US Presidents · 18th century

John Adams

1735–1826 · American

Federalist

In office: 1797–1801

John Adams of Massachusetts, the 2nd president, was a leading advocate of independence and the first Vice President under Washington. His single term was dominated by the undeclared Quasi-War with France, the XYZ Affair and the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and he was the first president to live in the White House.

How to spot them

▸Massachusetts lawyer who defended the British soldiers tried after the Boston Massacre (1770)
▸First Vice President; called the office 'the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived'
▸Wife Abigail ('Remember the ladies'); father of John Quincy Adams
▸Died on 4 July 1826, the same day as Thomas Jefferson

In office

The XYZ Affair (1797–1798)

French agents demanded bribes from American envoys, provoking outrage in the United States

The Quasi-War with France (1798–1800)

Undeclared naval war; ended by the Convention of 1800

The Alien and Sedition Acts (1798)

Laws curbing immigrants and criticism of the government; attacked in the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions

Creation of the Department of the Navy (1798)

Established a separate Navy Department during the naval crisis with France

The 'midnight judges' appointed at the end of his term (1801)

Last-minute Federalist judicial appointments; he also made John Marshall Chief Justice

First president to move into the White House (1800)

Took up residence in the unfinished President's House in November 1800

Key ideas

Wrote 'Thoughts on Government' (1776) and was the principal drafter of the Massachusetts Constitution of 1780
His appointment of John Marshall as Chief Justice shaped the Supreme Court for 34 years

Quick-fire facts

•Born in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts; educated at Harvard
•Served on the committee of five that drafted the Declaration of Independence, and nominated Washington to command the Continental Army
•Lost the 1800 election to Thomas Jefferson; the two former rivals later reconciled through letters
•Died on 4 July 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration; his reported last words were 'Thomas Jefferson survives', though Jefferson had died hours earlier
•Critics nicknamed him 'His Rotundity'
•Father of the 6th president, John Quincy Adams
•Subject of David McCullough's Pulitzer Prize-winning biography 'John Adams' (2001), adapted as an HBO miniseries

Drill it — 8 cards

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Sources

Miller Center, University of Virginia — John Adams
David McCullough — John Adams