John Adams and Thomas Jefferson - Friends Divided

John Adams. Thomas Jefferson. Two of America's most important founding fathers had quite an interesting history of their own.

• They met in the early stages of the Revolution, and became close friends despite key fundamental differences in their world views.
• This friendship came even closer whilst they were diplomats in Europe.
• Once the French Revolution began, however, and especially when it came time to choose the country's first presidents, their differences in ideologies came to a head.
• A decades-long series of arguments tore their friendship in two and threatened to silence their friendship for good.

It took the savvy intervention of another founding father, Benjamin Rush, who was good friends with the two, to mend their wounds and bind the friendship together once more 'till the end of their days.

Historian Gordon S. Wood tells a remarkable story of this friendship in his dual biography "Friends Divided." He describes each man's upbringing, education, political carrer, and ideologies in engaging depth. Wood also examines how this unlikely friendship came together, threatened to tear itself apart, and healed in the formative years after the American Revolution. He also analyzes how Adams's and Jefferson's views helped form two of the country's first political parties, despite each man despising political parties to begin with.