How does one prepare to serve as President of the United States? What qualifications should we look for when choosing a Chief Executive? If an election is a job interview, then what should voters expect to see on a candidate's resume? Does an impressive list of credentials guarantee success? And finally, how does a country go about replacing a leader that was arguably the greatest to ever hold the job? In 1796, the electors who cast their votes for President chose the man who they believed had the most impressive resume, John Adams. John Adams' resume was built upon a lifetime of public service to his country. It is a lifetime of service that, regrettably, most Americans don't know enough about. In the pantheon of American patriots who helped to found the United States of America, few individuals contributed more than Mr. Adams. However, he is easy to overlook. There are no towering monuments to him as there are with Washington. His words are no embedded in our collective memory like Jefferson's Declaration. His legacy is not filled with witty sayings, bits of advice, romantic indiscretions, and scientific discovery like Franklin. Unlike Hamilton, Lin-Manuel Miranda did not turn his story into a cultural phenomenon. Except for a passing reference or two, Adams doesn't even play a role in the smash Broadway hit about our first Secretary of the Treasury. In fairness, HBO and Paul Giamatti did give us the outstanding miniseries John Adams, but I won't be listening to its soundtrack on my drive home. Nevertheless, John Adams' story needs to be told. John Adams was born into a Puritan family in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1735. At the age of 16 he enrolled in Harvard University and went on to become a successful lawyer. It was in 1765 that his political star began to rise as he was an outspoken critic of the hated Stamp Act which the British had imposed upon the American colonies. Though the British ultimately backed down and repealed the Stamp Act because of widespread colonial protests, the King and Parliament were not done imposing their will on the colonists. If British tyranny would not stop, neither would Adams' opposition to it.
The same dedication to political and legal rights that allowed John Adams to defend British soldiers in 1770, also drove Adams to defend the rights of all citizens of Massachusetts in 1774 when he was selected to be a delegate to the First Continental Congress. The purpose of the Congress, the first step toward any semblance of a unified voice representing all colonies, was to address growing British tyranny particularly in Boston whose economy was in ruins and whose citizens were being denied basic rights. It was at the First Continental Congress that John Adams, together with his cousin Samuel, became the most vocal opponent to British oppression. Although independence was not seriously discussed at the first meeting, it was obvious to all observers that the situation in New England was worsening and drastic actions may be needed to address the crisis. When the delegates met again in 1775 hoping to hear the King's response to their grievances. The situation had changed significantly. By the time the delegates met in Philadelphia, Patriot and British blood had been spilled on the battlefields of Lexington and Concord. New England was at war with Britain and they waited to see if the other colonies would join their cause. It was John Adams who moved to create a new Continental Army to join the band of militiamen in Boston and nominated Col. George Washington to lead them. The selection of Washington and his willingness to serve in spite of insurmountable odds proved to be one of the most crucial moments of the war. It was Adams who became the most vocal proponent of independence during the Congress. He was partly responsible for forming the committee that would serve along side Jefferson in crafting the Declaration of Independence. When in independence was declared, Adams went to France to assist Benjamin Franklin in securing French aid for the war. When French military aid was secure, Adams then traveled to The Netherlands in hopes of receiving financial assistance from the Dutch. He was successful. When peace did come, it was Adams, along with Ben Franklin and John Jay, who negotiated the treaty with Great Britain that brought the war to a end and secured American independence. Though he never marched with troops into battle and only once faced the enemy fire while sailing for Europe, John Adams political and diplomatic service during the Revolution was indispensable and rivals the contributions of any founding father. This series however, is about the Presidency. John Adams tenure in that role is a bit more debatable. There is an entire period of American history that is often forgotten and overlooked by Americans. It is a period dubbed the Critical Period by historians. It consists of the years between 1781 - 1789. During this period, the United States was anything but united. Held together by a weak confederation established during the war, the United States government had no executive branch, no judicial branch, and a very weak unicameral Congress. Rivalries between social classes threatened its economy and peace. Rivalries between states threatened the very existence of the young nation. It was this unrest that the decision was made to hold a convention that would ultimately lead to the creation of the Constitution which created the union and federal republic we enjoy today. During all of this time Adams remained in Europe representing the interests of the United States. He became Ambassador to Great Britain where he was tasked with repairing the broken relationship between the U.S. and its former mother country. During this time he came face to face with King George III. An awkward encounter to say least. Though willing to continue serving his country abroad, Adams longed for home. Luckily, his country needed him back as well.
Adams endured 8 miserable years as Vice President. In his role as the President of the Senate, he often times tried to participate in debate. Not known for being a man of few words, the Senate quickly passed a resolution silencing the Vice President, reminding him that his only role was to cast a vote in the event of a tie, nothing more. He would not be allowed to participate in debate. Washington and Adams were not particularly close. As a result of this and the fact that all parties involved were still figuring out their new roles, Adams often times was not included in Cabinet discussions. After all, the Vice President wasn't in charge of anything. Dutiful but miserable, Adams served as Vice President for two terms. He hated the job and longed to return to his farm in Peacefield, MA. Though most politicians today would consider serving as Vice President a tremendous honor, Adams considered the office pointless. He referred to the vice presidency as "the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man [...] or his imagination contrived or his imagination conceived." When Washington retired after two terms he issued a Farewell Address in which he warned the country of two issues he believed could prove fatal to the young republic: political parties and foreign alliances. While Washington had a done a decent job of operating above politics and remaining neutral in regards to European affairs, Adams would not be so lucky. Rivalries between two new political parties would dominate Adams' four years as President. The Federalists, followers of Alexander Hamilton, and the Democratic-Republicans, headed by Thomas Jefferson, would wage rhetorical war over issues such as the role of the federal government, the influence of banks, state power, civil liberties, and America's response to the French Revolution.
