For most Americans, John Adams is a dead white guy who had something to do with American independence. Those somewhat more knowledgeable about history know him as a sourpuss who wanted to establish a monarchy and who lost the presidency to Jefferson. HBO's John Adams miniseries, now available on DVD and based on David McCullough's masterful biography, brings Adams to life.

Adams comes across as a very human individual, unlike the marble statue version of Washington that most remember from school or the Renaissance personality that was Thomas Jefferson. Throughout we are reminded that Adams was vain, always concerned about what politicians today would term their "legacy." The series reminds us that after the presidency, Adams retired to his farm where he actually did the farm work himself (alongside his brilliant and devoted wife Abigail). No multi-million dollar book contracts, six-figure speaker's fees or Nobel Prizes for this ex-President. At the same time, it shows that political discourse in the early republic was at least as down and dirty as it is today.

The series begins with Adams defending British soldiers against charges of murder following the so-called Boston Massacre. Later he disappoints his own political party by avoiding a war with France. In between, his candor threatens to jeopardize foreign friendships needed to win the Revolution. These actions show Adams to be a man of rare character, but sometimes not of good judgment; someone willing to jeopardize his career to do what is right.

The show attempts to be realistic through the use of dialect and language used at the time. This can be off-putting for modern viewers but adds to the authenticity of the production. More troubling are the various historical errors, which are surprising considering that McCullough advised the production. For example, Adams did not break a tie to approve Jay's Treaty (treaties require a two-thirds majority in the Senate).

Nevertheless, John Adams demonstrates that great individuals do not exist in a vacuum. They have spouses (in Adams' case, one of the most accomplished women of her time, and one that surely would have thrived in today's more accommodating society), children who sometimes disappoint and sometimes die too young (although one son became President in his own right), and very human faults to go with elements of greatness. Viewers will see an otherwise common place, not terribly attractive, individual whose drive, desire, and intellect took him to the heights of American political life, even if neither he, his peers, nor posterity entirely appreciated what he accomplished.

- Buddy