John Adams Second President of the U.S.

John Adams was the first President to live in the newly constructed White House. He arrived with his nephew and personal secretary Billy Shaw, and his long time servant James Breisler on November 1st, 1800. Only two project commissioners and a few construction workers were there to greet him and his traveling party.

The house was surrounded by rubble and weeds and the plaster and paint were still wet on the walls. Only a temporary staircase existed for accessing the second floor. And so, the President spent his first night in the new capital.

This unceremonious first day of the White House occupation is a good description of America's take on their second President, John Adams.

Second President, who?

Adams would write to his wife Abigail the next morning.

"I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and all that shall hereafter inhabit. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof."

If you enjoyed the John Adams HBO series, you will admire McCullough's work and especially John Adams' life and work for the U.S. In the interview of David McCullough, in the HBO issue of the book, he mentions that he first did research on a book about Jefferson and Adams together. Their lives were forever entwined during the fight for independence and until their deaths.

Thomas Jefferson destroyed many of his letters. Not so, John Adams. There are thousands of Adams' writings available today. The trove is a rich legacy and provided a first hand study for the book, John Adams.

McCullough found early on that John Adams was a most interesting and compelling founding father. Adams merited a thorough study of his own. And long over due. McCullough laments that there is not even a statue of John Adams in Washington, D.C.

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John Adams' descendants arrived in the New World in 1638 and went back four generations in Braintree, Massachusetts. They were farmers, deacons and officers in the militia. All independent country gentlemen with no bankruptcy committed. He was proud of all his American forebears.
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In 1770 Adams was assigned to defend the British soldiers of the Boston Massacre. He won.
Read More about the Boston Massacre.
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John Adams was a voracious reader and owned thousands of books. He believed education was a necessity for everyone. The well being of the citizens, and for the new country's government to work was dependent on an informed population.
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The second President knew four languages, English, French, Latin and Greek.
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The eight months leading up to the Declaration of Independence proved John Adams an unwavering proponent of independence. He earned praise from his fellow delegates.

Jefferson called Adams "our colossus on the floor. [His] power of thought and expression...moved us from our seats."

Benjamin Rush said, "This illustrious patriot has not his superior, scarcely has equal for abilities and virtue..."
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Adams would spend 10 years in Europe as commissioner of the new United States. Serving in France with Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, signing the Treaty of Paris ending the Revolutionary War.

See more.

In 1783 he traveled to Amsterdam for the new nation's cause and remained in England as envoy until 1787.
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During his Presidency Adams built a solid navy presence and "took upon himself the responsibility of peace with France in the year 1800", avoiding a war he thought detrimental to the country.

He considered this his greatest accomplishment during his term as President.

Read Life in Brief for more on his Presidency.
John Adams - The White House The Official White House site about the Presidents.
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Adams ancestral home was named Peacefield. Sometime during the 1800 Presidential election Adams started calling it Stonyfield. After his retirement from a lifetime of years to public service John Adams worked hands on at his farm and many times he worked along side his employees .
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He rode horseback till 85 years old and reveled in daily events such as a cold spring storm. Describing a scene from his window he wrote, "The earth was never more universally covered with snow, and the rain had frozen upon a crust on the surface which shone with the brightness of burnished silver. The icicles on every sprig glowed in all the luster of diamonds. Every tree was a chandelier of cut glass. I have seen a Queen of France with eighteen millions of livres of diamonds upon her person and I declare that all the charms of her face and figure added to all the glitter of her jewels did not make an impression on me equal to that presented by every shrub. The whole world was glittering with precise stones."

He was humorous and showed a pleasant disposition to visitors and household alike.
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Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had spent many years in correspondence during their later years. Both died the same day, July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.

This video matches the assessments I read in the bio "John Adams" by David McCullough. Light hearted and direct. An actor is John Adams and he talks about Independence, the Boston Massacre and the French situation during his Presidency.
4 minutes long.

You can see it here. John Adams Video by TeacherTube Videos

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After John Quincy Adams' term as President he served in the House of Representatives until his death in 1848 from a stroke on the House floor.

It is true this John Adams biography largely sympathizes with him. He had a tendency to be irrational and prone to sudden rage which made for bad press during his Presidency. In his retirement these irrationalities disappeared.

The tracts I find likable were his ability to socialize with any class of person. He was comfortable in road taverns and learned to like and admire Parisian society. He reveled in tasks on his farm working beside his farm employees. The Adams family did not own slaves. He believed in being professional and decorous in his political work, without being stuffy, no matter his personal opinion of fellow politicians.

I get a sense that he was adventurous, dedicated to his principles of justice and would not shrink from a challenge. He always felt compelled to be present and on the job.

Reading the John Adams bio and seeing the John Adams HBO series, one after the other, will take you to the late 18th century and give you a new understanding of the beginnings of the nation.

The book is written as a study of a President. I rate it in the G category, acceptable for all ages. Milder than the TV series.

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All quotes and material from,

McCullough, David. John Adams. New York, NY:Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2001.