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| {{This|the politician and second president of the United States|John Adams (disambiguation)}} | |||
| {{Infobox President | name=John Adams | |||
| |image=Johnadamsvp.flipped.jpg | |||
| |order=] ] | |||
| |term_start=March 4, 1797 | |||
| |term_end=March 4, 1801 | |||
| |predecessor=] | |||
| |successor=] | |||
| |birth_date={{birth date|mf=yes|1735|10|30|mf=y}} | |||
| |birth_place=Braintree (now ]), ], ] | |||
| |death_date={{death date and age|mf=yes|1826|07|4|1735|10|30}} | |||
| |death_place=], ], ] | |||
| |restingplace=] | |||
| |restingplacecoordinates={{Coord|42.25111|-71.00361}} | |||
| |spouse=] | |||
| |occupation=] | |||
| |alma_mater=] | |||
| |children = ], ], ], ], ] and Elizabeth (stillborn) | |||
| |party=] | |||
| |vicepresident=] | |||
| |religion=] | |||
| |signature=John Adams Sig 2.svg | |||
| |order2=] ] | |||
| |term_start2=April 21, 1789 | |||
| |term_end2=March 4, 1797 | |||
| |president2=] | |||
| |predecessor2=''None'' | |||
| |successor2=] | |||
| |ambassador_from3=United States | |||
| |country3=Great Britain | |||
| |term_start3=1785 | |||
| |term_end3=1788 | |||
| |predecessor3=''New office'' | |||
| |successor3=] | |||
| |appointed3=] | |||
| |ambassador_from4= United States | |||
| |country4 = the Netherlands | |||
| |term_start4 = 1782 | |||
| |term_end4 = 1788 | |||
| |predecessor4 = ''New office'' | |||
| |successor4 = ] | |||
| |appointed4 = ] | |||
| |order5= ] from ] to the ] | |||
| |term_start5= May 10, 1775 | |||
| |term_end5= 1778 | |||
| |order6= ] from ] to the ] | |||
| |term_start6=September 5, 1774 | |||
| |term_end6= October 26, 1774 | |||
| }} | |||
| '''John Adams''' (October 30, 1735 {{ndash}} July 4, 1826) was an ] and the ] ] (1797–1801), after being the ] ] (1789–1797) for two terms. He is regarded as one of the most influential ]. | |||
| Adams came to prominence in the early stages of the ]. As a delegate from ] to the ], he played a leading role in persuading Congress to adopt the ] in 1776. As a representative of Congress in Europe, he was a major negotiator of the eventual ] with ], and chiefly responsible for obtaining important loans from ]. | |||
| Adams' revolutionary credentials secured him two terms as ]'s vice president and his own election as the second president of the United States. During his one term as president, he was frustrated by battles inside his own ] party (by a faction led by ]) and the newly emergant bi-partisan disagreements with Jeffersonian Republicans. During his term he also signed the controversial ]. The major accomplishment of his presidency was his peaceful resolution of the ] crisis with ] in 1798. | |||
| After Adams was defeated for reelection by ] (at the time Adams' vice-president), he retired to Massachusetts. He and his wife ] founded an accomplished family line of politicians, diplomats, and historians now referred to as the ]. Adams was the father of ], the ] ]. His achievements have received ] in modern times, though his contributions were not initially as celebrated as those of other Founders'. | |||
| ==Early life== | |||
| John Adams, Jr., the eldest of three sons,<ref>From David McCullough, ''John Adams'', the middle brother was Peter and the youngest Elihu, who died of illness during the siege of Boston in 1775.</ref> was born on October 30, 1735 (October 19, 1735 Old Style, ]), in what is now ] (then called the "north precinct" of ]), to ]., and ] Adams.<ref>], ISBN 0-550-18022-2, page 8</ref> The location of Adams's birth is now part of ]. His father, also named John (1691–1761), was a fifth-generation descendant of Henry Adams, who emigrated from ] to ] in about 1638. He is descended from a ] male line called ''Ap Adam''.<ref></ref> His father was a farmer, a ] (that is, ]) ], a lieutenant in the militia and a selectman, or town councilman, who supervised schools and roads. His mother, Susanna Boylston Adams,<ref>Ferling (1992) ch 1</ref> was a descendant of the Boylstons of Brookline. | |||
| Adams was born to a modest family, but he felt acutely the responsibility of living up to his family heritage: the founding generation of Puritans, who came to the American wilderness in the 1630s and established colonial presence in America. The Puritans of the great migration “believed they lived in the ]. England under the ] was Egypt; they were Israel fleeing …to establish a refuge for godliness, a city upon a hill.”<ref>Brookhiser, Richard. America’s First Dynasty. The Adamses, 1735-1918. The Free Press, 2002, p.13 </ref> By the time of John Adams's birth in 1735, Puritan tenets such as predestination were no longer as widely accepted, and many of their stricter practices had mellowed with time, but John Adams “considered them bearers of freedom, a cause that still had a holy urgency.” It was a value system he believed in, and a heroic model he wished to live up to.<ref>ibid, p. 13</ref> | |||
| Young Adams went to ] at age sixteen (in 1751).<ref> - The John Adams Library</ref> His father expected him to become a minister, but Adams had doubts. After graduating in 1755, he taught school for a few years in ], allowing himself time to think about his career choice. After much reflection, he decided to become a lawyer and studied law in the office of ], a prominent lawyer in Worcester. In 1758, Adams was admitted to the bar. From an early age, he developed the habit of writing descriptions of events and impressions of men which are scattered through his diary. He put the skill to good use as a lawyer, often recording cases he observed so that he could study and reflect upon them. His report of the 1761 argument of ] in the superior court of Massachusetts as to the legality of ] is a good example. Otis’s argument inspired Adams with zeal for the cause of the American colonies.<ref> Ferling (1992) ch 2</ref> | |||
| On October 25, 1764, five days before his 29th birthday, Adams married ] (1744–1818), his third cousin<ref>, ''www.history.com'', retrieved 3-13-2008</ref> and the daughter of a ] minister, Rev. William Smith, at ]. Their children were ] (1765–1813), future president ] (1767–1848), Susanna (1768–1770); ] (1770–1800), ] (1772–1832), and the ] Elizabeth (1775). | |||
| Adams was not a popular leader like his second cousin, ]. Instead, his influence emerged through his work as a constitutional lawyer and his intense analysis of historical examples,<ref>Ferling (1992) p 117</ref> together with his thorough knowledge of the law and his dedication to the principles of ]. Adams often found his inborn contentiousness to be a constraint in his political career. | |||
| ==Career before the Revolution== | |||
| <!-- Unsourced image removed: ] --> | |||
| ===Opponent of Stamp Act 1765=== | |||
| Adams first rose to prominence as an opponent of the ], which was imposed by the British Parliament to pay off British war debts as well as the expense of keeping a standing army in the American colonies. Popular resistance, he later observed, was sparked by an oft-reprinted sermon of the Boston minister, ], interpreting ] to elucidate the principle of just insurrection.<ref>Rev. Jonathan Mayhew, "Discourse Concerning Unlimited Submission and Non-resistance to the Higher Powers," January 30, 1750. On Adams's attribution to Rev. Mayhew refer to the </ref> | |||
