John Adams was born on October 30, 1735, and died on July 4, 1826. He was a Founding Father and the second president of the United States, serving from 1797 to 1801. Before becoming president, he played a key role in the American Revolution, which helped the United States gain independence from Great Britain. During the later years of the Revolutionary War and the early years of the new nation, he worked as a senior diplomat for the Continental Congress in Europe. Adams was the first vice president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. He kept a detailed diary and often wrote letters to people of his time, including his wife and advisor Abigail Adams and his friend and rival Thomas Jefferson.
Before the Revolution, Adams was a lawyer and political activist who strongly supported the right to legal representation and the belief that people are innocent until proven guilty. He defended British soldiers in the Boston Massacre trial, even though many people in the United States were angry with Britain. Adams was a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress and became a leader in the Revolution. He helped Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and worked to get it approved in Congress. As a diplomat, he represented the United States in France and the Netherlands during the war. He helped negotiate peace with Great Britain, arranged loans from the Netherlands for the American government, and became the first U.S. ambassador to Great Britain. Adams also wrote the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, which influenced the writing of the United States Constitution.
Adams served two terms as vice president under President George Washington and was elected president in 1796 as a member of the Federalist Party. His presidency focused on the French Revolutionary Wars, and his decision to keep the United States neutral caused criticism from both the Jeffersonian Republicans and some members of his own party, including his rival Alexander Hamilton. Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts and increased the size of the Army and Navy during an undeclared naval war with France. He was the first president to live in the White House.
In 1800, Adams ran for president again but lost to his vice president and former friend, Thomas Jefferson, due to opposition from Federalists and accusations of acting like a ruler. After leaving office, he retired to Massachusetts. Later, he reconnected with Jefferson through regular letters. John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence being adopted. His son, John Quincy Adams, was the sixth president of the United States. Adams and his son are the only presidents among the first twelve who never owned enslaved people. Most historians have ranked his presidency in a positive way. Adams followed Unitarian religious beliefs and grew more interested in Enlightenment ideas as he aged.
Early life and education
John Adams was born on October 30, 1735, to John Adams Sr. and Susanna Boylston. He had two younger brothers, Peter and Elihu. Adams was born on the family farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. His mother was from a family known for medicine in present-day Brookline, Massachusetts. His father was a deacon in the Congregational Church, a farmer, a shoemaker, and a lieutenant in the militia. Adams often spoke highly of his father and remembered their close relationship. Adams’s great-great-grandfather, Henry Adams, moved to Massachusetts from Braintree, Essex, England, around 1638.
Adams’s formal education began at age six at a dame school, which was a small school held in a teacher’s home. Students there studied from a book called The New England Primer. Later, he attended Braintree Latin School under Joseph Cleverly, where he learned Latin, rhetoric, logic, and arithmetic. During his early years, Adams sometimes skipped school, disliked his teacher, and wanted to be a farmer. However, his father insisted he stay in school. Deacon Adams hired a new teacher named Joseph Marsh, and Adams improved. He later said, “As a child, I enjoyed perhaps the greatest of blessings that can be bestowed upon men—that of a mother who was anxious and capable to form the characters of her children.”
At age sixteen, Adams entered Harvard College in 1751, studying under Joseph Mayhew. As an adult, he studied the works of ancient writers like Thucydides, Plato, Cicero, and Tacitus in their original languages. Though his father hoped he would become a minister, after graduating with an A.B. degree in 1755, Adams briefly taught school in Worcester while deciding on his future. Over the next four years, he sought recognition and aimed to be respected by others. He decided to become a lawyer, writing to his father that lawyers had “noble and gallant achievements,” while some clergy were “absolute dunces.” He sometimes doubted his own efforts and felt he did not always help others.
When the French and Indian War began in 1754, Adams, who was nineteen at the time, felt guilty for being the first in his family not to serve as a militia officer. He said, “I longed more ardently to be a Soldier than I ever did to be a Lawyer.”
In 1756, Adams studied law under James Putnam, a respected lawyer in Worcester. In 1758, he earned an A.M. from Harvard, and in 1759, he was admitted to the bar. He began writing in a diary, which included his thoughts on James Otis Jr.’s 1761 challenge to British writs of assistance. These writs allowed British officials to search homes without notice or reason. Otis’s argument against the writs inspired Adams to support the American colonies.
In 1763, Adams wrote seven essays for Boston newspapers under the name “Humphrey Ploughjogger.” He criticized the selfish desire for power he saw among Massachusetts leaders. Though he was less well known than his older cousin Samuel Adams, Adams gained influence through his work as a lawyer, his historical analysis, and his support for republicanism. He often struggled with his temper, which sometimes affected his political career.
In the late 1750s, Adams fell in love with Hannah Quincy. He was about to propose but was interrupted by friends, and the chance was lost. In 1759, he met 15-year-old Abigail Smith, his third cousin, through a friend named Richard Cranch, who was courting Abigail’s older sister. At first, Adams did not think much of Abigail and her sisters, calling them “not fond, nor frank, nor candid.” Over time, he grew close to Abigail. They married on October 25, 1764, despite opposition from Abigail’s mother. The couple shared a love of books and were honest with each other. After his father died in 1761, Adams inherited a 9½-acre farm and a house where they lived until 1783.
John and Abigail had six children: Abigail (called “Nabby”) in 1765, John Quincy in 1767, Susanna in 1768, Charles in 1770, Thomas in 1772, and Elizabeth in 1777. Susanna died at age one, and Elizabeth was stillborn. All three of Adams’s sons became lawyers. Charles and Thomas struggled with alcoholism, while John Quincy succeeded and later became president.
