The Education of Henry Adams

On a hot July night in 1868, the Adams family arrives in the States after seven years abroad. Henry is thirty years old. After a few months of relaxation and renewing friendships, he leaves Boston on October 12 to become a freelance journalist in Washington; en route to the nation's capital, he stops off in New York and arranges to do some work for the Nation as well as the Post. Henry's review of Sir Charles Lyell's latest edition of the Principles of Geology appears in the North American Review. United States Attorney General William M. Evarts hosts Henry in his home until the young man finds suitable housing. Seward is still Secretary of State but is of little practical help to Henry, an example of a favorite Adams aphorism that may seem odd considering his many advantages: "Every friend in power is a friend lost." Ulysses S. Grant wins the presidential election in November. Henry becomes interested in issues involving governmental control of the economy, especially "greenback" currency.