| In 1765, Adams drafted the instructions which were sent by the inhabitants of ] to its representatives in the Massachusetts legislature, and which served as a model for other towns to draw up instructions to their representatives. In August 1765, he anonymously contributed four notable articles to the ] (republished in ''The London Chronicle'' in 1768 as ''True Sentiments of America'', also known as ''A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law''). In the letter he suggested that there was a connection between the Protestant ideas that Adams's Puritan ancestors brought to New England and the ideas behind their resistance to the Stamp Act. In the former he explained that the opposition of the colonies to the ] was because the Stamp Act deprived the American colonists of two basic rights guaranteed to all Englishmen, and which all free men deserved: rights to be taxed only by consent and to be tried only by a jury of one's peers. | |||
| The "Braintree Instructions" were a succinct and forthright defense of colonial rights and liberties, while the Dissertation was an essay in political education. | |||
| In December 1765, he delivered a speech before the governor and council in which he pronounced the Stamp Act invalid on the ground that Massachusetts, being without representation in Parliament, had not assented to it.<ref> Ferling (1992) pp 53–63</ref> | |||
| ===Boston Massacre=== | |||
| In 1770, a street confrontation resulted in ] killing five civilians in what became known as the ].<ref>Zobel, The Boston Massacre, W.W. Norton and Co.(1970), 199–200.</ref> The soldiers involved, who were arrested on criminal charges, had trouble finding legal counsel. Finally, they asked Adams to defend them. Although he feared it would hurt his reputation, he agreed. Six of the soldiers were acquitted. Two who had fired directly into the crowd were charged with ] but were convicted only of ]. | |||
| As for Adams's payment, Chinard alleges<ref>Chinard, John Adams, 58–60</ref> that one of the soldiers, Captain ], gave Adams a symbolic "single ]" as a retaining fee, the only fee he received in the case. However, ] states in his biography of Adams that he received nothing more than a retainer of eighteen guineas.<ref>McCullough, John Adams, pg. 66</ref> Adams's own diary confirms that Preston paid an initial ten guineas and a subsequent payment of eight was "all the pecuniary Reward I ever had for fourteen or fifteen days labour, in the most exhausting and fatiguing Causes I ever tried."<ref>Adams, John, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams,L.H. Butterfield, Editor.(Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1961.)</ref> | |||
| Despite his previous misgivings, Adams was elected to the ] (the colonial legislature) in June 1770, while still in preparation for the trial.<ref>{{cite web|title=John Adams, 1st Vice President (1789–1797)|publisher=]|url=http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/VP_John_Adams.htm|accessdate=2007-08-01 }}</ref> | |||
| ===Dispute concerning Parliament's authority=== | |||
| In 1772, Massachusetts Governor ] announced that he and his judges would no longer need their salaries paid by the Massachusetts legislature, because the Crown would henceforth assume payment drawn from customs revenues. Boston radicals protested and asked Adams to explain their objections. In "Two Replies of the Massachusetts House of Representatives to Governor Hutchinson" Adams argued that the colonists had never been under the sovereignty of Parliament. Their original charter was with the person of the king and their allegiance was only to him. If a workable line could not be drawn between parliamentary sovereignty and the total independence of the colonies, he continued, the colonies would have no other choice but to choose independence. | |||
| In ''Novanglus; or, A History of the Dispute with America, From Its Origin, in 1754, to the Present Time'' Adams attacked some essays by ] that defended Hutchinson's arguments for the absolute authority of Parliament over the colonies. In ''Novanglus'' Adams gave a point-by-point refutation of Leonard's essays, and then provided one of the most extensive and learned arguments made by the colonists against British imperial policy. | |||
| It was a systematic attempt by Adams to describe the origins, nature, and jurisdiction of the unwritten British constitution. Adams used his wide knowledge of English and colonial legal history to show the provincial legislatures were fully sovereign over their own internal affairs, and that the colonies were connected to Great Britain only through the King. | |||
| ==Continental Congress== | |||
| Massachusetts sent Adams to the first and second ]es in 1774 and from 1775 to 1777.<ref> In 1775 he was also appointed the chief judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court.</ref> In June 1775, with a view of promoting the union of the colonies, he nominated ] of Virginia as commander-in-chief of the ] then assembled around Boston. His influence in Congress was great, and almost from the beginning, he sought permanent separation from Britain. | |||
| ]]] | |||
| On May 15, 1776, the Continental Congress, in response to escalating hostilities which had started thirteen months earlier at the ], urged that the colonies begin constructing their own constitutions, a precursor to becoming independent states. The resolution to draft independent constitutions was, as Adams put it, "independence itself."<ref> Ferling (1992) ch 8 p 146</ref> | |||
| Over the next decade, Americans from every state gathered and deliberated on new governing documents. As radical as it was to write constitutions (prior convention suggested that a society's form of government needn't be codified, nor should its organic law be written down in a single document), what was equally radical was the nature of American political thought as the summer of 1776 dawned.<ref> Wood, ''The Radicalism of the American Revolution'' (1993) </ref> | |||
| ===Thoughts on Government=== | |||
| Several representatives turned to Adams for advice about framing new governments. Adams got tired of repeating the same thing, and published the pamphlet '']'' (1776), which was subsequently influential in the writing of many state constitutions. Many historians argue that ''Thoughts on Government'' should be read as an articulation of the ] theory of ]. Adams contended that social classes exist in every political society, and that a good government must accept that reality. For centuries, dating back to Aristotle, a mixed regime balancing monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy, or the monarch, nobles, and people was required to preserve order and liberty.<ref> Ferling (1992) pp 155–7, 213–5 </ref> | |||
| Using the tools of ], the patriots believed it was corrupt and nefarious aristocrats, in the ] and stationed in America, who were guilty of the British assault on American liberty. Unlike others, Adams thought that the definition of a republic had to do with its ends, rather than its means. He wrote in ''Thoughts on Government'', "There is no good government but what is republican. That the only valuable part of the ] is so; because the very definition of a republic is 'an empire of laws, and not of men.'" ''Thoughts on Government'' defended ], for "a single assembly is liable to all the vices, follies, and frailties of an individual."<ref>Thoughts on Government, Works of John Adams, IV:195</ref> He also suggested that the executive should be independent, as should the judiciary. ''Thoughts on Government'' was enormously influential and was referenced as an authority in every state-constitution writing hall. | |||
