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John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826)
was the first (1789–1797) Vice President of
the United States|Vice President of the United
States, and the second (1797–1801) President
of the United States. His son, John Quincy Adams,
was the sixth President of the United States
(1825–1829).

==Biography==

Adams was born on October 30 (October 19 Old Style
and New Style dates|Old Style, Julian Calendar),
1735 in Braintree, Massachusetts; his John Adams
birthplace (Quincy, Massachusetts)|birthplace is
now a national park. His father, a farmer, also
named John, was a fourth-generation descendant of
Henry Adams, who emigrated from Devon, England, to
Massachusetts in about 1636; his mother was
Susanna Boylston Adams.

Young Adams graduated from Harvard College in
1755, and for a time taught school in Worcester,
Massachusetts|Worcester and studied law in the
office of James Putnam. In 1758, he was admitted
to the bar_(law)|bar. From an early age he
developed the habit of writing descriptions of
events and impressions of men. The earliest of
these is his report of the 1761 argument of James
Otis in the superior court of Massachusetts as to
the legality of Writs of Assistance. Otis’
argument inspired Adams with zeal for the cause of
the American colonies. Years later, when he was an
old man, Adams undertook to write out, at length,
his recollections of this scene.

In 1764 Adams married Miss Abigail Smith
(1744–1818), the daughter of a
Congregational minister at Weymouth,
Massachusetts. Their children were Abigail Amelia
(1765-1813); future president John Quincy
(1767-1848); Susanna Boylston (1768-70); Charles
(1770-1800); Thomas Boylston (1772-1832); and an
infant daughter (1777). 

Adams had none of the qualities of popular
leadership of his second cousin, Samuel Adams;
instead, his influence emerged through his work as
a constitutional lawyer. Impetuous, intense and
often vehement, Adams often found his inborn
contentiousness to be a handicap in his political
career. These qualities were particularly
manifested at a later period—as, for
example, during his term as president.

==Politics==
Adams first rose to influence as a leader of the
Massachusetts Patriot (American Revolution)|Whigs
during discussions with regard to the Stamp Act
1765|Stamp Act of 1765. In that year, he drafted
the instructions which were sent by the town of
Braintree, Massachusetts|Braintree to its
representatives in the Massachusetts legislature,
and which served as a model for other towns in
drawing up instructions to their representatives;
in August 1765 he anonymously contributed four
notable articles to the Boston Gazette
(republished separately in London in 1768 as A
Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law), in
which he argued that the opposition of the
colonies to the Stamp Act was a part of the
never-ending struggle between individualism and
corporate authority; 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.

In 1768 Adams moved to Boston,
Massachusetts|Boston. After the Boston Massacre in
1770, several British soldiers were arrested and
charged with the murder of four colonists, and
Adams joined Josiah Quincy|Josiah Quincy, Jr. in
defending them. The trial resulted in an acquittal
of the officer who commanded the detachment, and
most of the soldiers; but two soldiers were found
guilty of manslaughter. These claimed benefit of
clergy and were branded in the hand and released.
Adams's conduct in taking the unpopular side in
this case resulted in his subsequent election to
the Massachusetts House of Representatives by a
vote of 418 to 118. 

Adams was a member of the Continental Congress
from 1774 to 1778. In June 1775, with a view to
promoting the union of the colonies, he seconded
the nomination of George Washington as
commander-in-chief of the Continental Army|army.
His influence in Congress was great, and almost
from the beginning he was impatient for a
separation of the colonies from Kingdom of Great
Britain|Great Britain. On October 5, 1775,
Congress created the first of a series of
committees to study naval matters. From that time
onward, Adams championed the establishment and
strengthening of an American Navy and is often
referred to as the father of the United States
Navy.

On June 7, 1776, Adams seconded the resolution
introduced by Richard Henry Lee that "these
colonies are, and of a right ought to be, free and
independent states," acting as champion of these
resolutions before the Congress until their
adoption on July 2, 1776.