Career before the Revolution
John Adams became well-known for leading people against the Stamp Act. The Act was passed by the British Parliament without asking colonial American lawmakers for their opinion. It required the American colonies to pay a direct tax for stamped documents, which helped pay for the Seven Years' War. British vice admiralty courts, not common law courts, were given power to enforce the Act. These courts did not use juries and were strongly disliked. People hated the Act because it cost money and was carried out without the colonies’ approval. Resistance to the Act was so strong that it could not be enforced. In 1765, Adams wrote the "Braintree Instructions" in a letter to Braintree’s representatives in the Massachusetts legislature. The letter explained that the Act should be opposed because it denied two basic rights of all Englishmen: being taxed only with their agreement and being tried by a jury of their peers. The instructions clearly defended colonial rights and became a model for other towns.
Adams also used his pen name "Humphrey Ploughjogger" to write four articles for the Boston Gazette in August 1765. These articles were later republished in 1768 as True Sentiments of America, or A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law. He spoke in December before the governor and council, saying the Stamp Act was invalid because Massachusetts had no representation in Parliament. He noted that protests were influenced by a sermon by Boston minister Jonathan Mayhew, which used Romans 13 to support rebellion. Though Adams strongly opposed the Act in writing, he refused to join Samuel Adams in mob actions or public demonstrations. In 1766, Braintree’s town meeting elected Adams as a selectman.
When the Stamp Act was repealed in early 1766, tensions with Britain eased temporarily. Adams moved his family to Boston in April 1768 to focus on his law practice. The family rented a house on Brattle Street, known as the "White House," for a year before moving to Cold Lane and later to a larger home in Brattle Square. In 1768, Adams successfully defended merchant John Hancock, who was accused of breaking British trade laws in the Liberty Affair. After the deaths of Jeremiah Gridley and the mental decline of James Otis Jr., Adams became Boston’s most prominent lawyer. On June 7, 1770, Adams replaced James Bowdoin as a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives, a position he held until April 16, 1771.
Britain’s Townshend Acts in 1767 increased tensions, and more British troops were sent to the colonies. On March 5, 1770, a mob attacked a British soldier, and eight soldiers came to his aid. The crowd threw snowballs, ice, and stones at the soldiers, who then fired, killing five civilians in the Boston Massacre. The soldiers were arrested for murder, but no other lawyers would defend them. Adams agreed to take the case, believing everyone should have the right to a fair trial. The trials were delayed to let emotions settle.
The trial of Captain Thomas Preston, who led the soldiers, began on October 24 and ended in his acquittal because there was no proof he ordered the firing. The other soldiers were tried in December, and Adams argued that juries should decide cases based on facts, not emotions. He won acquittals for six soldiers, while two were convicted of manslaughter. Adams received a small payment from his clients.
Biographer John E. Ferling wrote that Adams carefully chose jurors who were sympathetic to the British army, some of whom later became Loyalist exiles. While the prosecution’s case was weak, Adams performed well in the trial. Ferling suggested Adams may have taken the case to gain political office, as a vacancy in the Massachusetts legislature opened three months later, and Adams was chosen to fill it.
Adams’s law practice grew after the trial, and his schedule became busier. In 1771, Adams moved his family to Braintree, Massachusetts, but kept his office in Boston. He later moved them back to Boston in 1772 after becoming unhappy with life in Braintree. He bought a large brick house on Queen Street near his office. In 1774, Adams and Abigail returned to Braintree due to the unstable situation in Boston, making it their permanent home.
John Adams, who was more conservative among the Founding Fathers, believed British actions against the colonies were wrong but that open rebellion was not justified. He preferred peaceful petitioning to remain part of Great Britain. His views changed around 1772 when the British Crown began paying the salaries of Governor Thomas Hutchinson and his judges instead of the Massachusetts legislature. Adams wrote in the Gazette that these actions would harm judicial independence and make the colonial government more controlled by the Crown. After disagreements in the legislature, Hutchinson warned that Parliament’s power over the colonies was absolute and that resistance was illegal. John Adams, Samuel Adams, and Joseph Hawley drafted a resolution threatening independence if tyranny continued. The resolution argued that colonists had never been under Parliament’s control, only the King’s.
The Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16, 1773, as a protest against the Tea Act and the British East India Company’s monopoly. Protestors destroyed 342 chests of tea worth about ten thousand pounds on the British ship Dartmouth in Boston Harbor. Adams briefly represented the Dartmouth’s owners in a legal case about the destroyed tea. Adams supported the destruction of the tea, calling it the "grandest Event" in the colonial protest movement and writing in his diary that it was "absolutely and indispensably" necessary.
Continental Congress
In 1774, with the help of Samuel Adams, the First Continental Congress was held in response to the Intolerable Acts, a group of laws meant to punish Massachusetts, strengthen British control over the colonies, and stop rebellion. Four representatives were chosen by the Massachusetts legislature, including John Adams, who agreed to attend even though his friend, Attorney General Jonathan Sewall, asked him not to.
After arriving in Philadelphia, Adams was placed on a 23-person committee responsible for writing a letter of complaints to King George III. The group quickly divided into two groups: one that wanted to work with Britain and another that wanted more independence. Although the Massachusetts representatives mostly stayed quiet, Adams criticized some members who supported Britain, even though his own views at the time were similar to those of conservative John Dickinson. Adams wanted to end unfair laws but still believed keeping ties with Britain had some benefits. He pushed for the right to a jury trial and criticized other delegates for being overly formal in their discussions. Adams helped create a compromise between the two groups. The Congress ended in October after sending the letter to the King and supporting the Suffolk Resolves, which called for refusing to buy British goods.
