The Adams Chronicles, parts 11 through 13

Episode 11: Charles Francis Adams, Minister to Great Britain

Episode 12: Henry Adams, Historian

Episode 13: Charles Francis Adams II, Industrialist

This entire series has been an exercise in diminishing returns. What I don’t know, is whether the creators were aware of that fact.

Here’s the thing: I don’t know as much about these men as I do about their distinguished forebears. “The Education of Henry Adams” is one of those books I’m always meaning to read but never managing to get to. And doesn’t that sum up the entire Adams family in a way? Healthy, admirable, edifying - and a little boring. Just never the ones you want to get to. Only the ones you keep telling yourself you should get to.

One of my favorite parts of reading the Adams/Jefferson letters is seeing their (mostly JA’s) worries over their status as historical figures. Adams knew, even at the time, that he wasn’t one of the exciting ones: that while many respected him, few revered him; that while Jefferson did not see his son in the White House, he would see a series of proteges and admirers follow in his place and invoke his wisdom for generations. John Adams has no monument in Washington, DC. There’s talk of building one, but for the entire Adams family, including Abigail, Sam and John Quincy. It always seems we never run out of things to say about Jefferson (though I’ll maintain we keep saying the wrong things). With Adams, and his children and grandchildren, there’s just less to say. They were good men. We should have appreciated them more. What else is there to say?

So this miniseries: there’s less and less to say, and I think that might be the point. Charles Francis Adams (and I can’t tell if this is historically accurate or not) seems to make a deliberate choice to reject an especially illustrious career. He likely could have been president if he had wanted, but he seemed satisfied with his position as a respected diplomat. He had healthy and happy relationships with his children. Henry Adams, too, is portrayed as ambivalent about public life, as consciously living a less public life than he might have - and the better for it.

But this isn’t cinema. I understand the desire to be completist (I’d have to, I bought and watched the whole thing). But there isn’t a movie about every great man, and I’m not convinced these were great men. They were very good men, I believe that. Henry Adams was a brilliant and frequently hilarious man, and I’ll definitely read his books now. But I’d rather read him than watch him.

I hate to tell you John Adams, but I’ll keep reading every book on Thomas Jefferson. Someday I’ll write one on Jeffersonian scholarship as a cultural phenomenon. But I don’t need to see a miniseries about your family. You and your wife, sure. And your oldest son deserves a better one than this. But the rest of this was unnecessary.

Recommend?

Honestly? Not really. The first 6 episodes of this epic definitely have their moments, and history buffs will enjoy them. The next 4, all on JQA, are interesting for those of us already interested, but a slog for everyone else. Skip the last three parts. They’re a valiant effort, but ultimately forgettable.