The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 1805-1813
John Adams and Benjamin Rush were two remarkably different men who shared a devotion to liberty. Their dialogues on the implications of fame for their generation prove remarkably timely—even for the twenty-first century.

Adams and Rush championed very different views on the nature of the American Revolution and of the republic established with the United States Constitution; yet they shared one of the most important correspondences of their time.

John Adams and Benjamin Rush met in 1774 as members of the Continental Congress—Adams from Massachusetts, Rush from Pennsylvania. In 1805, after Adams was defeated in his quest of a second term as the new republic’s second President, the two men self-consciously commenced an exchange of letters. Their recurring subject was fame. This emphasis on fame was crucial, Adams and Rush believed, because on the fame attached to individual leaders of the Revolutionary generation would depend the view of the Revolution and of the Constitution and republican government that would be embraced by generations to come, including our own.

The new Liberty Fund edition of The Spur of Fame reproduces a text originally published by the Huntington Library.

Douglass Adair (1912–1968) edited the William & Mary Quarterly from 1947 to 1955, and was a greatly influential professor and writer. Adair co-edited Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion with John A. Schutz in 1961.

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The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 1805-1813
John Adams and Benjamin Rush were two remarkably different men who shared a devotion to liberty. Their dialogues on the implications of fame for their generation prove remarkably timely—even for the twenty-first century.

Adams and Rush championed very different views on the nature of the American Revolution and of the republic established with the United States Constitution; yet they shared one of the most important correspondences of their time.

John Adams and Benjamin Rush met in 1774 as members of the Continental Congress—Adams from Massachusetts, Rush from Pennsylvania. In 1805, after Adams was defeated in his quest of a second term as the new republic’s second President, the two men self-consciously commenced an exchange of letters. Their recurring subject was fame. This emphasis on fame was crucial, Adams and Rush believed, because on the fame attached to individual leaders of the Revolutionary generation would depend the view of the Revolution and of the Constitution and republican government that would be embraced by generations to come, including our own.

The new Liberty Fund edition of The Spur of Fame reproduces a text originally published by the Huntington Library.

Douglass Adair (1912–1968) edited the William & Mary Quarterly from 1947 to 1955, and was a greatly influential professor and writer. Adair co-edited Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion with John A. Schutz in 1961.

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The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 1805-1813

The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 1805-1813

The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 1805-1813

The Spur of Fame: Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 1805-1813

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Overview

John Adams and Benjamin Rush were two remarkably different men who shared a devotion to liberty. Their dialogues on the implications of fame for their generation prove remarkably timely—even for the twenty-first century.

Adams and Rush championed very different views on the nature of the American Revolution and of the republic established with the United States Constitution; yet they shared one of the most important correspondences of their time.

John Adams and Benjamin Rush met in 1774 as members of the Continental Congress—Adams from Massachusetts, Rush from Pennsylvania. In 1805, after Adams was defeated in his quest of a second term as the new republic’s second President, the two men self-consciously commenced an exchange of letters. Their recurring subject was fame. This emphasis on fame was crucial, Adams and Rush believed, because on the fame attached to individual leaders of the Revolutionary generation would depend the view of the Revolution and of the Constitution and republican government that would be embraced by generations to come, including our own.

The new Liberty Fund edition of The Spur of Fame reproduces a text originally published by the Huntington Library.

Douglass Adair (1912–1968) edited the William & Mary Quarterly from 1947 to 1955, and was a greatly influential professor and writer. Adair co-edited Origin and Progress of the American Rebellion with John A. Schutz in 1961.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780865972865
Publisher: Liberty Fund, Incorporated
Publication date: 03/16/2001
Pages: 343
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range: 18 Years

Table of Contents


List of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xi Location of the Letters xv 1 The Love of Fame, the Ruling Passion of the Noblest Minds 1
2 Jefferson ’s Theft 19
3 The Empire of Death 52
4 Prudence–A Rascally Virtue 80
5 A Game of Leapfrog 111
6 Parties, French and English 137
7 The Corruption of Tradition 162
8 The Dead Languages 180
9 A Farewell Address 195
10 The Blackest Cloud 237
11 Sons Will Blush 269
12 Posterity Pays Its Debt 308 Index 313
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