| ] depicts the five-man committee presenting the draft of the Declaration of Independence to Congress. Adams is standing in the center with his hand on his hip.]] | |||
| ===Declaration of Independence=== | |||
| On June 7, 1776, Adams seconded the ] introduced by ] which stated, "These colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states," and championed the resolution until it was adopted by Congress on July 2, 1776.<ref> Ferling (1992) ch 8.</ref> | |||
| He was appointed to a ] with ], ], ] and ], to draft a ]. Although that document was written primarily by Jefferson, Adams occupied the foremost place in the debate on its adoption. Many years later, Jefferson hailed Adams as "the pillar of support on the floor of Congress, its <!-- Jefferson wrote "it's" --> ablest advocate and defender against the multifarious assaults it encountered."<ref>, Thomas Jefferson, ''The Works of Thomas Jefferson'', Federal Edition (New York and London, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1904-5). Vol. 11.</ref> | |||
| After the defeat of the ] at the ] on August 27, 1776, ] requested the Second Continental Congress send representatives ]. A delegation including Adams and ] met with Howe on ] in ] on September 11, where Howe demanded the Declaration of Independence be rescinded before any other terms could be discussed. The delegation refused, and hostilities continued. In 1777, Adams resigned his seat on the Massachusetts Superior Court to serve as the head of the ], as well as many other important committees.<ref name="Marquis 1607-1896">{{cite book | |||
| |title=Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607–1896 | |||
| |publisher=Marquis Who's Who | |||
| |location=Chicago | |||
| |date=1963}}</ref> | |||
| ==In Europe== | |||
| Congress twice dispatched Adams to represent the fledgling union in Europe, first in 1777, and again in 1779. Accompanied by his ten-year-old eldest son, ], Adams sailed for France aboard the ] ] '']'' on February 15, 1778. Although chased several times by British warships, the only action seen during the voyage was the bloodless capture of a British privateer.<ref></ref> Adams was in some regards an unlikely choice in as much as he did not speak French, the international language of diplomacy at the time.<ref></ref> | |||
| His first stay in Europe, between April 1, 1778, and June 17, 1779, was largely unproductive, and he returned to his home in Braintree in early August 1779. | |||
| Between September 1 and October 30, 1779, he drafted the ] together with ] and ]. He was selected in September 1779 to return to France and, following the conclusion of the Massachusetts constitutional convention, left on November 15 aboard the French frigate ''Sensible''. | |||
| On the second trip, Adams was appointed as ] charged with the mission of negotiating a treaty of amity and commerce with <!-- "Britain" is correct, please do not change to "France" - see the cited material for reference. -->Britain.<ref name="fiske-critical">{{cite book|last=Fiske|first=John|title=Critical Period Of American History, 1783-89|publisher=The Riverside Press|location=Cambridge, MA |date=1896|pages=22–24|isbn=0781228484 |oclc=232657364|url=http://cupid.ecom.unimelb.edu.au/het/fiske/critical.rtf|accessdate=2009-07-20}}</ref> The French government, however, did not approve of Adams's appointment and subsequently, on the insistence of the French foreign minister, the ], ], ], ] and ] were appointed to cooperate with Adams, although Jefferson did not go to Europe and Laurens was posted to the ]. In the event Jay, Adams, and Franklin played the major part in the negotiations. Overruling Franklin and distrustful of Vergennes, Jay and Adams decided not to consult with France. Instead, they dealt directly with the British commissioners.<ref> Ferling (1992) ch 11–12</ref> | |||
| Throughout the negotiations, Adams was especially determined that the right of the United States to the fisheries along the Atlantic coast should be recognized. The American negotiators were able to secure a favorable treaty, which gave Americans ownership of all lands east of the Mississippi, except ], which was transferred to Spain as its reward. The treaty was signed on November 30, 1782. | |||
| After these negotiations began, Adams had spent some time as the ] in the Dutch Republic, then one of the few other Republics in the world (the ] and the ] being the other notable ones). In July 1780, he had been authorized to execute the duties previously assigned to Laurens. With the aid of the Dutch ] leader ], Adams secured the recognition of the United States as an independent government at ] on April 19, 1782.<ref>In February 1782 the ] states had been the first Dutch province to recognize the United States, while France had been the first European country to grant ], in 1778).</ref> During this visit, he also negotiated a loan of five million guilders financed by ] and ].<ref>Up till 1794 a total of eleven loans were granted in Amsterdam to the United States with a value of 29 million guilders.</ref> In October 1782, he negotiated with the Dutch a treaty of amity and commerce, the first such treaty between the United States and a foreign power following the 1778 treaty with France. The house that Adams bought during this stay in ] became the first American-owned embassy on foreign soil anywhere in the world.<ref></ref> For two months during 1783, Adams lodged in London with radical publisher ].<ref>{{cite book |title='Tis Treason, My Good Man! Four Revolutionary Presidents and a Piccadilly Bookshop |author=Stockdale, E. |isbn=0712306994 |year=2005 |publisher=The British Library |location=London |pages=''p.''148 }}</ref> | |||
| In 1784 and 1785, he was one of the architects of far-going trade relations between the ] and ]. The Prussian ambassador in The Hague, ], was involved, as were Jefferson and Franklin, who were in Paris.<ref> </ref> | |||
| In 1785, John Adams was appointed the first American minister to the ] (ambassador to ]). When he was presented to his former sovereign, ], the King intimated that he was aware of Adams's lack of confidence in the French government. Adams admitted this, stating: "I must avow to your Majesty that I have no attachment but to my own country.” | |||
| ] of the ] referred to this episode on July 7, 1976, at the ]. She said: | |||
| <blockquote>John Adams, America's first Ambassador, said to my ancestor, King George III, that it was his desire to help with the restoration of 'the old good nature and the old good humor between our peoples.' That restoration has long been made, and the links of language, tradition, and personal contact have maintained it.<ref> See .</ref></blockquote> | |||
