American secretaries of state have typically been more buttoned up than bon vivant, but John Quincy Adams's diplomatic successes - bigger than anything presidential or legislative that he achieved - still surprise a student of his personality. — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
John Quincy Adams ranks with Jimmy Carter on the roster of ex-presidential redemption. Instead of completing a biography of his father, he let himself be elected to the House, where he spent nine terms in Whiggish opposition to the Democrats,… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
“he’d spent his whole life trying to make God love him—and that this didn’t matter in the slightest. All that mattered was that he… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
Cell phones, alas, have pretty much ruined train travel, which I used to love. I could read or even sketch notes for what I… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
My prescription for writer's block is to face the fact that there is no such thing.... Writing well is difficult, but one can always… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
My house in Connecticut is very quiet, and when I'm trying to concentrate, I don't even allow the cat inside my second-floor study. — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
I actually think that 'Bandbox,' by far the silliest of my books, is the best constructed of them. — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
Bobby Kennedy's conduct toward Lyndon Johnson was childish and despicable. As the years went on, he displayed nasty, self-pitying, and messianic qualities that would… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
The Czech Republic, severed from its old Slovak half, sits in apparent landlocked contentment, inside the European Union but outside the troubled Euro Zone,… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
One decision I made in writing 'Henry and Clara' was that I would keep Lincoln's appearances and any dialogue by him to an absolute… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
American secretaries of state have typically been more buttoned up than bon vivant, but John Quincy Adams's diplomatic successes - bigger than anything presidential… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
I was raised - and still consider myself to be - Catholic, though I'm non-practicing and haven't fulfilled my Easter duty since sometime during… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
I think that the worst form of naivete can be extreme cynicism. If you think that nobody comes to Washington to do any good… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
I remember from my academic days, there were people who could never begin writing because they hadn't read every single thing on their subject,… — Thomas Mallon Copy Share Image
