A good summary of some of the problematic issues of an otherwise great man. I remember reading a comment that David McCullough made after his biography of Adams was published. He said that he had started out to do a joint biography of Adams and Jefferson but after a few months he realized that Adams was the “essential” man and that Jefferson was integral but mush more peripheral.
I liked Conor Cruise O’Brien’s study of Jefferson’s problematic side “The Long Affair” as well as the other biographies I read on him.
In reading O’Brien, people must understand that he is an earlier version of Chris Hitchens — his bio of Bruke was his turning point like Hitchens had with Clinton.
He was born the same year as my father and passed away at 91 the same year as my dad — he lived a long enough life to be two or threee different people.
Another very good book that puts Jefferson, Adams and the first ten presidents into context is “The First Ten” by Alfred Steinberg. It has some very interesting anecdotes about the people and the times that are hard to find in other works on the presidents and their time in history. I have reread it several times over the last 30 years.
The book is now out of print but I just ordered a copy through Amazon for about $8 total. I could no longer find it at the local libraries.