From heroes to hicks

The flavour of Stephen Graubard’s account of the American presidency in the 20th century may be quickly grasped from his comparison of the only two presidents to follow their fathers into the White House, John Quincy Adams (1825-29) and George W. Bush (2001-?):

Adams, fluent in seven languages, accomplished in both science and mathematics, took pride in the cultivation he had acquired through years of living in close proximity to his gifted and influential father, benefitting from his schooling in Paris and service as a very young man as an additional secretary to the American negotiators that ended the war with Britain …. A student at the University of Leiden and Harvard …. George Washington recognised his potential … appointed him minister to the Netherlands when he was only 26 … to Lisbon as minister to Portugal … to the more important post in Berlin … served first in the Massachusetts senate and then in the United States Senate … minister in Russia … President Monroe appointed him secretary of state. In that post …. Adams excelled.

almost nothing in the career of George W. Bush, except for the advantages he enjoyed from being the son of a former president, compared with those enjoyed by John Quincy Adams … travelled little, knew neither foreign languages nor the world abroad … ranked 114th in a class of 238 at Philips Andover Academy and excelled in no sport …. made no very great impression either on his teachers or his fellow students . . . a heavy drinker . . . ‘totally, completely drunk’ … an affable drunk … Billy Graham, the noted evangelist … became a born-again Christian … understood what Reagan, his father’s mentor, had taught him: to feign originality, to show no deference to the past, and to pretend to be striking out on new and bold paths, an almost sure recipe for political success.