the education of henry adams by henry adams

Henry soon went on to Harvard College, as three generations of Adams men had before him. Adams, only ten years old at the time, went away feeling that the White House belonged to the Adamses and that he would someday live there too.Īs a boy, Henry constantly augmented the narrow and dry learning he received at school with countless hours of reading books on history and poetry in his father’s extensive library. That Henry believed that he would enter into a political career was well illustrated by his impression of meeting President Zachary Taylor. Such experiences, Henry thought, were necessary preparation for a life of public service. Henry recalled that as a young boy he enjoyed reading to himself and overhearing important political conversations among distinguished visitors to the Adams household. That Quincy was so special to Henry was not unusual for it had long been home to his famous ancestors: grandfather John Quincy Adams and great-grandfather John Adams. Although he was born in Boston, Henry felt as a child that he belonged to Quincy, where the family spent their summers. congressman and diplomat, and Abigail Brooks Adams, whose father was one of the wealthiest men in Boston. Henry Brooks Adams was born on February 16, 1838, in Boston, the fourth of six children of Charles Francis Adams, U.S. Perhaps most important though, as the fourth generation of Adamses to achieve great success, he provides a rare example of continuing distinction within one family in the service of their nation. Throughout his career, Adams was a pioneer of historical scholarship and his works became models for exhaustive research and careful writing. He was also skeptical of American faith in technology and devotion to unbridled capitalism. Adams was especially critical of incompetent or corrupt politicians during the post-Civil War period and of the country’s conquest of an island empire during the Spanish-American War of 1898. In his pursuit of these objectives, Henry became one of the nation’s most important writers and critics. His life’s work and contributions to his nation involved analyzing and commenting on American life and thought. Unlike his famous ancestors, Henry Adams was never in the forefront of U.S.

The education of henry adams by henry adams