Ryerson's John Adams's Republic

John Adams wanted a very strong executive to guard against the inevitable rise of oligarchy in the US. His prescription may have been wrong - today, we have a strong executive who is part of an oligarchy - but what he most feared has come to pass. Ryerson's book provides an exceptionally strong and readable analysis of the historical development of John Adams political thinking over the course of his long life. His work should be better known than it is among political theorists and anyone interested in republican political theory.