the enterprise, the higher the crown of laurel is bestowed on the conqueror.
But the point is now determined. I shall have the liberty to think for myself.
Now what did the founders of our country Believe. What did they think when they talked about The pursuit of happiness. They didn't mean long vacations. They didn't mean Travel to foreign exotic places. They didn't mean a nice, comfortable afternoon in a hammock or a lot of expensive possessions.
What they meant, what they were talking about, Was an extension and enlargement of the experience of life through the life of the mind and the life of the spirit. And they all talk about it. This is not some notion imposed upon them by latter-day biographers and historians. Jefferson said: any nation that expects to be ignorant and free expects what never was and never can be. In other words, you cannot have a self-governing system.
without a population that is educated. Adam's story. Could very well be taken as a metaphor for the transforming miracle of education. And it's all through his life. And it is most dramatically and I think most.
Memorably Illustrated. by the fact that he brought John Quincy with him to Europe. and later on the second trip John Quincy and Charles, who was even younger. little boys and they were not big boys that were small for their age. who came across in the winter time.
On two voyages. The first voyage What is it? Absolutely horrendous. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. They were hit by a hurricane.
They engaged, closed with the British warship, fought a battle. People were killed. Yeah. Stalled in the sea, they were becalmed for days on end. The food was wretched.
The accommodations were miserable. In the winter months, On the North Atlantic, virtually no one was out there who valued his life. Even in peacetime. Nobody from New England went to sea in the wintertime, if it could possibly be avoided. And Adams did it twice.
And twice he took these young boys with him. Why would he do that? Why would his wife, their mother, risk their lives? And the answer is very simple. their education.
She wanted them. And one cannot underestimate the importance of Abigail Adams, not just in the story of John Adams, but in the history of what happened. to Adams, Jefferson, and so many of them. She was without question one of the most remarkable Americans of all time. She wanted that young boy to come because she wanted him to have the example of his father.
to live with, see, on a day-to-day basis. She knew that he was coming to Europe at the time of the Enlightenment, that he would have the chance to be with the great French intellectuals and intellectuals in other countries, that he would have the chance to learn different languages. All of which he did. all of which happen.
Now after the horrendous voyage of the first trip over. And he had returned to the United States with his father, and his father was called back here. And his mother said, You're going again? He said, No. But done that.
And it was so terrifying he didn't want to leave. A second time.
So she wrote him a letter. A letter in which she spelled out what she expected of him. Yeah. I don't think there's anything that I know of in all of the writings and literature of 18th century Americans that expresses it quite so well. What was it that was moving these people?
These very imperfect people. None of whom was was a god, none of whom was unflawed. She said to him, These are, and remember, she's writing to a little kid. These are the times in which a genius would wish to live. It's not in the still calm of life or the repose of a Pacific station that great characters are formed.
The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties. Great necessities call out great virtues. Great necessities call out great virtues. When a mind is raised and animated by scenes that engage the heart, then those qualities which otherwise would lay dormant waken to life and form the character of the hero and the statesman.
Well, you know, he had to go after reading that. But keep in mind in that last sentence, she has referred to the mind and the life of the mind several times before she comes to that last sentence. But then in the last sentence, she makes the point. When a mind is raised and animated by scenes that engage the heart. Then those qualities which would otherwise lay dormant.
Waken to life. In other words, You have to have it here to not just here. John Adams had an immensely successful life. But for him the real success Was him Seeing his son sons and daughter, arise as thinking independent good citizens. The most noteworthy of all Up whom.
was John Quincy Adams.
Now John Quincy Adams Is a whole subject unto himself. But let me just say briefly that I believe. that if it were possible to give all the presidents of the United States an IQ test, John Quincy Adams would come in. At the front. even ahead of his father.
And you've been listening to the late great biographer David McCullough. Tell the story of John Adams. And by the way, he was telling this story at the John Adams Institute. in the Netherlands. And by the way, they have a terrific podcast called Bright minds, which I'd urge all of you.
listen to. And my goodness, what we learned from this man. He goes to Harvard, which at the time is a divinity school. Thinks about teaching, thinks about ministry, but in the end disappoints his father, whom he admired. is he wants to pursue the law.
And my goodness, what a correct choice that John made as it relates to his future. pursuing the law. And by the way, those letters between John and Abigail, if you ever get a chance to read them, there's nothing quite like them anywhere in all of literature. Frankly. And what a story of a marriage, how those two.
communicated, lifted each other up. fought each other, pushed each other, and my goodness, that litter. that Abigail wrote to her son. What a letter Great necessities call out great virtues, she wrote. to her young son.
calling him to ride that rough winter Atlantic again and risk life to learn. When we come back more of the story of John Adams with David McCullough. Here. on our American stories. Uh When you're a pro, you need a project partner who delivers results.