Adams’s absence was hard for his wife, Abigail, who had to care for their family alone. She still encouraged him, writing: "You cannot be, I know, nor do I wish to see you an inactive Spectator, but if the Sword be drawn I bid adieu to all domestick felicity, and look forward to that Country where there is neither wars nor rumors of War in a firm belief that thro the mercy of its King we shall both rejoice there together."
News of the Battles of Lexington and Concord made Adams hope independence would soon happen. Three days after the battle, he visited a militia camp and noted the soldiers’ high spirits but also their poor condition and lack of discipline. A month later, Adams returned to Philadelphia for the Second Continental Congress as the leader of the Massachusetts group. At first, he was careful because the Congress had people who supported Britain, those who wanted independence, and those who were unsure. He believed the Congress was moving toward independence, even though he publicly supported "reconciliation if possible" and privately agreed with Benjamin Franklin’s idea that independence was unavoidable.
In June 1775, Adams nominated George Washington as commander of the army near Boston, praising his skills and character. He opposed efforts like the Olive Branch Petition, which aimed to make peace with Britain. He wrote that "Powder and Artillery are the most efficacious, Sure, and infallibly conciliatory Measures We can adopt." After failing to stop the Olive Branch Petition, Adams wrote a private letter calling Dickinson a "piddling genius." The letter was published by Loyalist newspapers, and Dickinson refused to speak to Adams for a time. By the fall of 1775, Adams worked harder than anyone else in Congress to push for independence from Britain. In October 1775, Adams was appointed chief judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court but never served and resigned in 1777. He later wrote a pamphlet called Thoughts on Government, which influenced ideas for republican constitutions.
In early 1776, Adams grew frustrated with the slow progress toward independence. He helped plan armed ships to attack British vessels and drafted rules for a provisional navy. He worked with delegate Thomas Jefferson, who eventually supported independence. On June 7, 1776, Adams supported the Lee Resolution, which declared the colonies "free and independent states."
Before independence was declared, Adams organized a group of five people to write the Declaration of Independence. He chose himself, Jefferson, Franklin, Livingston, and Sherman. Jefferson thought Adams should write the document, but Adams persuaded the group to choose Jefferson. Years later, Adams explained his reasoning: "Reason first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can." The drafting process is unclear, but Jefferson wrote the first draft with Adams playing a major role. On July 1, the resolution was debated in Congress. Opponents like Dickinson tried to stop it, but Adams argued for its adoption. Jefferson later praised Adams as "the pillar of [the Declaration's] support on the floor of Congress, [its] ablest advocate and defender." On July 2, Congress voted for independence, with 12 colonies supporting it and New York abstaining. Dickinson was absent. On July 3, Adams wrote to Abigail that "yesterday was decided the greatest question which was ever debated in America, and a greater perhaps never was nor will be decided among men." He predicted that "The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America," and would be celebrated yearly. Congress approved the Declaration of Independence on July 4.
During the Congress, Adams served on 90 committees, leading 25 of them, a workload unmatched by other members. He was called "the first man in the House" by Benjamin Rush. In June 1776, Adams became head of the Board of War and Ordnance, responsible for recording army officers, troop movements, and ammunition supplies. He worked long hours and managed the details of raising and equipping an army under civilian control. Adams acted as a de facto Secretary of War, keeping detailed communication with Continental Army officers about supplies, weapons, and tactics. He emphasized the importance of discipline in maintaining military effectiveness.
Diplomatic service
John Adams argued in Congress that independence was needed to build trade, and that trade was needed to achieve independence. He pushed for a commercial agreement with France. He was chosen, along with Franklin, Dickinson, Benjamin Harrison from Virginia, and Robert Morris from Pennsylvania, to "prepare a plan of treaties to be proposed to foreign powers." While Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence, Adams worked on the Model Treaty, which allowed a trade deal with France but did not include formal recognition or military help. The treaty followed the rule that "free ships make free goods," letting neutral countries trade freely while avoiding a list of forbidden goods. By late 1777, America’s money was nearly gone, and in September, a British army defeated General Washington and captured Philadelphia. More Americans believed that trade alone would not be enough and that military help was needed. The British defeat at Saratoga was expected to encourage France to agree to an alliance.
In November 1777, Adams learned he would be named commissioner to France, replacing Silas Deane and joining Franklin and Arthur Lee in Paris to negotiate an alliance. James Lovell said Adams had "inflexible integrity" and that a younger man could balance Franklin’s age. On November 27, Adams accepted. Abigail stayed in Massachusetts to manage their home, but 10-year-old John Quincy went with Adams, as the experience was "of inestimable value" for his growth. On February 17, 1778, Adams sailed aboard the frigate Boston, commanded by Captain Samuel Tucker. The trip was rough, and British ships chased them. Adams helped capture one British vessel. A cannon misfired, injuring several sailors and killing one. On April 1, the Boston arrived in France, where Adams learned France had agreed to an alliance with the United States on February 6. Adams disliked the other commissioners: Lee, whom he thought paranoid and cynical, and Franklin, whom he found too slow and overly respectful to the French. Adams stayed in the background but managed the delegation’s finances and records. Frustrated by France’s lack of support, Adams wrote to French foreign minister Vergennes in December, asking for French naval help in North America. Franklin softened the letter, but Vergennes ignored it. In September 1778, Congress gave Franklin more power by naming him minister plenipotentiary to France, while Lee was sent to Spain. Adams received no instructions. Frustrated, he left France with John Quincy on March 8, 1779. On August 2, they arrived in Braintree.