| While in London, John and Abigail had to suffer the stares and hostility of the Court, and chose to escape it when they could by seeking out ], minister of ] and instigator of the ]. Both admired Price very much, and Abigail took to heart the teachings of the man and his protegee ], author of '']''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Gordon|first=Lyndall|title=Vindication : a life of Mary Wollstonecraft|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New York|date=2005|pages=|chapter=Chapter 3: New Life at Newington|isbn=978-0060198022}}</ref> | |||
| Adams's home in England, a house off London's ], still stands and is commemorated by a plaque. He returned to the United States in 1788 to continue his domestic political life. | |||
| ==Constitutional ideas== | |||
| ], ratified in 1780 and written largely by Adams himself, structured its government most closely on his views of politics and society.<ref>Ronald M. Peters. ''The Massachusetts Constitution of 1780: A Social Compact'' (1978) p 13 says Adams was its "principal architect."</ref> It was the first constitution written by a special committee and ratified by the people. It was also the first to feature a bicameral legislature, a clear and distinct executive with a partial (two-thirds) veto (although he was restrained by an executive council), and a distinct judicial branch. | |||
| While in London, Adams published a work entitled '']'' (1787)<ref></ref>. In it he repudiated the views of ] and other European writers as to the viciousness of the framework of state governments. Turgot argued that countries that lacked aristocracies needn't have bicameral legislatures. He thought that republican governments feature “all authorities into one center, that of the nation.”<ref>Turgot to Richard Price, March 22, 1778, in Works of John Adams, IV:279</ref> In the book, Adams suggested that "the rich, the well-born and the able" should be set apart from other men in a senate—that would prevent them from dominating the lower house. Wood (2006) has maintained that Adams had become intellectually irrelevant by the time the Federal Constitution was ratified. By then, American political thought, transformed by more than a decade of vigorous and searching debate as well as shaping experiential pressures, had abandoned the classical conception of politics which understood government as a mirror of social estates. Americans' new conception of ] now saw the people-at-large as the sole possessors of power in the realm. All agents of the government enjoyed mere portions of the people's power and only for a limited time. Adams had completely missed this concept and revealed his continued attachment to the older version of politics.<ref>Wood, ''Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different'' (2006) pp 173–202; see also Wood, ''The Radicalism of the American Revolution'' (1993).</ref> Yet Wood overlooks Adams's peculiar definition of the term "republic," and his support for a constitution ratified by the people.<ref>Thompson,1999</ref> He also underplays Adams's belief in checks and balances. "Power must be opposed to power, and interest to interest,” Adams wrote; this sentiment would later be echoed by ]'s famous statement that "mbition must be made to counteract ambition" in ], in explaining the powers of the branches of the ] under the new ].<ref> Works of John Adams, IV:557</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Madison |first=James | author-link = James Madison |title=The Federalist No. 51 |url=http://en.wikisource.org/search/?title=The_Federalist_Papers/No._51&oldid=504230}}</ref> Adams did as much as anyone to put the idea of "checks and balances" on the intellectual map. | |||
| Adams never bought a slave and declined on principle to employ slave labor.<ref>Littlefield, Daniel C. "John Jay, the Revolutionary Generation, and Slavery." ''New York History'' 2000 81(1): p 91–132. ISSN 0146-437X</ref> Abigail Adams opposed slavery and employed free blacks in preference to her father's two domestic slaves. He spoke out against a bill to emancipate slaves in Massachusetts, opposed use of black soldiers in the Revolution, and tried to keep the issue out of national politics.<ref> Ferling (1992) pp 172–3</ref> | |||
| ==Vice Presidency== | |||
| While Washington won unanimously in the popular vote and won 69 votes in the electoral college, Adams came in second in the ] with 34 votes and became Vice President in the ]. He played a minor role in the politics of the early 1790s and was reelected in ]. Washington seldom asked Adams for input on policy and legal issues during his tenure as vice president.<ref> Ferling (1992) ch 15</ref> | |||
| Adams's main task while in office was presiding over the Senate. Subsequent Vice Presidents were also generally not powerful or significant members of their President's administrations until after the ]. | |||
| In the first year of Washington's administration, Adams became deeply involved in a month-long Senate controversy over what the official title of the President would be. Adams favored grandiose titles such as "His Majesty the President" or "His High Mightiness" over the simple "President of the United States" that eventually won the debate. The pomposity of his stance, along with his being overweight, led to Adams earning the nickname "His Rotundity." | |||
| As ], Adams cast 29 ]—a record that only ] came close to tying, with 28.<ref> Ferling (1992) p 311</ref> His votes protected the president's sole authority over the removal of appointees and influenced the location of the national capital. On at least one occasion, he persuaded senators to vote against legislation that he opposed, and he frequently lectured the Senate on procedural and policy matters. Adams's political views and his active role in the Senate made him a natural target for critics of the ] administration. Toward the end of his first term, as a result of a threatened resolution that would have silenced him except for procedural and policy matters, he began to exercise more restraint. When the two political parties formed, he joined the ], but never got on well with its dominant leader ]. Because of Adams's seniority and the need for a northern president, he was elected as the Federalist nominee for president in ], over ], the leader of the opposition ]. His success was due to peace and prosperity; Washington and Hamilton had averted war with Britain with the ] of 1795.<ref> Ferling (1992) pp 316–32</ref> | |||
| Adams's two terms as Vice President were frustrating experiences for a man of his vigor, intellect, and vanity. He complained to his wife Abigail, "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived."<ref></ref> | |||
| ==Election of 1796== | |||
| {{Main|United States presidential election, 1796}} | |||
| During the ] Adams was the presidential candidate of the ] and ], the ] of ], was also running as a Federalist (at this point, the vice president was whoever came in second, so no running mates existed in the modern sense). The Federalists wanted Adams as their presidential candidate to crush Thomas Jefferson's bid. Most Federalists would have preferred Hamilton to be a candidate. Although Hamilton and his followers supported Adams, they also held a grudge against him. They did consider him to be the lesser of the two evils. However, they thought Adams lacked the seriousness and popularity that had caused Washington to be successful and feared that Adams was too vain, opinionated, unpredictable, and stubborn to follow their directions. | |||