No sooner had John Adams been sworn into office, than the very issues that Washington had warned about threaten to undermine his administration and unravel the nation. Great Britain and France were at war, a result of the French Revolution. Despite years of neutrality by the Washington administration, the United States was quickly being drawn into the conflict by proxy. Because the U.S. was more closely tied to Britain economically, Washington had signed Jay's Treaty, an agreement that allowed for continued economic relations with the British, while still remaining neutral in their conflict with France. Outraged by what they viewed as a betrayal by their former revolutionary allies, the French began seizing American merchant vessels on the high seas to prevent them from trading with Britain. Such an assault on American sovereignty could not be tolerated and the Federalists hungered for war with France. The Democratic-Republicans meanwhile, felt a kindred spirit with France. They despised the British and their monarchical system. Jefferson believed that the French Revolution was nothing more than a continuation of the American Revolution and that the United States was duty bound to support the French in their fight for freedom. The French question would come to define the Adams presidency. To his eternal credit, John Adams did not listen to his party, the Federalists, and sent a peace envoy to France to negotiate an end to the hostilities with Revolutionary government. When the peace commissioners arrived, they were treated with disrespect. The French foreign minister refused to negotiate with the Americans until they paid a massive bribe, or tribute, to the foreign minister himself and the French government. Outraged by the request, the American envoys left and reported news of the event to President Adams. In the correspondence, the 3 French government officials who demanded the money were referred to as "X, Y, and Z". The X,Y,Z Affair as it has come to be known began the Quasi War with France in which America was sharply divided as it prepared for a possible war with its former ally.
The Democratic-Republican newspapers attacked Adams relentlessly. They accused him of being pro-British and an monarchist. After all, this was a man who, as Vice President, encouraged Congress to give the President a title of nobility. The pro-French Democratic-Republicans claimed that Adams and his Federalist Party had betrayed the spirit of the revolution by refusing to support the revolutionary government of France. They were more interested in enriching themselves, and their northern banks, through trade with England than they were fighting for the rights of men. All of the accusations were applauded and encouraged by their leader, the Vice President of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. Adams was infuriated by the actions of his Vice President and former close friend, Jefferson. The revolutionary partners would now become bitter enemies. Outraged at the insults, the Federalists in Congress passed a series of bills known as the Alien and Sedition Acts. The goal of the legislation was clear: silence opposition to the government. The acts labeled any criticism of the government as "seditious" which would therefore undermine the safety and security of the nation. They empowered the President to prosecute the publishers of any seditious material. Furthermore, it empowered the President to arrest and remove any foreign alien that might be deemed a threat without due process. Who were these aliens, these immigrants that supposedly posed such a danger? French immigrants. Many of them refugees from the unrest in revolutionary France and the slave uprising in Haiti. There were tens of thousands of French nationals in America at the time. These immigrants were viewed as a threat, not to the country, but to Federalist power. The Bill of Rights were less than 10 years old. The ink had barely begun to dry when the Alien and Sedition Acts threatened to trample on the liberties for which so many had fought and died just a few decades earlier. Weakened by the insults, infuriated by his vice president, and concerned for the nation, Adams reluctantly signed the Alien and Sedition Acts into law. It was the greatest mistake of his otherwise remarkable career. So why then is Adams ranked so highly on this list? It is because of his other actions during the Quasi War with France. If Adams gave into his party over the Alien and Sedition Acts, he stood up to them in their quest for war with France. Adams was dedicated to peace. He knew that a full scale war against a European power was something that the young country could not survive. In the face of immense pressure from his own cabinet and federalist leaders in Congress, Adams refused to pursue war with France. Adams initially did give in to Federalist demands for the creation of army (American had no standing army to speak of in those days) to guard against a potential invasion with George Washington as a ceremonial leader. However, the person actually commanding the army, the inspector general of the United States, was none other than Washington's right hand man, the former Secretary of the Treasury, the leader of the Federalist Party, and Adams nemesis, Alexander Hamilton.
In 1800, when it became obvious that the French had no real intention of invading the United States, and that the preparations for war had more to do with maintaining Federalist political power than it did national security, John Adams, against the wishes of his party, again sent diplomatic envoy to France to seek an end to the unrest. The mission was successful as the diplomats agreed to cease hostilities via the Convention of 1800, bringing a peaceful end to the Quasi War. Sadly for Adams, the diplomatic success, though wonderful for the nation, did nothing to save him politically. Shortly before the Election of 1800, John Adams moved into the President's Mansion (later renamed the White House) becoming the first president to live in Washington. The building was unfinished, cold, and dreary; an atmosphere that mimicked the final days of the Adams Administration. When the Electoral College met to cast their votes, Adams who had alienated many in his own party by standing up to them, finished third in the election. Angry, bitter, and defeated, John Adams left Washington before dawn on the day of Thomas Jefferson's inauguration. Though he was not gracious in defeat, Adams left the presidency without protest, allowing power to peacefully transfer from one political party to another for the first time in the nation's history. Such smooth transitions were very rare in the world at the time.
Unfortunately for Adams, he lacked the political skills and personality traits needed to play the political games necessary for great success in the White House. His pride and sense of superiority caused him to sign the Alien and Sedition Acts, the one black eye on an otherwise extraordinary career. However, it is his handling the Quasi War with France, particularly his willingness to stand up to his own party and put the best interests of the nation first that will be the lasting legacy of his time in office. For that, and his leadership during the years of the Revolution, Adams deserves his rightful spot in the pantheon of America's Founding Fathers.
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