On June 8, 1776, he was appointed on a committee
with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert
R. Livingston and Roger Sherman to draft a United
States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of
Independence. Although that document was, by the
request of the committee, written by Jefferson,
John Adams occupied the foremost place in the
debate on its adoption. Before this question had
been disposed of, Adams was placed at the head of
the Board of War and Ordinance, also serving on
many other important committees. 



==Post-Continental Congress==
In 1778, Adams sailed for France to supersede
Silas Deane in the American commission there.
However, as soon as he embarked, that commission
concluded the desired treaty of alliance, and he
returned home in time to be elected a member of
the convention which framed the Massachusetts
constitution of 1780. He penned the first draft
along with James Bowdoin and Samuel Adams.

Before this work had been completed, he was chosen
as minister plenipotentiary for negotiating a
treaty of peace and a treaty of commerce with
Great Britain and again sent to Europe in
September 1779. The France|French government,
however, did not approve of Adams’ appointment
and subsequently, on Charles Gravier, Comte de
Vergennes|Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes’
insistence, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson,
John Jay and Henry Laurens were appointed to
cooperate with Adams. Since Jefferson did not
leave the United States for the task and Laurens
played a minor role, Jay, Adams and Franklin
played the major part in the negotiations.
Overruling Franklin’s vote, Jay and Adams
decided to break their instructions, which
required them to "make the most candid
confidential communications on all subjects to the
ministers of our generous ally, the king of
France; to undertake nothing in the negotiations
for peace or truce without their knowledge or
concurrence; and ultimately to govern yourself by
their advice and opinion.” Instead, they dealt
directly with the British commissioners, without
consulting the French ministers.

Throughout the negotiations Adams was especially
determined that the right of the United States to
the fisheries along the British-American coast
should be recognized. Eventually the American
negotiators were able to secure a favorable
treaty, which was signed on November 30, 1782.
Before these negotiations began, Adams had spent
some time in the Netherlands. In July 1780, he had
been authorized to execute the duties previously
assigned to Laurens. With the aid of the Dutch
patriot leader Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol,
Adams secured the recognition of the United States
as an independent government at The Hague on April
19, 1782. During this trip he also negotiated a
loan and, in October 1782, a treaty of amity and
commerce, the first of such treaties between the
United States and foreign powers after that of
February 1778 with France. 

In 1785 John Adams was appointed the first
American minister to the court of St. James's.
When he was presented to his former British
Monarchs|sovereign, George III, 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.” While in
London, Adams published a work entitled A Defence
of the Constitution of Government of the United
States (1787), in which he repudiated the views of
Anne Robert Jacques Turgot, Baron de Laune|Turgot
and other European writers as to the viciousness
of the framework of state governments. In this
work, he made the controversial statement that
"the rich, the well-born and the able" should be
set apart from other men in a senate.

Partly for this reason, Adams received only
thirty-four out of sixty-nine votes in the
U.S._presidential_election%2C_1789|presidential
election of 1789. As this was the second largest
number, he was declared vice-president. His
vice-presidency was colored by the suspicion of
many of his colleagues and made notable by the
formation of two well-defined political
groups—the Federalist Party (United
States)|Federalists (which Adams led along with
Alexander Hamilton), and the
Democratic-Republicans.  



==Presidency==
In 1796, after Washington refused to seek another
term, Adams was elected president, defeating
Thomas Jefferson. Although Alexander Hamilton and
other Federalists had asked that equal votes be
cast in the U.S._Electoral_College|electoral
college for Adams and Thomas Pinckney, the other
Federalist in the contest (at least in part so
that Jefferson would not become vice president)
Jefferson in fact came in second and attained that
office. This marked the first time that the
President and Vice-President were members of
opposing political party|parties. The only other
time this would happen would be when Abraham
Lincoln, a Republican, nominated Andrew Johnson, a
Democrat, as his Vice-President in 1864.

Adams's four years as president (1797–1801)
were marked by events such as the passage of the
Alien and Sedition Acts, which made the Federalist
Party unpopular and led to factional strife within
the party itself. Adams and Hamilton became
alienated, and members of Adams's own cabinet
began to look to Hamilton rather than to the
president as their political chief. At the time,
the United States was drawn into European military
affairs such as the XYZ Affair, and Adams, instead
of taking advantage of the militant spirit aroused
by these events, devoted himself to securing peace
with France against the wishes of Hamilton and his
adherents.