| Adams's opponents were former ] ] of ], who was joined by ] ] of ] on the ] ticket. | |||
| As was customary, Adams stayed in his home town of ] rather than actively campaign for the Presidency. He wanted to stay out of what he called the silly and wicked game. His ], however, campaigned for him, while the ] campaigned for Jefferson. | |||
| It was expected that Adams would dominate the votes in New England, while Jefferson was expected to win in the Southern states. In the end, Adams won the election by a narrow margin of 71 electoral votes to 68 for Jefferson (who became the vice president). | |||
| ==Presidency: 1797–1801== | |||
| ===Foreign policy=== | |||
| When Adams ], he realized that he needed to protect Washington’s policy of staying out of the French and British war. Because the French helped secure American independence from Britain, they had greater popularity with America. After the ], the French became angry and ] that were trading with the British in what became known as the "]." Adams sent a commission to negotiate an understanding with France. However, Adams urged the Congress to augment the navy and army in case of diplomatic failure. | |||
| ===Domestic policies=== | |||
| ] of John Adams]] | |||
| {{See also|1797 State of the Union Address}} | |||
| As President Adams followed Washington's lead in making the presidency the example of republican values, and stressing ], he was never implicated in any scandal. Some historians consider his worst mistake to be keeping the old cabinet, which was controlled by Hamilton, instead of installing his own people, confirming Adams' own admission he was a poor politician because he "was unpractised in intrigues for power."<ref> Ferling (1992) ch 16, p 333.</ref> Yet, there are those historians who feel that Adams' retention of Washington's cabinet was a statesmanlike step to soothe worries about an orderly succession. As Adams himself explained, "I had then no particular object of any of them."<ref> McCullough p 471</ref> That would soon change. | |||
| Adams' combative spirit did not always lend itself to presidential decorum, as Adams himself admitted in his old age: " I refused to suffer in silence. I sighed, sobbed, and groaned, and sometimes screeched and screamed. And I must confess to my shame and sorrow that I sometimes swore."<ref>Ellis (1998) p 57</ref> | |||
| Adams's four years as president (1797–1801) were marked by intense disputes over foreign policy. ]; Hamilton and the Federalists favored Britain, while Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans favored France. An undeclared naval war between the U.S. and France, called the ], broke out in 1798. The humiliation of the ], in which the French demanded huge bribes before any discussions could begin, led to serious threats of full-scale war with France and embarrassed the Jeffersonians, who were friends to France. The Federalists built up the army under ] and ], built ], such as ], and raised taxes. They cracked down on political immigrants and domestic opponents with the ], which were signed by Adams in 1798. | |||
| These Acts were composed of four separate and distinct units: | |||
| *], passed on June 18 | |||
| *], passed on June 24 | |||
| *], passed on July 6 | |||
| *], passed on July 14 | |||
| These four acts were passed to suppress Republican opposition. The Naturalization Act changed the period required to naturalize the foreign born to American citizenship to 14 years. Since most immigrants voted Republican they thought by initiating this act it would decrease the proportion of people who voted Republican. | |||
| The Alien Friends Act and the Alien Enemies Act allowed the president to deport any foreigner that he thought was dangerous to the country. | |||
| The Sedition Act criminalized anyone who publicly criticized the federal government. Some of the punishments included 2–5 years in prison and fines of $2,000 to $5,000. Adams had not designed or promoted any of these acts but he did sign them into law. | |||
| Those acts, and the high-profile prosecution of a number of newspaper editors and one member of Congress by the Federalists, became highly controversial. Some historians have noted that the Alien and Sedition Acts were relatively rarely enforced, as only 10 convictions under the Sedition Act have been identified and as Adams never signed a deportation order, and that the furor over the Alien and Sedition Acts was mainly stirred up by the Democratic-Republicans. However, other historians emphasize that the Acts were highly controversial from the outset, resulted in many aliens leaving the country voluntarily, and created an atmosphere where opposing the Federalists, even on the floor of Congress, could and did result in prosecution. The election of 1800 became a bitter and volatile battle, with each side expressing extraordinary fear of the other party and its policies.<ref> Ferling (1992) ch 17</ref> | |||
| The deep division in the Federalist party came on the army issue. Adams was forced to name Washington as commander of the new army, and Washington demanded that Hamilton be given the second position. Adams reluctantly gave in. Major General Hamilton virtually took control of the War department. The rift between Adams and the High Federalists (as Adams' opponents were called) grew wider. The High Federalists refused to consult Adams over the key legislation of 1798; they changed the defense measures which he had called for, demanded that Hamilton control the army, and refused to recognize the necessity of giving key Democratic-Republicans (like ]) senior positions in the army (which Adams wanted to do to gain some Democratic-Republican support). By building a large ] the High Federalists raised popular alarms and played into the hands of the Democratic-Republicans. They also alienated Adams and his large personal following. They shortsightedly viewed the Federalist party as their own tool and ignored the need to pull together the entire nation in the face of war with France.<ref>Kurtz (1967) p 331</ref> | |||
| For long stretches, Adams withdrew to his home in Massachusetts. In February 1799, Adams stunned the country by sending diplomat ] on a peace mission to France. ], realizing the animosity of the United States was doing no good, signaled his readiness for friendly relations. The ] was superseded and the United States could now be free of foreign entanglements, as Washington advised in his own Farewell Letter. Adams avoided war, but deeply split his own party in the process. He brought in ] as Secretary of State and demobilized the emergency army.<ref> Ferling (1992) ch 18</ref> | |||
| ===Reelection campaign 1800=== | |||
| {{Main|United States presidential election, 1800}} | |||
| The death of Washington, in 1799, weakened the Federalists, as they lost the one man who symbolized and united the party. In the ], Adams and his fellow Federalist candidate, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, went against the Republican duo of Jefferson and Burr. Hamilton tried his hardest to sabotage Adams's campaign in hopes of boosting Pinckney's chances of winning the presidency. In the end, Adams lost narrowly to Jefferson by 65 to 73 electoral votes. Just before his loss, he became the first President to occupy the new, but unfinished ] on November 1, 1800.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.whitehousemuseum.org/overview.htm|title=Overview of the White House|accessdate=2008-07-16 |publisher=White House Museum}}</ref> | |||