Ferguson Home understands that selection and availability are critical to transforming visions into realities. That's why they offer the best selection of home improvement products, spanning the latest trends, traditional styles, unique finishes, and smart technologies. From coordinated job site delivery to online project management tools, they tailor their services to support your goals. Their experienced associates know construction inside and out, helping you find exactly what you need to exceed your expectations. And I can tell you personally that my contractor used Ferguson Homes and exceeded our expectations and his.
With more than 250 showrooms nationwide, Ferguson Home is your trusted partner from concept to completion. Whether you're managing large-scale projects or perfecting a single detail, they have the expertise and selection to help you succeed. Visit your local Ferguson Home showroom or go to FergusonHome.com to discover kitchen, bath, and lighting solutions that set your projects apart. Ferguson Home, where it all comes together. Explore top brands like Kohler at FergusonHome.com or visit your local showroom.
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Offers are subject to change and certain restrictions may apply. Good morning, welcome to Today. From back to school to tackling your to-do list, the Today Show is your best start to the day. It's a new season and every morning, we're here to help you take it all off. as the forecast calls for football all across the country.
Blockbuster stars, live concerts, and so much more. Wake up to where it's all happening. We're getting back to all of it, and the best way to start is together. Watch the Today Show, weekday mornings at 7 a.m. on NBC.
You heard it before many times. Water is life. But do you know that almost half of the homes on the Navajo Reservation do not have clean running water? With your support, St. Bonaventure Indian Mission and School is ready to give water to Navajo families.
So we invite you to help provide this precious gift of life to those in need. Contrary to many average Americans, Navajo families survive on just 10 gallons of water per day. You can help support St. Bonaventure's water delivery program by going to stbonaventuremission.org. Wasn't that delicious?
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Visit wellsfargo.com/slash active cash. Terms apply. And we continue with our American stories and the story of John Adams as told. By the late Author David McCullough. Let's pick up where we last left off.
John Quincy Adams became the first full-fledged ambassador. to the Netherlands. In that he was the first to be appointed by a President of the United States when he was 29 years old. And he was the most.
Well equipped. the most gifted, the most appropriate ambassador. Washington. appointed in all of his presidency at 29 years old. He was a diplomat at fifteen.
When his time there was up and it was time for you, he returned by himself. at age 15, all the way across from St. Petersburg here. to the Netherlands, which in that time was like traveling to the moon and back. And on his own.
Now you see That boy wasn't just brilliant. He had been raised to be that way. And he'd been raised to be grown up, an adult, and responsible far earlier than we raise our children that way today. Much more so. He became president and he was not a particularly effective or successful president.
He was not a failure as president, but he was not one of our great presidents. And we don't, for some reason or other, there are probably good explanations, we don't include one-term presidents in the pantheon of great American presidents. unless they're killed in office. and then they rise to the top. Uh And neither John Adams nor John Quincy Adams served more than one term.
But it was after. John Quincy Adams left the presidency that his heroic And important. time in our history begins. Because he was the only president, the only former president before or since who went back to serve in the House of Representatives. which was thought at the time to have be such a step down as to be almost embarrassing.
But he said to his credit, and he meant it because no Adams ever said anything they didn't mean. which was part of the disadvantage they operated under as diplomats and politicians, he said that he considered it to be the highest honor he'd ever had. And what happened was he went back to Washington. and went into the Congress, went into the House of Representatives, now Statuary Hall. And there's a mark on the floor at Statuary Hall, the old House of Representatives, marking the spot, where he battled slavery.
Day in, day out, year in, year out. He was called Old Man Eloquent. And he died there. died with his boots on, as we say. Fighting the good fight to the end.
And most interestingly, His mother and father were very strongly anti-slavery all their lives. John Adams was the only, and I hope you know this, if you don't, I hope you won't forget it. John Adams was the only one of our founders who did not own a slave, ever, as a matter of principle. Abigail Adams in the worst years of the early years of the Revolution, When everything seemed to be going wrong, when pestilence and disease were sweeping through her part of Massachusetts, she said, I wonder if our sufferings are not. God's punishment for the sin of slavery.
So there, years later, is the son battling on the floor of the Congress against slavery. He was his father and mother's son. Two. a very large degree. Abigail liked to uh quote A line from an English poet.