In 1800, Adams ran again as the Federalist
presidential candidate, but distrust of him in his
own party, the popular disapproval of the Alien
and Sedition Acts, and the popularity of his
opponent, Thomas Jefferson, caused his defeat.  He
then retired into private life.  

==Death==

On July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the
adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Adams
died at Quincy, after uttering the famous last
words "Thomas Jefferson still survives."
(Unbeknownst to Adams, Jefferson had died a few
hours earlier). His crypt lies at United First
Parish Church (also known as the Church of the
Presidents) in Quincy. Until his record was
broken by Ronald Reagan in 2001, he was the
nation's longest-living President (90 years, 247
days). Despite this fact, Adams was a known
hypochondriac who constantly felt he was coming
down with some sort of illness. 

AUTHORITIES
*C. F. Adams, The Works of John Adams, with Life
(10 vols., Boston, 1850-1856)
*John and Abigail Adams, Familiar Letters during
the Revolution (Boston, 1875)
*J. T. Morse, John Adams (Boston, 1885: later
edition, 1899), in the American Statesmen Series
*Mellen Chamberlain, John Adams, the Statesman of
the Revolution; with other Essays and Addresses
(Boston, 1898). (E. CH.)

1911

===Cabinet===
{| cellpadding="1" cellspacing="4"
style="margin:3px; border:3px solid #000000;"
align="left"
!bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"|
|-
|align="left"|OFFICE||align="left"|NAME||align="le
ft"|TERM
|-
!bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"|
|-
|align="left"|President of the United
States|President||align="left" |John
Adams||align="left"|1797–1801
|-
|align="left"|Vice President of the United
States|Vice President||align="left"|Thomas
Jefferson||align="left"|1797–1801
|-
!bgcolor="#000000" colspan="3"|
|-
|align="left"|United States Secretary of
State|Secretary of State||align="left"|Timothy
Pickering||align="left"|1797–1800
|-
|align="left"| ||align="left"|John
Marshall||align="left"|1800–1801
|-
|align="left"|United States Secretary of the
Treasury|Secretary of the
Treasury||align="left"|Oliver Wolcott,
Jr.||align="left"|1797–1800
|-
|align="left"| ||align="left"|Samuel
Dexter||align="left"|1800–1801
|-
|align="left"|United States Secretary of
War|Secretary of War||align="left"|James
McHenry||align="left"|1797–1800
|-
|align="left"| ||align="left"|Samuel
Dexter||align="left"|1800–1801
|-
|align="left"|Attorney General of the United
States|Attorney
General||align="left"|Charles_Lee_(Attorney_Genera
l)|Charles Lee||align="left"|1797–1801
|-
|align="left"|Postmaster General of the United
States|Postmaster General||align="left"|Joseph
Habersham||align="left"|1797–1801
|-
|align="left"|United States Secretary of the
Navy|Secretary of the Navy||align="left"|Benjamin
Stoddert||align="left"|1798–1801
|}



=== Supreme Court appointments ===
Adams appointed the following Justices to the
Supreme Court of the United States:

* Bushrod Washington - 1799
* Alfred Moore - 1800
* John Marshall - Chief Justice - 1801

One of these appointments, that of John Marshall,
was a last minute appointment as Adams already
knew he had lost the 1800 presidential election.
There was considerable friction between Jefferson,
the next president, and Marshall.