| Among the causes of his defeat were distrust of him by "High Federalists" led by Hamilton, the popular disapproval of the Alien and Sedition Acts, the popularity of his opponent, ], and the effective politicking of ] in ], where the legislature (which selected the electoral college) shifted from Federalist to Democratic-Republican on the basis of a few wards in ] controlled by Burr's machine.<ref> Ferling (1992) ch 19; Ferling (2004)</ref> | |||
| ===Midnight Judges=== | |||
| The lame-duck session of Congress enacted the Judiciary Act of 1801, which created a set of federal appeals courts between the district courts and the Supreme Court. As his term was expiring, Adams filled the vacancies created by this statute by appointing a series of judges, called the "]" because most of them were formally appointed days before the presidential term expired. Most of the judges were eventually unseated when the Jeffersonians enacted the Judiciary Act of 1802, abolishing the courts created by the Judiciary Act of 1801 and returning the structure of the federal courts to what it had been before the 1801 statute. Adams's greatest legacy was his naming of ] as the fourth ] to succeed ], who had retired due to ill health. Marshall's long tenure represents the most lasting influence of the Federalists, as Marshall infused the Constitution with a judicious and carefully reasoned nationalistic interpretation and established the Judicial Branch as the equal of the Executive and Legislative branches.<ref>Ferling (1992) p 409</ref> | |||
| ===Major presidential actions=== | |||
| *Built up the ] | |||
| *Fought the ] with France | |||
| *Signed ] of 1798 | |||
| *Ended war with France through diplomacy | |||
| *Appointed ] to Supreme Court | |||
| ===Speeches=== | |||
| ====Inaugural Addresses==== | |||
| *] (March 4, 1797) | |||
| ====State of the Union Address==== | |||
| *] (November 22, 1797) | |||
| *], (December 8, 1798) | |||
| *], (December 3, 1799) | |||
| *], (November 22, 1800) | |||
| ==Administration, Cabinet and Supreme Court Appointments 1797-1801== | |||
| {{Col-begin}} | |||
| {{Col-1-of-3}} | |||
| {{Infobox U.S. Cabinet |align=left |clear=yes |Name=Adams | |||
| |President=John Adams |President start=1797 |President end=1801 | |||
| |Vice President=] |Vice President start=1797 |Vice President end=1801 | |||
| |State=] |State start=1797 |State end=1800 | |||
| |State 2=] |State start 2=1800 |State end 2=1801 | |||
| |Treasury=] |Treasury start=1797 |Treasury end=1801 | |||
| |Treasury 2=] |Treasury date 2=1801 | |||
| |War=] |War start=1796 |War end=1800 | |||
| |War 2=] |War start 2=1800 |War end 2=1801 | |||
| |Justice=] |Justice start=1797 |Justice end=1801 | |||
| |Navy=] |Navy start=1798 |Navy end=1801 | |||
| }} | |||
| {{Col-2-of-3}} | |||
| <u>''']'''</u> | |||
| * ] - 1800; declined | |||
| * ] - 1801 | |||
| <u>''']'''</u> | |||
| * ] - 1799 | |||
| * ] - 1800 | |||
| <u>''']'''</u><br /> | |||
| * ''None'' | |||
| {{Col-3-of-3}} | |||
| ].]] | |||
| {{col-end}} | |||
| ==Post presidency== | |||
| ] (1823).]] | |||
| Following his 1800 defeat, Adams retired into private life. Depressed when he left office, he did not attend Jefferson's inauguration, making him one of only four surviving presidents (i.e., those who did not die in office) not to attend his successor's inauguration. Adams's correspondence with Jefferson at the time of the transition suggests that he did not feel the animosity or resentment that later scholars have attributed to him. He left Washington before Jefferson's inauguration as much out of sorrow at the death of his son Charles Adams (due in part to the younger man's alcoholism) and his desire to rejoin his wife Abigail, who had left for Massachusetts months before the inauguration. | |||
| Adams resumed farming at his home, ], near the town of Quincy, which had absorbed his birthplace, ]. He began to work on an autobiography (which he never finished), and resumed correspondence with such old friends as ] and ]. He also began a bitter and resentful correspondence with an old family friend, ], protesting how in her 1805 history of the American Revolution she had, in his view, caricatured his political beliefs and misrepresented his services to the country. | |||
| After Jefferson's retirement from public life in 1809 after two terms as President, Adams became more vocal. For three years he published a stream of letters in the ] newspaper, presenting a long and almost line-by-line refutation of an 1800 pamphlet by ] attacking his conduct and character. Though Hamilton had died in 1804 from a mortal wound sustained in his notorious duel with ], Adams felt the need to vindicate his character against the New Yorker's vehement attacks. | |||
| In early 1812, Adams reconciled with Jefferson. Their mutual friend ], a fellow signer of the ] who had been corresponding with both, encouraged each man to reach out to the other. On New Year's Day 1812, Adams sent a brief, friendly note to Jefferson to accompany the delivery of "two pieces of homespun," a two-volume collection of lectures on rhetoric by ]. Jefferson replied immediately with a warm, friendly letter, and the two men revived their friendship, which they conducted by mail. The correspondence that they resumed in 1812 lasted the rest of their lives, and thereafter has been hailed as one of their greatest legacies and a monument of American literature.<ref> Cappon (1988)</ref> | |||
| Their letters are rich in insight into both the period and the minds of the two Presidents and revolutionary leaders. Their correspondence lasted fourteen years, and consisted of 158 letters.<ref> Cappon (1988)</ref> It was in these years that the two men discussed "natural aristocracy." Jefferson said, "The natural aristocracy I consider as the most precious gift of nature for the instruction, the trusts, and government of society. And indeed it would have been inconsistent in creation to have formed man for the social state, and not to have provided virtue and wisdom enough to manage the concerns of society. May we not even say that the form of government is best which provides most effectually for a pure selection of these natural aristoi into the offices of government?"<ref>Cappon, ed., 387</ref> Adams wondered if it ever would be so clear who these people were, "Your distinction between natural and artificial aristocracy does not appear to me well founded. Birth and wealth are conferred on some men as imperiously by nature, as genius, strength, or beauty. . . . When aristocracies are established by human laws and honour, wealth, and power are made hereditary by municipal laws and political institutions, then I acknowledge artificial aristocracy to commence."<ref> Cappon, ed. 400</ref> It would always be true, Adams argued, that fate would bestow influence on some men for reasons other than true wisdom and virtue. That being the way of nature, he thought such "talents" were natural. A good government, therefore, had to account for that reality. | |||
| Sixteen months before John Adams's death, his son, ], became the sixth President of the United States (1825–1829), the only son of a former President to hold the office until ] in 2001. | |||
