Book Review: The Intimate Lives of the Founding Fathers by Thomas J. Fleming
Four Stars
“In their loves and losses, their hopes and fears, they are more like us than we have dared to imagine.”
A worthwhile addition to the histories of our founding. Superficially what seems trivial reveals deep of relevance for understanding both the founders and the product of their labors.
“Newspaper ethics in the nineteenth century did not put a high value on accuracy. ‘Faking’ a story … was accepted journalistic practice.”
The universal themes seem to be of men driven almost to monomania, often to the neglect of wives and family. In several cases, it is impossible to know the man without knowing the wife. Most were dedicated to their spouses. Sadly, those who had sons or grandsons almost universally begat individuals who embarrassed them, improvised them, and broke their hearts. Their daughters seem to be woven of finer stuff.
“Nothing is ours which another can deprive us of.” Thomas Jefferson
Well-conceived, well-researched, well-written.
“Dolly [Madison] concluded that a woman who waded into the contentious side of politics aroused the always lurking hostility between the sexes and won no friends for her side of the argument.”
As a Matter of Fancy 