Adversity is a good man's shining time. And this is true of so many of them. They knew they weren't perfect as human beings, and they knew what they had done wasn't perfect. to attain A life where all men We're created equal. lot of hard work and struggle and grief and disappointment.
But that was the idea. That was the advantage. They created the ideal and the successors were supposed to achieve it. In the theme of the American Experiment as an ongoing experiment. They sent true north for us, in effect.
And we've been trying to reach it ever since, and we'll continue to do so. And they were such noble people in their willingness to serve the country. And their heartfelt belief in what was at stake.
Now some of them did not feel that. Washington's Army had deserters by the thousands. Deserters and people who went over to the other side, people who quit. people who quit the Congress. people in Congress who went over to the other side.
They were by no means all heroes, but enough of them were. and the greatest of them. Yeah. Of all. was Washington.
There would not have been. the country we have if it hadn't been for Washington.
So when people say that John Adams was eclipsed by Washington, or he was in the shadow of Washington. Of course he was. We have never had a figure in our country. who had the same Power. over people as George Washington.
He was a figure of Union during the war. and a figure of union after he became president when already the country was starting to pull apart because of factions and rivalries based in large part on slavery. and on sectionalism. They were very great men. and quite imperfect.
And they changed the world. When George Washington turned over his command. of the Continental Army to the Congress. Relinquished power. as no general had ever done before, no conquering general had ever done before.
George III, King George III. Had heard that this might happen, and he said, if he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world. That was the example. Which goes back, of course, to Cincinnati. The Roman model.
So they were learning from history, profiting from history, drawing strength from history. Not the same history we draw strength from or our examples from, but a different history. But we should draw history from their example. And we should draw a sense of what humanity can be from their example. In a way, Nobody ever lived in the past.
There is no such thing as the past. Jefferson, Adams, Washington. They didn't walk around saying, isn't this fascinating, living in the past? Aren't we quaint in our funny clothes? They were living in the present, but it was their present.
Not ours. And it was different from ours, which means that they were different. What had happened was this. John Adams in his final journey had come to the conclusion That contrary to the ideals of the Enlightenment that everything could not be explained. that there were inevitable mysteries.
and that that was a good thing. that we need mysteries. And as he grew older, He began to lose everything. His friends died. His beloved daughter died of a hideous mastectomy.
Then Abigail died. One of his other sons had destroyed himself with alcohol. He had seen his son become President of the United States. But he'd lost his friends. He'd lost his hair.
He'd lost his teeth. He couldn't ride a horse anymore. It was as if the Lord had destroyed the last thing he had. Everything, it would seem, was gone, and everything. was there to make this supposedly pessimistic man even more pessimistic than ever.
But a very curious thing had happened. He became increasingly optimistic with age. History ought to be something that reminds us of who we are. And what we stand for. What we believe.
The previous Librarian of Congress. Daniel Borston once said, trying to approach the future without a sense of the past. is like trying to plant cut flowers. We must No history. We must understand who these people were and all that they did for us.
and we must draw strength and confidence from them. And my Message is this. We are up against a foe. All of us. Who believes in enforced ignorance?
And we Don't. And we Never will. Will. And a terrific job on the editing by Greg Hengler. and a special thanks to the John Adams Institute in the Netherlands.
sharing this audio with us. and their podcast Bright Minds. It's terrific, go to the John Adams Institute website. to hear more from them. And my goodness, that voice, McCullough's voice, there's nothing like it.
It's featured so prominently in Ken Burns' The Civil War. But it's his heart and love of the founders and of history. And he's right. If we don't know where we came from, we won't know who we are. And read the John Adams book.
Watch the HBO series. Your whole family should watch them. You'll get to know more about your country. In the end, Adams propelled himself to greatness. He wanted that education.
He wanted it all. And in the end, He knew he was not an ordinary man. He knew it, and he knew it young. And boy was he not. And my goodness, that final part of his life when he loses everything.
And imagine. losing your friends, then losing your wife, losing your hair, your teeth, everything. And yet he grew more optimistic with age and understood that the Enlightenment, that science and reason, could not explain everything. back to that divinity. where it all started.
The story of John Adams, the story of America, and the story of so much more. Here. on our American stories. Time for a sofa upgrade? Visit washable sofas.com and discover Anibay, where designer style meets budget-friendly prices, with sofas starting at $699.
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Offers are subject to change and search. restrictions may apply. This is Danielle Fischel from PodMeets World. Parents, quick question. When is the last time you won snack time?
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