The Problem of Democracy

John and John Quincy Adams, father and son presidents, were brilliant but often disparaged figures who believed political participation demanded moral courage. This book explores their lives and takes the temperature of American democracy from its origins through various storm events. It provides crucial lessons about the excesses of campaign rhetoric and explains how the United States evolved from a non-democratic constitution to today's unchallengeable notion of democracy, largely through the Adamses' insights into political deception.