| Adams's daughter ] was married to ] ], but she returned to her parents' home after the failure of her marriage. She died of breast cancer in 1813. His son Charles died as an alcoholic in 1800. Abigail, his wife, died of ] on October 28, 1818. His son Thomas and his family lived with Adams and Louisa Smith (Abigail's niece by her brother William) to the end of Adams's life.<ref> Ferling (1992) ch 20</ref> | |||
| ==Death== | |||
| ] (foreground) and their wives, in a family crypt beneath the ].]] | |||
| Less than a month before his death, John Adams issued a statement about the destiny of the United States, which historians such as ] have characterized as a "warning" for his fellow citizens. Adams said: | |||
| <blockquote>My best wishes, in the joys, and festivities, and the solemn services of that day on which will be completed the fiftieth year from its birth, of the independence of the United States: a memorable epoch in the annals of the human race, destined in future history to form the brightest or the blackest page, according to the use or the abuse of those political institutions by which they shall, in time to come, be shaped by the human mind.<ref>Hakim. Joy. '''', page 97 (Oxford University Press 2003).</ref></blockquote> | |||
| On July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Adams died at his home in Quincy. Told that it was the Fourth, he answered clearly, "It is a great day. It is a ''good'' day." His last words have been reported as "Thomas Jefferson survives" since the month of his death. Only the first two words "Thomas Jefferson" were clearly intelligible, however.<ref> Retrieved on 2006-12-26.</ref> Adams was unaware that Jefferson, his compatriot in their quest for independence, then great political rival, then later friend and correspondent, had died a few hours earlier on the very same day. Somewhat later, struggling for breath, he whispered to his granddaughter Susanna, "Help me, child! Help me!" then lapsed into a final silence. At about 6:20, John Adams was dead, leaving ] as the last surviving signatory of the Declaration of Independence. | |||
| His crypt lies at ] (also known as the ''Church of the Presidents'') in Quincy. Originally, he was buried in ], across the road from the Church. Until his record was broken by ] in 2001, he was the nation's longest-living President (90 years, 247 days) maintaining that record for 175 years. The record is currently held by former President ], who served less than one term, and who died December 26, 2006, at 93 years, 165 days. | |||
| John Adams remains the longest-lived person ever elected to both of the highest offices in the executive branch of the United States. | |||
| ==Religious views== | |||
| Adams was raised a ], becoming a ] at a time when most of the Congregational churches around Boston were turning to ]. Adams was educated at Harvard when the influence of deism was growing there, and used deistic terms in his speeches and writing. He believed in the essential goodness of the creation, but did not believe in the divinity of Christ or that God intervened in the affairs of individuals. He also believed that regular church service was beneficial to man's moral sense. Everett (1966) concludes that "Adams strove for a religion based on a common sense sort of reasonableness" and maintained that religion must change and evolve toward perfection.<ref>Robert B. Everett, "The Mature Religious Thought of John Adams," ''Proceedings of the South Carolina Historical Association'' (1966), p 49–57; .</ref> | |||
| ] | |||
| In common with many of his contemporaries, Adams criticized the claims to universal authority made by the Roman Catholic Church.<ref>See </ref> | |||
| In 1796, Adams denounced political opponent ]'s criticisms of Christianity, saying, "The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity, let the Blackguard Paine say what he will."<ref>''The Works of John Adams'' (1854), vol III, p 421, diary entry for July 26, 1796.</ref> | |||
| The Unitarian Universalist Historical Society provides information about Adams’s religious beliefs.<ref name=UUHS-JAdams>{{cite web |url=http://www25.uua.org/uuhs/duub/articles/johnadams.html |title=Unitarian Universalist Historical Society Biography|accessdate=2007-12-11}}</ref> They quote from his letter to ], an early promoter of Universalist thought, “I have attended public worship in all countries and with all sects and believe them all much better than no religion, though I have not thought myself obliged to believe all I heard.” The Society also relates how Rush reconciled Adams to his former friend ] in 1812, after many bitter political battles. This resulted in correspondence between Adams and Jefferson about many topics, including philosophy and religion. In one of these communications, Adams told Jefferson, "The Ten Commandments and the Sermon on the Mount contain my religion." In another letter, Adams reveals his sincere devotion to God, “My Adoration of the Author of the Universe is too profound and too sincere. The Love of God and his Creation; delight, Joy, Tryumph, Exaltation in my own existence, tho' but an Atom, a molecule Organique, in the Universe, are my religion.” He continues by revealing his Universalist sympathies, rejection of orthodox Christian dogma, and his personal belief that he was a true Christian for not accepting such dogma, “Howl, Snarl, bite, Ye Calvinistick! Ye Athanasian Divines, if You will. Ye will say, I am no Christian: I say Ye are no Christians: and there the Account is ballanced. Yet I believe all the honest men among you, are Christians in my Sense of the Word." The Society also demonstrates that Adams rejected orthodox Christian doctrines of the trinity, predestination, yet equated human understanding and the human conscience to “celestial communication” or personal revelation from God. It is also shown that Adams held a strong conviction in life after death or otherwise, as he explained, “You might be ashamed of your Maker.”<ref name=UUHS-JAdams/> | |||
| ==References== | |||
| {{reflist|2}} | |||
| ==Bibliography== | |||
| *Brown, Ralph A. ''The Presidency of John Adams.'' (1988). Political narrative. | |||
| *Chinard, Gilbert. ''Honest John Adams.'' (1933). Dated but still-valuable biography. | |||
| *Elkins, Stanley M. and Eric McKitrick, ''The Age of Federalism''. (1993), highly detailed political interpretation of 1790s | |||
| *Ellis, Joseph J. ''Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams'' (1993), interpretative essay by Pulitzer Prize winning scholar. | |||
| *] ''Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800.'' (2004), narrative history of the election. | |||
| *Ferling, John. ''John Adams: A Life.'' (1992), full scale biography | |||
| *Freeman, Joanne B. ''Affairs of Honor: National POlitics in the New Republic.'' (2001) -- chapters 2 and 5 are of special relevance. | |||
| *Grant, James. ''John Adams: Party of One.''(2005), one-volume biography, notable for its modesty and for its grasp of finances as well as politics. | |||
| *Haraszti, Zoltan. ''John Adams and the Prophets of Progress''. (1952). Incisive analysis of John Adams's political comments on numerous authors through examining his marginalia in his copies of their books. | |||