In late 1779, Adams was appointed as the sole minister to negotiate a commercial treaty with Britain and end the war. After the Massachusetts constitutional convention, he left for France in November, accompanied by his sons John Quincy and 9-year-old Charles. A leak forced the ship to stop in Ferrol, Spain, and Adams and his group spent six weeks traveling overland to Paris. Disagreements between Lee and Franklin led Adams to act as a tie-breaker in most votes. He improved his usefulness by learning French. Lee was eventually recalled. Adams closely supervised his sons’ education and wrote to Abigail about once every ten days.
Unlike Franklin, Adams believed the Franco-American alliance was driven by French self-interest. He grew frustrated with what he saw as French delays in helping. Adams wrote that the French wanted to "keep their hands above our chin to prevent us from drowning, but not to lift our heads out of water." In March 1780, Congress tried to reduce inflation by lowering the dollar’s value. Vergennes called Adams for a meeting. In a letter sent in June, Adams said lowering the dollar’s value without exceptions for French merchants was unfair and asked Congress to "retrace its steps." Adams defended the decision, saying French merchants were doing well and expressing other complaints about the French. The alliance had been made over two years earlier. During that time, an army under the comte de Rochambeau had been sent to help Washington, but it had not done much, and America needed French warships to fight British forces in port cities and counter the British Navy. Instead, the French Navy was sent to the West Indies to protect French interests. Adams believed France needed to commit more fully to the alliance. Vergennes said he would only deal with Franklin, who sent a letter to Congress criticizing Adams. Adams then left France on his own.
In mid-1780, Adams traveled to the Dutch Republic, one of the few other republics in Europe. He hoped the Dutch might support America. Getting a Dutch loan could help America become less dependent on France and pressure Britain into peace. At first, Adams had no official status, but in July he was allowed to negotiate a loan and moved to Amsterdam in August. Adams was initially optimistic and enjoyed the city, but soon became disappointed. The Dutch feared British retaliation and refused to meet Adams. Before his arrival, the British discovered secret aid the Dutch had given to America and threatened to attack their ships, making the Dutch even more cautious. News of American battlefield defeats also reached Europe. After five months without meeting any Dutch officials, Adams called Amsterdam "the capital of the reign of Mammon" in early 1781. He was finally invited to present his credentials as ambassador to the Dutch government at The Hague on April 19, 1781, but they did not promise help. Meanwhile, Adams blocked an attempt by neutral European powers to mediate the war without consulting the United States. In July, Adams agreed to his sons’ departure: John Quincy went with Adams’s secretary Francis Dana to Saint Petersburg as a French interpreter to seek recognition from Russia, and homesick Charles returned home with Adams’s friend Benjamin Waterhouse. In August, shortly after being removed from his role as head of peace treaty negotiations, Adams had "a major nervous breakdown." That November, he learned that American and French forces had defeated the British at Yorktown. This victory was largely due to French naval help, which supported Adams’s call for more naval support.
News of the American victory at Yorktown shocked Europe. In January 1782, after recovering, Adams arrived at The Hague to demand answers from the States General. His efforts stalled, so he turned to the people, using strong support for America to gain recognition. Several provinces began recognizing American independence. On April 19, the States General formally recognized American independence and acknowledged Adams as ambassador. On June 11, with help from Dutch leader Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Adams negotiated a loan of five million guilders. In October, he negotiated a treaty of amity and commerce. The house Adams bought during his stay in the Netherlands.
Vice presidency (1789–1797)
On June 17, 1788, Adams returned to Massachusetts and was greeted warmly by the people. After returning, he spent the following months living on his farm. Soon after, the nation’s first presidential election was scheduled to take place. Many people believed George Washington would win the presidency, so they thought the vice presidency should go to someone from the North. Although Adams did not publicly comment on the matter, he was the main candidate for vice president. On February 4, 1789, each state’s presidential electors met to cast their two votes for president. The person with the most votes would become president, and the second would become vice president. Adams received 34 votes in the election, placing him second behind Washington, who received 69 votes. As a result, Washington became the nation’s first president, and Adams became its first vice president. Adams finished ahead of all other candidates except Washington, but he was upset that Washington received more than twice as many votes. To ensure Adams did not accidentally become president and to guarantee Washington’s victory, Alexander Hamilton convinced at least 7 of the 69 electors not to vote for Adams. After learning about the manipulation but not Hamilton’s role in it, Adams wrote to Benjamin Rush that his election was “a curse rather than a blessing.”
Although his term began on March 4, 1789, Adams did not start serving as vice president until April 21 because he arrived in New York too late. With Adams as vice president, Washington chose Alexander Hamilton to lead the Treasury Department, Edmund Randolph as Attorney General, and Henry Knox as Secretary of War. Later, Thomas Jefferson became Secretary of State.
The only responsibility the vice president has, as written in the Constitution, is to preside over the U.S. Senate, where they can cast a vote to break a tie. Early in his term, Adams became involved in a long debate in the Senate about the official titles for the president and other government officials. The House of Representatives agreed that the president should be called simply “George Washington, President of the United States,” but the Senate spent a lot of time discussing the issue. Adams supported using the title “Highness” and the name “Protector of Their [the United States’] Liberties” for the president. Some senators favored similar titles like “Excellency,” but others, including anti-Federalists, opposed these titles because they sounded too much like titles used in monarchies. Thomas Jefferson called them “superlatively ridiculous.” They argued that these titles violated the Constitution’s rule against noble titles. Adams believed the titles were needed to show the dignity of the president’s office. He was criticized for being stubborn and for debating senators loudly. Senator William Maclay of Pennsylvania wrote that Adams “harangued us from the chair” for forty minutes. Maclay became Adams’s strongest critic and insulted him publicly and privately, even comparing him to “a monkey just put into breeches.” Ralph Izard joked that Adams should be called “His Rotundity,” a name that became popular. On May 14, 1789, the Senate decided to use the title “Mr. President.” Adams later admitted that his vice presidency had started poorly and that he may not have understood the people’s feelings. Washington quietly expressed his disappointment with the controversy.
