The Lost Founding Father: John Quincy Adams and the Transformation of American Politics

Abstract

While noted for his work on antebellum southern politics and the Civil War, retired historian William J. Cooper has written a biography of New Englander John Quincy Adams. While the choice of topic is surprising for someone with Cooper’s scholarship, the result is not: a well-written, well-rounded look at the life of the sixth president whom many southerners considered their nemesis.