Photo: Tim Barnwell
Legislative News by Nelda Holder –
Wife of the fairly cantankerous and brilliant statesman John Adams, who became the second president of the newly born United States of America, she is well known to have been wise in the ways of the new Republic, and a stalwart advisor to her husband. Indeed, she is renowned as one of our nation’s founders.
Dear old Google, in fact, reminds us that she and husband John exchanged some 1,100 letters during the formative deliberations—she from their farm in Massachusetts, he from the Continental Congress in Philadelphia that brought forth a “new nation.” And her “Don’t forget the women John!” instruction has not been forgotten, even though John and the boys did not insert it into the new Declaration of Independence. (We’ve been paying for that ever since—we women, and “we” as a nation.)
I am returning to my books in these troubled national times, including one of her biographies, (I may also return to the informative PBS treatments of John and Abigail through their “American Experience“ program.) And I am suggesting that it might be good for us all, as citizens, to take a breath and turn away from the hyperbole that has set this country aflame in the political realm (and burning much too close to the realm of reality!).
So here are some grounding books you might want to consult to help keep your head on straight in 2024—books that address our national government and the ideals upon which it was founded … be that directly or in a more obtuse manner.
Renewing the vision: Playing (and winning) the long game as citizens
Yes, I have favorites. But I believe these recommendations by friends and from my own library contribute to one’s ability to perform as a conscientious citizen in this country, to help us retrieve and renew that “more perfect union” we’ve heard about all our lives—while noises of division come across so loudly on television and through threats…
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