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Henry Brooks Adams (February 16, 1838 – March 27, 1918) was an American historian, journalist, author, intellectual, and prominent figure in high society in London and Washington, D.C. He was a member of the Adams political family, descended from two U.S. presidents. His views on matters of public concern were influential on the leading figures of his day, including John Hay, Theodore Roosevelt, and Henry Cabot Lodge, and his work has had enduring influence on the historiography of the United States and the academic discipline of history in the United States.

As a young Harvard graduate, he served as secretary to his father, Charles Francis Adams, Abraham Lincoln's minister to the United Kingdom. The posting influenced the younger man through the experience of wartime diplomacy and absorption in English culture, especially the works of John Stuart Mill. After the American Civil War, he became a political journalist who entertained America's foremost intellectuals at his homes in Washington and Boston.

During his lifetime, he was best known for The History of the United States of America 1801–1817, a nine-volume work, praised for its literary style, command of the documentary evidence, and deep knowledge of the period and its major figures. His memoir, The Education of Henry Adams, was published posthumously. It won the Pulitzer Prize and was named the best English-language nonfiction book of the 20th century by the Modern Library.

Biography

Early life and education

Henry Brooks Adams was born in Boston on February 16, 1838 to Charles Francis Adams Sr. (1807–1886) and Abigail Brown Adams (1808–1889). Both his paternal grandfather, John Quincy Adams, and great-grandfather, John Adams, had been presidents of the United States, and his maternal grandfather, Peter Chardon Brooks, was one of the most successful merchants in Boston. He was the fourth of five children: Louisa Catherine (1831–70), John Quincy II (1833–94), Charles Jr. (1835–1915), and Brooks (1848–1927).

Adams was among the first students at the Dixwell School.……

London (1861–1868)

Adams returned home from Europe in the midst of the heated 1860 presidential election.……

Works and influence

During the late 1860s and early 1870s, Adams edited the North American Review with his brother Charles Jr. During their tenure, the Review published articles exposing corrupt practices in finance, railroads, and government. The brothers collected several of their most important essays in a book titled, Chapters of Erie (1871).

In 1884, Adams was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society. In 1894, Adams was elected president of the American Historical Association. His address, entitled "The Tendency of History", was delivered in absentia.……

History of the United States during the Administrations of Jefferson and Madison

Adams's The History of the United States of America During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (published 1889–91) is a highly detailed history of the Jefferson and Madison administrations, with a focus on diplomacy.……

Views

Adams was known for his acerbic and sarcastic wit, which colored many of his views. His surviving private letters and commentary are marked by pessimistic predictions of the future decline of American civilization. However, Eleanor Roosevelt wrote, "Henry Adams loved to shock his hearers, and I think he knew that those who were worth their salt would understand him and pick out of the knowledge which flowed from his lips the things which might be useful, and discard the cynicism as an old man's defense against his own urge to be [still] an active factor in the work of the world."

Criticisms of corporations and capitalism

Adams maintained a critical view of the corporate form, financial centralization, and the growing role of both the economic, social and political life of America for his entire life.……

Writings by Adams

1876. Essays in Anglo-Saxon Law (with Henry Cabot Lodge, Ernest Young and J.L. Laughlin)

1879. Life of Albert Gallatin

1879. The Writings of Albert Gallatin (as editor, three volumes)

1880. Democracy: An American Novel (published anonymously)

1882. John Randolph

1889–1891. History of the United States During the Administrations of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (nine volumes)

• 1891. Historical Essays
• 1904. Mont Saint Michel and Chartres

1910. A Letter to American Teachers of History @ Internet Archive

1918. The Education of Henry Adams (published privately)

1919. The Degradation of the Democratic Dogma