=== Major presidential acts ===
* Signed Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798
* Signed Judiciary Act (United States)#Judiciary
Act of 1801|Judiciary Act of 1801

=== States admitted to the Union ===
None

==See also==

*Adams political family
*John Adams birthplace (Quincy, Massachusetts)
*List of U.S. Presidential religious affiliations

== Further reading ==
* Adams, John. The Adams Papers. Edited by Richard
Ryerson, L.H. Butterfield, Marc Friedlander, et
al. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
1961.
* Carey, George W., ed. The Political Writings of
John Adams. Chicago: Regnery Gateway, 2001.
Massive compilation of extracts from Adams's major
political writings, accompanied by excellent
introduction but marred by lack of an index.
* Diggins, John P. John Adams. New York: Times
Books, 2003.
* Diggins, John P., ed. The Portable John Adams.
New York: Penguin Books, 2004.
* Ferling, John E. John Adams: A Life. Knoxville:
University of Tennessee Press, 1992. Reprint, New
York: Henry Holt & Co., 1996.  Leading one-volume
life, slightly marred by the author's tendency to
psychoanalyze his subject.
* Grant, James. John Adams: Party of One. New
York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2005.  Excellent
modern one-volume life.
* Haraszti, Zoltan. John Adams and the Prophets of
Progress. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University
Press, 1952.  One of the most original and
creative studies in this field -- examining
Adams's political thought by reference to the
arguments he waged with authors in the margins of
their books.  Deserves to be reprinted.
* David McCullough|McCullough, David. John Adams.
New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.  Uncritical
best-selling biography.  Lacks critical distance
and understanding of historical context.
* Smith, Page. John Adams. Garden City, NY:
Doubleday, 1962. Reprint, Collector's edition.
Norwalk, Conn.: Easton Press, 1988.  Massive
biography, the first written by a scholar with
complete access to the Adams papers.  Still
valuable though somewhat over-written.
* Thompson, C. Bradley. John Adams and the Spirit
of Liberty. Lawrence, Kans.: University Press of
Kansas, 1998.  Excellent study of Adams's
political thought, though slightly uncritical.

== Related articles ==
* U.S. presidential election, 1789
* U.S. presidential election, 1792
* U.S. presidential election, 1796
* U.S. presidential election, 1800

== External links ==

Wikisource author


* http://www.constitution.org/jadams/thoughts.htm
"Thoughts on Government" Adams, April 1776
*
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/adamspa
p.htm The Papers of John Adams from the Avalon
Project (includes Inaugural Address, State of the
Union Addresses, and other materials)
* http://www.masshist.org/digitaladams/aea/ Adams
Family Papers: An electronic archive Captured
December 16, 2004.
* http://www.ufpc.org United First Parish Church
*gutenberg author|id=John_Adams|name=John Adams
*
http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/presidents/ja2.h
tml White House biography
* State of the Union: 
http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/adams-1.html
1797,
http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/adams-2.html
1798,
http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/adams-3.html
1799,
http://www.usa-presidents.info/union/adams-4.html
1800

start box
succession box|title=United States Federalist
Party|Federalist Party Vice President of the
United States|Vice Presidential candidate|
before=(none)| after=Thomas Pinckney
(a)| years=U.S. presidential election,
1792|1792 (won Vice Presidency) (a)
succession box|title=Vice President of the United
States|before=(none)|after=Thomas Jefferson|
years=April 21, 1789(b) – March
4, 1797
succession box|title=United States Federalist
Party|Federalist Party President of the United
States|Presidential
candidate|before=(none)|after=Charles Cotesworth
Pinckney|years=U.S. presidential election,
1796|1796 (won Presidency),
U.S. presidential
election, 1800|1800 (lost)
succession box|title=President of the United
States|before=George Washington|after=Thomas
Jefferson|years=March 4, 1797 – March 4,
1801
succession footnote| marker=(a)|
footnote=Technically, Adams was a Presidential
candidate in 1792 and Pinckney was a Presidential
candidate in 1796.  Prior to the passage of the
Twelfth Amendment to the United States
Constitution|Twelfth Amendment in 1804, each
presidential elector would cast two ballots; the
highest vote-getter would become President and the
runner-up would become Vice President.  Thus, in
1792, with George Washington 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 Charles
Cotesworth Pinckney in 1800, with the intention
that Adams be elected President and either
Pinckney be elected Vice President.
succession footnote| marker=(b)|
footnote=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.
end box


start box
USpresidents | before=George Washington |
after=Thomas Jefferson| years=1797–1801
end box

US Vice Presidents