As vice president, Adams mostly supported the Washington administration and the Federalist Party. He backed Washington’s policies against opposition from anti-Federalist Republicans. Adams cast 29 tie-breaking votes, making him one of only three vice presidents to cast more than 20 during their time in office. He voted against a bill proposed by Maclay that would have required Senate approval for the removal of government officials confirmed by the Senate. In 1790, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton made a deal guaranteeing Republican support for Hamilton’s plan to take on national debt in exchange for moving the capital from New York to Philadelphia and then to a permanent location on the Potomac River to satisfy Southerners. In the Senate, Adams cast a tie-breaking vote against a last-minute effort to keep the capital in New York.
Adams played a small role in politics as vice president. He attended few cabinet meetings, and President Washington rarely asked for his advice. Although Adams worked hard in his role, by mid-1789 he found it “not quite adapted to my character… too inactive, and mechanical.” He wrote, “My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.” Adams’s early behavior in the Senate made him a target for critics of the Washington administration. By the end of his first term, he grew used to a minor role and rarely spoke in debates. Adams never questioned Washington’s bravery or love for his country, but he sometimes criticized Washington, Franklin, and others. He wrote, “The History of our Revolution will be one continued lie. The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin’s electrical Rod smote the Earth and out sprung General Washington. That Franklin electrified him with his Rod – and henceforth these two conducted all the Policy, Negotiations, Legislatures and War.” Adams won re-election in 1792 with 77 votes. His strongest opponent, George Clinton, received 50.
On July 14, 1789, the French Revolution began. Republicans were happy about it. Adams at first thought the revolution might be good, but later called the revolutionaries “barbarous and tyrannical.” Washington began consulting Adams more often, but not until near the end of his presidency, by which time key cabinet members like Hamilton and Jefferson had already left. The British were attacking American ships, so John Jay was sent to London to negotiate peace. When he returned in 1795 with a treaty that was not favorable to the United States, Adams encouraged Washington to sign it to avoid war. Washington agreed, which caused protests and riots. People accused him of betraying American honor to a monarchy and of ignoring the French Republic. In a letter to Abigail, Adams predicted that ratification of the treaty would deeply divide the nation.
The 1796 election was the first presidential election in which the outcome was not certain. George Washington had been elected twice without opposition, but during his presidency, disagreements between Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson led to the creation of the Federalist and Republican parties. When Washington decided not to run for a third term, a strong political battle for control of Congress and the presidency began.
As in the previous two elections, no candidates were officially nominated for voters to choose from in 1796. The
Presidency (1797–1801)
Adams became the second president of the United States on March 4, 1797. He followed President Washington’s example by using the presidency to support republican values and good citizenship. His time in office was free of scandals. Adams spent much of his presidency at his home in Massachusetts called Peacefield, where he preferred the quiet life to the busy work in Washington, D.C. He avoided using political favors or seeking office positions, which other leaders often did.
Historians debate whether it was wise for Adams to keep Washington’s cabinet, which was loyal to Alexander Hamilton. Thomas Jefferson said the people around Adams were "only a little less hostile to him than to me." Adams believed keeping Hamilton’s group helped ensure a smooth transition of power. He continued many of Hamilton’s economic plans, even though Hamilton was not in the cabinet. Hamilton often gave advice to key officials, especially the Treasury Secretary, Oliver Wolcott Jr. However, Adams made many decisions on his own, even when his cabinet disagreed. Hamilton was used to being consulted by Washington, but after Adams became president, Hamilton sent him a detailed letter with policy ideas. Adams did not pay much attention to it.
Historian Joseph Ellis wrote that the Adams presidency was focused on one major question: whether to go to war with France or find peace. Britain and France were fighting because of the French Revolution. Hamilton and the Federalists supported Britain, believing the French Revolution was dangerous and against religion. Jefferson and the Republicans supported France, which had helped the United States during the Revolution. France was upset when Adams became president instead of Jefferson. Adams followed Washington’s policy of staying out of the war. However, France saw the United States as a British ally because of the Jay Treaty and began attacking American ships trading with Britain. Many Americans still liked France because of its help during the Revolution and its support for a republic, not a monarchy. They did not want war with France.
On May 16, 1797, Adams gave a speech to Congress, asking for stronger defenses in case of war with France. He also sent a peace commission to France but said the United States would prepare for war if needed. Federalists supported this plan, and Adams was shown as an eagle holding an olive branch (a symbol of peace) and weapons (symbols of defense). Republicans were upset because Adams did not support France and seemed ready for war.
The situation changed with the XYZ Affair. Adams sent a peace commission to France, including John Marshall, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Elbridge Gerry. Thomas Jefferson met with a French official, Joseph Letombe, who later told Paris that Jefferson said France should treat American diplomats politely but delay negotiations to get better terms. Letombe claimed Jefferson called Adams "vain, suspicious, and stubborn." When the American envoys arrived in France, they were kept waiting for days and only met with the French foreign minister for 15 minutes. Then, three French agents (later called X, Y, and Z) demanded huge bribes to France and the minister himself before talks could begin. The Americans refused. Marshall and Pinckney returned to the United States, while Gerry stayed in France.
