While it might be easy to think the world only got hip to the Founding Fathers because of Lin Manuel Miranda, Tom Hanks actually performed a similar feat in 2008.
Hanks and his company Playtone Records took the biography of a misunderstood, pugnacious Founding Father and give him the spotlight he deserved. Except unlike Chernow's Hamilton as the inspiration he used David McCulloch's book about John Adams. Adams, like Hamilton, were both figures that were hard to embrace by the mainstream world before their pop culture reboots. Adams was short, ill-tempered and arrogant. Hamilton was a little better looking but also arrogant, deeply cynical about the common man and of course had his rough childhood that set him apart from the affluent Founders. HBO made an awesome miniseries that used to carry the Revolutionary narrative in the 2000s until "Hamilton" came around. I find it interesting that both series marginalize the other. In "John Adams", Hamilton is a bit of side note and never given the full depth all the other major Founders would get. John Adams in "Hamilton", however, never even gets to appear on the stage. He is only referenced a few times and every time disparagingly. Maybe these two needs to have an epic beat down or rap battle and, if they do, this will be John Adams' theme song. ​Enjoy
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