Greeley, Horace, 1811-1872 to Henry S. Randall

Greeley writes to Randall, a biographer of Thomas Jefferson, about the relative qualities of Jefferson, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Alexander Hamilton. Expresses thanks for Randall's "vindication of Jefferson from the personal calumnies which had somewhat blackened his reputation." He expresses his reverence and love for Jefferson as the author of the Declaration of Independence but wishes Randall had "let him have some venial faults" to make him appear more human. He indicates that he has greater admiration for Hamilton, who he attributes greater responsibility "In building a Government and Nation." He expresses his poor opinion of John Adams and John Quincy Adams: "a bad lot--conceited, cold-hearted, selfish and (on occasion) treacherous." In relation to John Adams and John Quincy Adams, his comment "Depend upon it, blood tells all the way through," may be a negative reference to the congressman Charles Francis Adams, the recently appointed Ambassador to Great Britain. Letter written on stationary of the New York Tribune.