In March 1798, John Marshall sent a report to Congress saying the peace mission had failed. Adams did not share details to avoid causing public anger. He also asked Congress to strengthen the nation’s defenses. Republicans opposed Adams’ efforts. They suspected he was hiding information that favored France and demanded he release documents. When the documents were shared, Republicans were surprised. Benjamin Franklin Bache, editor of a newspaper, blamed Adams for the failed mission. However, the public began to support war with France. Adams became very popular as many called for full war against the French.
Despite the XYZ Affair, Republicans continued to oppose Adams. Federalists accused French immigrants of causing unrest. To calm the situation, Federalists passed laws called the Alien and Sedition Acts. These laws, including the Naturalization Act, Alien Friends Act, Alien Enemies Act, and Sedition Act, were passed quickly. The first three targeted immigrants, especially French, by allowing the president to deport them and raising the requirements to become a citizen. The Sedition Act made it illegal to publish false or harmful statements about the government. Adams did not support these laws but signed them at the urging of his wife and cabinet.
The government used the Sedition Act to charge 14 or more people and sue five major Republican newspapers. Most cases happened in 1798 and 1799 and went to trial before the 1800 election. Critics of the Federalists were fined or jailed for speaking out. Congressman Matthew Lyon of Vermont was sentenced to jail for criticizing the president. The Alien Acts were not strictly enforced because Adams resisted efforts to deport immigrants, though many left on their own. Republicans were angry. Jefferson secretly worked with James Madison to write the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, which argued that states had the right to reject laws they saw as unconstitutional. Federalists strongly opposed these ideas, and the acts united Republicans but did not help Federalists.
In May 1798, a French ship attacked an American merchant vessel near New York Harbor. More attacks followed, starting a naval war with France that was not officially declared. Adams knew the United States could not win a major war because of internal disagreements and France’s strength in Europe. He focused on attacking French ships to protect American interests. In May, Congress created a separate Navy Department.
Post-presidency (1801–1826)
After leaving the presidency, John Adams returned to farming at his home, Peacefield, in Quincy, Massachusetts. He also began writing an autobiography, but the work had many missing parts and was never completed or edited. Most of his time was spent on farm duties, though he usually hired others to do the heavy labor. His simple lifestyle and income from his presidential salary allowed him to save a large amount of money by 1801. In 1803, the bank that held his savings of about $13,000, called Bird, Savage & Bird, failed. To solve this problem, John Quincy Adams bought his properties in Weymouth and Quincy, including Peacefield, for $12,800. During the first four years of his retirement, Adams rarely communicated with others, but later reconnected with old friends like Benjamin Waterhouse and Benjamin Rush.
Adams generally avoided speaking publicly about political matters. He did not criticize President Jefferson’s actions, believing that people should support every administration as much as possible. When James Callender, a disgruntled writer, exposed the Sally Hemings affair, Adams said nothing. John Quincy Adams was elected to the Senate in 1803. Soon after, both he and his father supported Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase, even though they were from different political parties. The only major conflict Adams had during Jefferson’s presidency was a disagreement with Mercy Otis Warren, an old friend who had written a history of the American Revolution that criticized Adams for favoring monarchy and being overly ambitious. A long and heated exchange of letters followed, but their friendship eventually healed. Adams privately criticized Jefferson’s Embargo Act, though John Quincy Adams supported it. John Quincy resigned from the Senate in 1808 after the Massachusetts Senate, controlled by the Federalists, refused to nominate him for a second term. After the Federalists claimed John Quincy was no longer part of their party, Adams wrote to him, saying he had long given up the Federalist name and beliefs.
After Jefferson retired in 1809, Adams became more active in public discussions. He published a series of letters in the Boston Patriot newspaper, refuting points from Alexander Hamilton’s 1800 pamphlet. The first letter was written shortly after his return to Peacefield but was not published for eight years. Adams had kept it hidden for fear it might harm John Quincy’s political future. Although Hamilton had died in 1804, Adams felt it was important to defend his reputation. With John Quincy no longer part of the Federalist Party, Adams believed it was safe to publish the letters. Adams supported the War of 1812, believing it helped unite the nation. He also backed James Madison’s re-election as president in 1812.
Adams’s daughter, Abigail (“Nabby”), was married to William Stephens Smith, but she returned to her parents’ home after the marriage failed. She died of breast cancer in 1813.
In early 1801, Adams sent Thomas Jefferson a short note wishing him a successful presidency. Jefferson did not reply, and they did not communicate for nearly 12 years. In 1804, Abigail, without her husband’s knowledge, wrote to Jefferson to express sympathy for the death of his daughter Polly, who had lived with the Adams family in London. This started a brief exchange of letters, but it quickly turned political. Jefferson ended the conversation by not responding to Abigail’s fourth letter. By 1812, there had been no communication between Jefferson’s home, Monticello, and Peacefield since Adams left office.
In early 1812, Adams and Jefferson reconciled. The previous year had been difficult for Adams, as his brother-in-law and friend Richard Cranch and his wife Mary died, and Nabby was diagnosed with breast cancer. These events made Adams more reflective. Their mutual friend, Benjamin Rush, encouraged them to reach out to each other. On New Year’s Day, Adams sent Jefferson a friendly note with a collection of lectures by John Quincy Adams. Jefferson replied immediately with a warm letter, and their friendship was restored. They continued writing to each other for the rest of their lives, and their letters are now considered important parts of American history. Their correspondence lasted 14 years and included 158 letters—109 from Adams and 49 from Jefferson.
