ABSTRACT
As with most blessings in life, the republication of John Adams, after its first appearance forty years ago, comes as a surprise, and it comes through the hand of a friend. The late Russell Kirk, without whose inspiration the author might never have met John Adams in the first place, left instructions, found after his death, that his John Adams should be republished. Adams himself surely would be surprised that he even has become a popular theatrical figure, playing prominently in the musical, 1776; in the television series, The Adams Chronicles; and, most recently, as the centerpiece of HBO's television series, John Adams. Adams would have deplored our modern romance with voluntarism—the claim that the highest good is the will, which, as the highest good, can therefore refuse to accept any moral authority as valid. In forty years the vol-untaristic impulse has hurtled ahead at break-neck speed.
