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John Adams
John Adams was a Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of the American Revolution that achieved independence from Great Britain. During the latter part of the Revolutionary War and in the early years of the new nation, he served the Continental Congress of the United States as a senior diplomat in Europe. Adams was the first vice president of the United States, serving from 1789 to 1797. He was a dedicated diarist and regularly corresponded with contemporaries, including his wife and advisor Abigail Adams and his friend and rival Thomas Jefferson.
Founding Father · U.S. president from 1797 to 1801 · Founding Father, U.S. president from 1797 to 1801 · lawyer · politician · diplomat · political philosopher · statesperson · writer · ambassador · also John Adams, J. Adams, Adams
Born 30 October 1735 · Died 4 July 1826 · Q11806
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20269 items
“Before I end my letter, I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof.”
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“The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin”
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“proud Spirited, conceited, aspiring Mortal always pretending to Morality, with as debauched Morals as old Franklin who is more his Model than any one I know.”
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“a curse rather than a blessing.”
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“above our chin to prevent us from drowning, but not to lift our heads out of water.”
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“yesterday was decided the greatest question which was ever debated in America, and a greater perhaps never was nor will be decided among men.”
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“the pillar of [the Declaration”
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Public attention spiked: 37,637 Wikipedia readers in one day, 7.5× the usual 4,990, with 2 article edits. Editors noted: change category name
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20241 item
Snopes.com rated the claim “John Adams once said, "There are two ways to conquer and enslave a country. One is by the sword. The other is by debt."” False.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
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20221 item
Snopes rated the claim “A meme titled, "Damn Those Pesky Facts," shows genuine quotes about religion from former U.S. Presidents Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and James Madison, as well as author Thomas Paine.” Mixture.
Shown as reported and rated by a fact checker, not as an established fact.
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20211 item
Snopes rated the claim “Former U.S. President John Adams once said "For true patriots to be silent, is dangerous."” Incorrect Attribution.
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20201 item
PolitiFact rated the claim “Says President John Adams fired Alexander Hamilton.” Hamilton resigned first.
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20171 item
PolitiFact rated the claim “Says John Quincy Adams said, "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.” False.
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20091 item
“It seems to me that while you are struggling for your own liberty, you are not applying the principle universally”
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20081 item
A miniseries was released based on the McCullough biography, featuring Paul Giamatti as Adams
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20012 items
McCullough published the biography John Adams, in which he lauds Adams for consistency and honesty, "plays down or explains away" his more controversial actions, and criticizes Jefferson
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McCullough argued that "The problem with Adams is that most Americans know nothing about him" while Todd Leopold of CNN wrote that Adams is "remembered as that guy who served a single term as president between Washington
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19002 items
Studied at Harvard University.
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Studied at Harvard College.
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182611 items
The 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Adams died of a heart attack at Peacefield at approximately 6:20 pm
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– the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence
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Died 1826-07-04.
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“I can treat all with decency and civility, and converse with them, when it is necessary, on points of business. But I am never happy in their company.”
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“Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present generation, to preserve your Freedom! — I hope you will make a good use of it. — if you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the pains to preserve it. —”
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“You will never be alone with a poet in your pocket.”
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“Nip the shoots of arbitrary power in the bud, is the only maxim which can ever preserve the liberties of any people.”
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“There was a physical quality in us resembling the power of electricity or of the magnet, by which when a pair approached within a striking distance they flew together like the needle to the pole or like two objects in electric experiments.”
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“A government of laws, and not of men.”
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“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence...”
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“There are few people in this world with whom I can converse.”
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18251 item
The Unitarians split off as a separate denomination, which included John Adams
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18131 item
Adams suggested that the Christian Trinity was likely a "fabrication" derived from Pythagorean and Platonic philosophies rather than divine revelation
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18091 item
“abdicated and disclaimed the name and character and attributes of that sect.”
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18081 item
After the Federalist-controlled Massachusetts Senate refused to nominate him for a second term
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18042 items
In a duel with Aaron Burr, Adams felt the need to vindicate his character against his charges
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Abigail, unbeknownst to her husband, wrote to Jefferson to express her condolences upon the death of his daughter Polly, who had stayed with the Adamses in London in 1787
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18031 item
Bird, Savage & Bird, the bank holding his cash reserves of about $13,000, collapsed
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18012 items
– on the 36th ballot – Jefferson was elected by a vote of 10 to 4 (two states abstained)
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The Senate voted 16–14 in favor of the treaty, four votes short of the necessary two thirds
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18003 items
Adams's frustrations with the Hamilton wing of the party exploded during a meeting with McHenry, a Hamilton loyalist who was universally regarded, even by Hamilton, as an inept Secretary of War
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Signed the law establishing the Library of Congress
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It fell to Adams to appoint the Court's fourth Chief Justice
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17971 item
Career landmark: President of the United States (1797–1801).
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17961 item
Career landmark: President-elect of the United States (1796–1797).
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17891 item
Career landmark: Vice President of the United States (1789–1797).
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17881 item
Career landmark: United States Ambassador to France (1788–1788).
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17851 item
Career landmark: United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (1785–1788).
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17821 item
Career landmark: United States Ambassador to the Netherlands (1782–1788).
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17801 item
Awarded Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1780).
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17701 item
Career landmark: member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives (1770).
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17351 item
Born 1735-10-30.
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