At first, Adams tried to discuss their political actions in the letters, but Jefferson refused, saying nothing new could be added. Adams once wrote, “You and I ought not to die before we have explained ourselves to each other,” but Jefferson declined to engage in such discussions. Adams accepted this, and their letters focused on other topics, like philosophy and daily life.
As they grew older, the letters became less frequent. Each man also kept some personal matters private. Jefferson never mentioned his new home, family problems, slave ownership, or financial struggles, while Adams did not talk about his son Thomas’s troubled life, which included failing as a lawyer and becoming an alcoholic.
Abigail Adams died of typhoid on October 28, 1818, at Peacefield. In 1824, the United States had an exciting presidential race that included John Quincy Adams. The Marquis de Lafayette, a French hero, visited the country and met with Adams, who enjoyed the visit. Adams was happy when John Quincy was elected president. The election results were confirmed in February 1825 after a decision by the House of Representatives. Adams said, “No man who ever held the office of President would congratulate a friend on obtaining it.”
On July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Adams died of a heart attack at Peacefield at about 6:20 p.m. His last words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives.” Adams did not know that Jefferson had died hours earlier. At 90 years old, Adams was the oldest U.S. president until Ronald Reagan surpassed him in 2001.
John and Abigail Adams are buried at United First Parish Church in Quincy, along with John Quincy and Louisa Adams.
Political writings
During the First Continental Congress, Adams was sometimes asked for his opinions about government. He believed government was important but had privately criticized Thomas Paine's 1776 pamphlet, Common Sense, which strongly opposed all forms of monarchy, including the type supported by John Locke. The pamphlet suggested a government with only one legislative body and a weak leader chosen by that body. Adams said the author was "better at tearing down than building." He argued the pamphlet’s ideas were too extreme, with no balance or limits, and would cause chaos. Paine’s ideas promoted a radical form of democracy that did not include the system of checks and balances that people like Adams supported. At the request of some delegates, Adams wrote down his views in letters. Richard Henry Lee, impressed by Adams’s ideas, printed one of the most detailed letters. Published anonymously in April 1776, it was called Thoughts on Government and presented as "a Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend." Many historians believe this pamphlet had the greatest lasting influence among Adams’s writings.
Adams believed the government should be designed to achieve the happiness and virtue of most people. He wrote, "There is no good government but what is republican." He argued the best part of the British system was its focus on laws, not individuals. The pamphlet supported a legislature with two parts, explaining that a single assembly could be as flawed as an individual. Adams suggested dividing government powers among the executive, judicial, and legislative branches. He also recommended that any new national government should only have specific powers clearly listed. Thoughts on Government was used in every state when writing constitutions. Adams used the letter to criticize those who opposed independence, saying John Dickinson feared republicanism and Southern planters worried their power as slaveholders would be lost.
After returning from France in 1779, Adams was chosen to help write a new constitution for Massachusetts. He worked on a committee with Samuel Adams and James Bowdoin, though most of the writing was done by John Adams. The new Massachusetts Constitution was approved in 1780. It was the first written by a special committee, then approved by the people, and included a legislature with two parts. It also had a separate executive, limited by an executive council, and a judicial branch with judges who could serve for life if they behaved well. The Constitution stated that individuals had a duty to worship the "Supreme Being" and the right to do so freely. It also created free public education for three years for all children. Adams believed education was vital for the Enlightenment, as people who were "enlightened with knowledge" could better protect their freedoms.
Adams’s focus on politics often kept him away from his family. In 1780, he explained, "I must study politics and war so my sons may study mathematics and philosophy. My sons should study geography, history, and agriculture so their children can study painting, music, and art."
While in London, Adams learned about a meeting to revise the Articles of Confederation. In 1787, he published A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States, arguing against European views that state governments were flawed. He suggested a senate made up of wealthy or capable individuals to prevent them from dominating the lower house. His work described a "mixed government" that balanced monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy. Historian Gordon S. Wood said Adams’s ideas had become outdated by the time the Federal Constitution was created. By then, Americans believed power belonged to the people, not social classes. However, Wood was criticized for not recognizing Adams’s unique view of a republic and his support for a constitution approved by the people.
Adams wrote that "power must be opposed to power, and interest to interest." This idea was later used by James Madison in Federalist No. 51, where he explained the separation of powers in the new Constitution. Adams believed people naturally sought their own interests, so a single elected body could act unfairly without checks. He argued a strong executive would protect people’s rights from "aristocrats" who might try to take them.
Adams first saw the new United States Constitution in late 1787. He wrote to Jefferson that he read it "with great satisfaction." He was unhappy that the president could not appoint officials without Senate approval and that a Bill of Rights was missing.
Political philosophy and views
John Adams never owned a slave and refused to use slave labor because of his strong beliefs. Before the war, he sometimes helped enslaved people in legal cases where they sought freedom. Adams usually avoided discussing slavery in national politics because he feared the Southern states would react strongly, especially during a time when unity was needed to win independence. In 1777, he opposed a law that would have freed enslaved people in Massachusetts, saying the issue was too divisive and the law should be delayed. He also opposed the use of Black soldiers during the Revolution because of Southern opposition. Slavery was abolished in Massachusetts around 1780 when the Massachusetts Constitution included a statement in the Declaration of Rights that indirectly banned slavery. Abigail Adams, John Adams’s wife, openly opposed slavery.
