John Adams, the first Vice President and second President of the United States, embarked on his vice presidential journey on April 21, 1789. For twelve transformative years, Adams and his wife Abigail diligently followed the burgeoning federal government as it moved from its initial seat in New York City to Philadelphia, and ultimately to the planned capital in Washington, D.C. This constant relocation, driven by national service, became a defining characteristic of the Adamses’ dedicated lives.
Born on October 30, 1735, in Braintree, Massachusetts, John Adams spent his formative years immersed in the rhythms of family farm life. His early education began at a local day school, progressed to Latin school, and culminated in his enrollment at Harvard College at the age of fifteen. Initially considering a career in the ministry, Adams ultimately chose a different path, working as a teacher before dedicating himself to the study of law. After establishing his legal practice, he solidified his personal life by marrying Abigail Smith in 1764. Their union spanned five decades, during which they nurtured four children, traversed continents, and cultivated an enduring and remarkable partnership.
Adams’s ascent to public prominence began in October 1770, when he courageously defended the British soldiers implicated in the Boston Massacre. This pivotal moment was followed by his representation of Massachusetts at the First Continental Congress in 1774. Quickly recognized for his leadership, Adams became a leading voice advocating for independence within the Congress. He notably nominated George Washington of Virginia to take command of the Continental Army, a crucial step in the burgeoning revolution. In 1776, his commitment to the cause was further cemented by his service on the committee tasked with drafting the Declaration of Independence, one of ninety committees he diligently contributed to.
In 1778, the Continental Congress dispatched Adams to France and subsequently to the Netherlands, entrusting him with the critical mission of securing vital aid for the ongoing war effort. While stationed at The Hague, his diplomatic acumen proved invaluable as he successfully negotiated a crucial loan and opened up trade routes between the Netherlands and the fledgling American nation. Alongside Benjamin Franklin, John Jay, and Henry Laurens, Adams played a pivotal role in negotiating the Treaty of Paris, which formally concluded the Revolutionary War and secured international recognition of American independence. Despite these crucial overseas responsibilities, Adams returned briefly to Massachusetts in 1779, using this time to author the Massachusetts state constitution, a document that stands as the oldest constitution still in effect in the United States.
From 1781 to 1788, Adams continued his dedicated service in various formal diplomatic roles, including the prestigious position of the first United States Minister to Great Britain. Following his election as Vice President in 1789, Adams entered a period characterized by relative political obscurity during Washington’s two terms. As second-in-command, he found himself largely excluded from cabinet meetings and policy formulation. Despite presiding over the Senate, his contributions were often dismissed, leading senators to derisively nickname him “His Rotundity.”
However, with Washington’s decision to retire in 1796, John Adams was elected as the second President of the United States. Throughout their years of public service, in every city they inhabited, the Adamses established a formal household, extending hospitality to guests and employing staff, including servants, to manage their residences. In contrast to many prominent Virginians of the era, including his predecessor and successor, Adams did not own slaves. Instead, the Adamses employed both white and free African-American workers. However, historical records suggest a complex reality, indicating that while morally and politically opposed to slavery, they might have engaged in the practice of hiring enslaved African Americans, indirectly contributing to the system by paying wages to their owners for the labor provided at the Vice President’s and President’s House.
One of Adams’s initial actions as president was an attempt to maintain continuity by retaining Washington’s cabinet secretaries. However, these secretaries, loyal to Alexander Hamilton, often undermined Adams’s foreign policy objectives and actively worked against his reelection campaign in 1800. Adams’s presidency was further complicated by the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, which were perceived as targeting immigrants and political opponents of his administration. Despite these challenges, Adams achieved a significant diplomatic success by averting war with France, a primary goal of his foreign policy. The Treaty of Mortefontaine, signed in 1800, though arriving too late to bolster his reelection bid, effectively ended the Quasi-War with France and established a peaceful trade relationship between the two nations.
Following Thomas Jefferson’s victory in the 1800 presidential election, Adams retired to Peacefield, his family home in Quincy, Massachusetts. For the subsequent twenty-five years, he maintained a lively correspondence with friends and family, served as a respected elder statesman in the Boston area, and experienced immense pride and joy when his eldest son, John Quincy Adams, was elected president in 1824. On July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, John Adams passed away. His family later recounted his poignant final words: “Thomas Jefferson survives.” Unbeknownst to Adams, Thomas Jefferson had died several hours prior, marking a symbolic and remarkable end to the lives of two key figures of the American Revolution on the very same historic day.
