Part 5, Chapter 17 Summary and Analysis

"Simon Willard's Clock" is about the U.S. Congress. A small boy who with his mother watches the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775, serves from his teen years as a diplomat across Europe, senator, secretary of state, and president, before taking his seat in the 22nd Congress and is thrilled. John Quincy Adams champions mechanical "improvements" and scientific inquiry, with colleagues Lincoln and Corwin decries the Mexican War, and endures eight years of being hooted and howled at battling the infamous Gag rule that keeps Congress from addressing slavery. He wins and stands as a reminder of the giants driven by conscience who love the ambience and procedures of the House of Representatives.

In 1848, at age 80, Adams collapses at his desk, dies two days later in the Speaker's office, with Henry Clay holding his hand. Lincoln helps with funeral...