John Adams had changing and sometimes conflicting views about the value of royal and inherited political systems. At times, he supported these systems, saying that only hereditary monarchy or aristocracy could protect people’s rights and laws. At other times, he rejected these ideas, calling himself an enemy of monarchy. Despite his denials, critics still accused him of supporting monarchy. Historian Clinton Rossiter described Adams as a revolutionary conservative who wanted to balance the ideas of republicanism with the stability of monarchy to create a society with both freedom and order. In 1790, Adams warned in a published essay about the risks of uncontrolled democracy.
Many false claims were made about Adams, including that he planned to "crown himself king" and prepare his son, John Quincy, to become his successor. Adams believed the biggest danger was the rise of an oligarchy, or rule by the wealthy, which could harm equality. To prevent this, he argued that the power of the wealthy should be controlled through institutions and limited by a strong leader.
John Adams’s religious views were complex. He took a middle path between Deism, which believes in a distant God, and Calvinism, which focuses on predestination. His beliefs led him toward Unitarianism, a religious group that does not believe in the Trinity or the divinity of Jesus. In Quincy, the Unitarian group was strong, and Adams and his father were members. In 1825, Unitarians became a separate religious group, which included John Adams. Biographer David McCullough said Adams was both a devout Christian and an independent thinker who saw no conflict between these ideas.
John Adams was raised in the Congregational church, and his family had Puritan roots. Puritanism deeply influenced New England’s culture, laws, and traditions. Adams praised historical Puritans as protectors of freedom, a cause he believed was still important. He believed regular church attendance helped people develop strong morals. Some scholars describe Adams as a Christian Deist, someone who believed in God but not in miracles.
Historian Fielding said Adams’s beliefs combined Puritan, Deist, and humanist ideas. Historian Frazer noted that while Adams used Deist language, he was not a Deist. In 1796, Adams criticized Thomas Paine’s Deist attacks on Christianity in The Age of Reason, saying Christianity was "above all religions" and a "religion of wisdom, virtue, equity, and humanity." Both Jefferson and Adams doubted the Bible’s miracles and the divinity of Christ, but historian Gordon S. Wood said Adams always respected people’s religious beliefs in a way Jefferson did not.
In his later years, Adams moved toward more mainstream Enlightenment religious ideas. He criticized the established churches in Britain and France for causing suffering but believed religion was necessary for society. In a letter from December 25, 1813, Adams said the Christian Trinity was a "fabrication" based on ancient Greek ideas, not divine revelation. He also argued that salvation depended on good actions, not just beliefs.
Legacy
Benjamin Franklin once said that many people believed John Adams "meant well for his country, was always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes, and in some things, absolutely out of his senses." Adams felt he would be forgotten and not properly appreciated by history. These feelings often showed through jealousy and harsh words about other Founders. Historian Edmund Morgan wrote, "Adams was very vain, extremely jealous, and very eager for praise. But no man ever served his country more selflessly."
Historian George C. Herring said Adams was the most independent thinker among the Founders. Though he officially supported the Federalists, he often acted on his own, disagreeing with both the Federalists and the Republicans at times. People described him as difficult to work with, but his persistence came from making tough choices even when everyone disagreed. Adams admitted he was often argumentative, saying, "[As President] I refused to stay quiet. I sighed, cried, and even shouted. I must admit I sometimes swore." His stubbornness was a well-known trait, and he never tried to hide it. He wrote, "Thanks to God that he gave me stubbornness when I know I am right." His effort to keep peace with France while staying ready to defend the country made him less popular and led to his loss in the election. Most historians praise him for avoiding a full war with France during his presidency. However, his signing of the Alien and Sedition Acts is widely criticized.
According to historian Ferling, Adams's political ideas did not match the direction of the country. As time passed, the nation moved away from his focus on order and the rule of law and toward Jefferson's vision of freedom and a weaker central government. After he left office, as Jeffersonianism and later Jacksonian democracy became more popular, Adams was largely forgotten. In the 1840 presidential election, the Whig candidate William Henry Harrison was falsely accused by Democrats of supporting John Adams. Later, Adams faced criticism from supporters of states' rights. Edward A. Pollard, a supporter of the Confederacy during the Civil War, wrote about Adams in a negative way.
In 2001, historian David McCullough said, "The problem with Adams is that most Americans know nothing about him." Todd Leopold of CNN wrote that Adams is "remembered as that guy who served a single term as president between Washington and Jefferson." Ferling said Adams was seen as "honest and dedicated," but despite his long career in public service, he remained overshadowed. Gilbert Chinard, in a 1933 biography, described Adams as "staunch, honest, stubborn, and somewhat narrow." In a 1962 biography, Page Smith praised Adams for fighting against radicals who promised reforms that could lead to chaos. Ferling, in a 1992 biography, wrote that "Adams was his own worst enemy." He criticized Adams for being "petty, jealous, and vain" and for being separated from his family often. He also praised Adams for being willing to admit his flaws and work to improve.
In 2001, McCullough published a biography of John Adams, in which he praised Adams for being consistent and honest, explained his controversial actions, and criticized Thomas Jefferson. The book was very successful and helped improve Adams's reputation. In 2008, a television series based on McCullough's book was released, with Paul Giamatti playing Adams.
Adams is remembered through the names of many places, buildings, and items. One example is the John Adams Building of the Library of Congress, which Adams helped create through a law he signed. Adams is also honored on the Memorial to the 56 Signers of the Declaration of Independence in Washington, D.C. He does not have a separate monument in the city, though a family memorial was approved in 2001. McCullough said, "Popular symbolism has not been very generous toward Adams. There is no memorial, no statue… in his honor in our nation's capital, and to me that is absolutely inexcusable. It's long past time when we should recognize what he did, and who he was."