| *Howe, John R., Jr. ''The Changing Political Thought of John Adams''. (1966). Stressing change over time in Adams's thought, this book is still a valuable and clearly-written treatment of the subject. | |||
| *Knollenberg, Bernard. ''Growth of the American Revolution: 1766–1775,''(2003). | |||
| *Kurtz, Stephen G. ''The Presidency of John Adams: The Collapse of Federalism, 1795–1800'' (1957). Detailed political narrative. | |||
| *McCullough, David. ''John Adams.'' (2002). Best-selling popular biography, stressing Adams's character and his marriage with Abigail while scanting his ideas and constitutional thoughts. Winner of the ] in Biography. | |||
| *Miller, John C. ''The Federalist Era: 1789–1801.'' (1960). Slightly dated but still-valuable, thorough survey of politics between 1789 and 1801. | |||
| *Ryerson, Richard Alan, ed. ''John Adams and the Founding of the Republic'' (2001). Essays by scholars: "John Adams and the Massachusetts Provincial Elite," by William Pencak; "Before Fame: Young John Adams and Thomas Jefferson," by John Ferling; "John Adams and the 'Bolder Plan,'" by Gregg L. Lint; "In the Shadow of Washington: John Adams as Vice President," by Jack D. Warren; "The Presidential Election of 1796," by Joanne B. Freeman; "The Disenchantment of a Radical Whig: John Adams Reckons with Free Speech," by Richard D. Brown; "'Splendid Misery': Abigail Adams as First Lady," by Edith B. Gelles; "John Adams and the Science of Politics," by C. Bradley Thompson; and "Presidents as Historians: John Adams and Thomas Jefferson," by Herbert Sloan. | |||
| *Sharp, James Roger. ''American Politics in the Early Republic: The New Nation in Crisis.'' (1995), detailed political narrative of 1790s, stressing the emergence of "proto-parties." | |||
| *Shaw, Peter. ''The Character of John Adams''. (1975). Elegant short life, infused with psychological insight and sensitivity to Adams's inner life as well as his intellectual life. | |||
| *Smith, Page. ''John Adams''. (1962) 2 volume; full-scale biography, winner of the Bancroft Prize | |||
| *Thompson, C. Bradley. ''John Adams and the Spirit of Liberty''. (1998). Acclaimed analysis of Adams's political thought; insisting Adams was the greatest political thinker among the Founding Generation and anticipated many of the ideas in ''The Federalist.'' | |||
| *White, Leonard D. ''The Federalists: A Study in Administrative History'' (1956), thorough analysis of the mechanics of government in 1790s | |||
| *Wood, Gordon S.. ‘’ Revolutionary Characters: What Made the Founders Different’’ (2006). The chapter on Adams, a slightly revised version of chapter XIV of the author's ''The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787'' (1969), may be the most influential short treatment of John Adams's political thought ever written. | |||
| ===Primary sources=== | |||
| *Adams, C.F. ''The Works of John Adams, with Life'' (10 vols., Boston, 1850–1856) | |||
| *Butterfield, L. H. et al., eds., ''The Adams Papers'' (1961– ). Multivolume letterpress edition of all letters to and from major members of the Adams family, plus their diaries; still incomplete . | |||
| *Cappon, Lester J. ed. ''The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence Between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams'' (1988). | |||
| *Carey, George W., ed. ''The Political Writings of John Adams''. (2001). Compilation of extracts from Adams's major political writings. | |||
| *Diggins, John P., ed. ''The Portable John Adams''. (2004) | |||
| *John A. Schutz and Douglass Adair, eds. ''Spur of Fame, The Dialogues of John Adams and Benjamin Rush, 1805–1813'' (1966) ISBN 978-0-86597-287-2 | |||
| *C. Bradley Thompson, ed. ''Revolutionary Writings of John Adams,'' (2001) ISBN 978-0-86597-285-8 | |||
| *John Adams, ''Novanglus; or, A History of the Dispute with America'' (1774) | |||
| *Brinkley, Alan, and Davis Dyer. The American Presidency. Boston: Houghton Mifflin company, 2004. | |||
| *Hogan, Margaret and C. James Taylor, eds. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2007. | |||
| *Taylor, Robert J. et al., eds. Cambridge: Harvard University Press | |||
| *Wroth, L. Kinvin and Hiller B. Zobel, eds. Cambridge: Harvard University Press | |||
| *Butterfield, L. H., ed. Cambridge: Harvard University Press | |||
| {{ref-improve|date=October 2009|talk=yes}} | |||
| ==External links== | |||
| {{Spoken Misplaced Pages-3|2008-05-13|John Adams 1.ogg|John Adams 2.ogg|John Adams 3.ogg}} | |||
| {{Misplaced Pages-Books|Presidents of the United States (1789 - 1860)}} | |||
| {{wikisource author}} | |||
| {{wikiquote}} | |||
| {{Commons}} | |||
| *Official NPS website: | |||
| * as well as quotes, gallery and speeches | |||
| * | |||
| * @ the ] | |||
| * | |||
| * | |||
| *State of the Union Addresses: , , , | |||
| *, | |||
| * at Liberty-Tree.ca | |||
| * | |||
| * from the Avalon Project (includes Inaugural Address, State of the Union Addresses, and other materials) | |||
| * Captured December 16, 2004. | |||
| *{{gutenberg author|id=John_Adams|name=John Adams}} | |||
| * | |||
| *Quotes on the preservation of freedom: | |||
| *The , housed at the Boston Public Library, contains Adams's personal collection of more than 3,500 volumes in eight languages, many of which are extensively annotated by Adams. | |||
| * | |||
| * at Our Republic | |||
| *{{worldcat id|id=lccn-n79-105675}} | |||
| * from the Library of Congress | |||
| * | |||
| *{{findagrave|6}} | |||
| *, online at ] | |||
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| {{s-ref|Adams' term as Vice President is sometimes listed as starting on either March 4 or April 6. March 4 is the official start of the first vice presidential term. April 6 is the date on which Congress counted the electoral votes and certified a Vice President. April 21 is the date on which Adams took the oath of office.|While Adams won the Vice Presidency in ] as well, he was not the candidate of the Federalist Party, which had not yet formed.|Technically, Adams was a presidential candidate in 1792 and Pinckney was a presidential candidate in 1796. Prior to the passage of the ] in 1804, each presidential elector could cast two ballots; the highest vote-getter would become President and the runner-up would become Vice President. Thus, in 1792, with ] as the prohibitive favorite for President, the Federalist party fielded Adams as a presidential candidate, with the intention that he be elected to the Vice Presidency. Similarly, in 1796 and 1800, the Federalist party fielded two candidates, Adams and Thomas Pinckney in 1796 and Adams and ] in 1800, with the intention that Adams be elected President and Pinckney be elected Vice President.}} | |||
| {{USDecOfIndSig}} | |||
| {{US Presidents}} | |||
| {{US Vice Presidents}} | |||
| {{Age of Enlightenment}} | |||
| {{US Ambassadors to the UK}} | |||
| {{Washington cabinet}} | |||
| {{J Adams cabinet}} | |||
| {{Persondata | |||
| |NAME=Adams, John | |||
| |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= | |||
| |SHORT DESCRIPTION=2nd U.S. President | |||
| |DATE OF BIRTH=October 30, 1735 | |||
| |PLACE OF BIRTH=], ] | |||
| |DATE OF DEATH=July 4, 1826 | |||
| |PLACE OF DEATH=] | |||
| }} | |||
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Revision as of 14:17, 26 October 2009
waz good....paco is a cute...