John Adams Facts - 2nd President of USA

John Adams Facts - JOHN ADAMS was born on October 30, 1735, and raised on his father’s farm in Braintree, Massachusetts.

John Adams Facts

John Adams Biography

John Adams Facts - John was small in height and build, though he soon became strong from labouring on the farm. 

He also was a brilliant student, graduating from Harvard when he was twenty and teaching school for a year. Young Adams then studied law and soon became a lawyer in Braintree.

Adams prospered and at twenty-nine married Abigail Smith, a girl from nearby Weymouth. The couple had five children. One of them, John Quincy Adams, became the sixth president of the United States. The marriage lasted 54 years, until Abigail’s death in 1818.

John Adams Career

Representing Massachusetts at the Second Continental Congress in 1775, John Adams was a fiery patriot who advocated full independence and helped prepare the framework for the Declaration of Independence. Impetuous and short-tempered, he fought tirelessly in committee and on the floor of the Congress.

Though sitting with Congress for as many as seven hours a day, six days a week, John Adams managed to find time to write touching letters to his wife about the progress of independence. His “Dear Abby” epistles are considered masterpieces.

A note written to his beloved wife on July 3, 1776, expressed his exuberance: Yesterday, the greatest question was decided which ever was debated in America, and a greater perhaps never was nor will be decided among men . . .” Later that day, he wrote: “…It ought to be solemnized with pomp, and parade, with shows, games, sports, Ells, bonfires, and illuminations from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore. You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these states.”

President John Adams

In 1789 George Washington was elected president, and Adams became the first vice president of the United States. Adams took office on April 30, 1789. He served as vice president under Washington for eight years.

Adams cast tie-breaking votes in his role as president of the Senate, the new upper house of the Congress, on a variety of issues such as U.S. neutrality in the new war between France and Britain, the adoption of reprisals against Britain for interfering with American shipping, and he supported financial measures proposed by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.

Adams stressed the necessity of a balanced government with "an independent executive authority, an independent senate, and an independent judiciary power, as well as an independent house of representatives."

Facts John Adams

In 1796 Washington, who had been elected president twice, declined to run for a third term. The main candidates for the office were Thomas Jefferson and John Adams. Adams won the presidency with Thomas Jefferson as his vice president. It was the only time the nation has had a president and vice president from different political parties.

John Adams was inaugurated as president at Federal Hall, Philadelphia, which was then the capital, on March 4, 1797. Adams spent only the last few months of his presidency at the new capital, Washington, D.C.

John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. At the age of ninety, he had the longest life of all the Presidents of the United States. Moreover, he was able to see his son, John Quincy Adams become our nation’s sixth President.

Brief John Adams Facts

Here are some facts about John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States. John Adams was born on October 30, 1735 in Braintree, Massachusetts (now Quincy, Massachusetts). He was a lawyer, diplomat, and Founding Father of the United States, and was a key figure in the American Revolution.

In 1774, Adams was elected to the First Continental Congress, which led to the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Adams served as Vice President under George Washington from 1789 to 1797, and was later elected President in 1796.

As President, Adams faced numerous challenges, including tension with France, economic instability, and political division within his own party. Adams signed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which made it illegal to criticize the government or its officials, and which were widely criticized as a violation of free speech. Adams was defeated in his bid for re-election in 1800 by Thomas Jefferson.

Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams, who later became the 6th President of the United States. Adams and Thomas Jefferson, who had been political rivals for many years, reconciled in their later years and exchanged a famous series of letters that are now considered a key historical record of their friendship.

Adams died on July 4, 1826, just hours after Thomas Jefferson, on the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. These are just a few facts about John Adams, who played a significant role in the founding of the United States and the early years of the American presidency.

BIRTH
John Adams was born October 30, 1735, in Braintree, Massachusetts

MOTHER
Susanna Boylston

FATHER
John Adams

BROTHERS
Peter Boylston and Elihu

MARRIAGE
Abigail Smith on October 25, 1764, in Weymouth, Mass.

CHILDREN
Abigail Amelia, John Quincy, Susanna Charles, and Thomas Boylston

HOME
Peacefield Quincy Mass.

EDUCATION
Received a B.A in 1775 and M.A. in 1758 from Harvard

RELIGION
Unitarian

PRE-PRESIDENCY PROFESSION
Farmer, teacher, and lawyer

MILITARY SERVICE
None. But was the founder of the Navy

POLITICAL LIFE

Representative to Mass. General Court
Delegate to First and Second Continental Congresses
Member of Provincial Congress of Mass. Constitutional Convention
Commissioner to France
Minister to Netherlands and England
US Vice President
US President, one term

POLITICAL PARTY
Federalist
ELECTION
Adams: 71 Electoral Votes
Jefferson: 68 Electoral Votes

INAUGURATION
March 4, 1797, at the age of 61
John Adams Inaugural Address

John Adams Administration

PRESIDENCY
One Term (March 4, 1787-March 4,1801)

VICE PRESIDENT
Thomas Jefferson

FIRST LADY
Abigail Adams (1797-1801)
Facts about Abigail Adams
Biography of Abigail Adams
AMENDMENTS ENACTED
11th Amendment

SUPREME COURT APPOINTMENTS
Bushrod Washington (1799)
Alfred Moore (1800)
Chief Justice, John Marshal (1801)

John Adams Cabinet
SECRETARY OF STATE
Timothy Pickering 1797-1800)
John Marshall (1800-1801)
SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
Oliver Wolcott Jr. (1797-1800)
Samuel Dexter (1801)
SECRETARY OF WAR
James McHenry (1797-1800)
Samuel Dexter (1800-1801)
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Charles Lee (1797-1801)
SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
Benjamin Stoddert (1798-1801)
POSTMASTER GENERAL
Joseph Habersham (1797-1801)

POST PRESIDENCY LIFE
Writer

DEATH
Died July 4, 1826, at the age of 90

BURIED
First Unitarian Church, Quincy Mass.

LANDMARKS
Adams National Historic Site, Quincy, Mass. (birthplace and family home)
United First Parish Church, Quincy, Mass (grave)

John Adams Fun Facts

1) He is one of only three presidents who did not attend his successor inauguration.

2) John Adams a Harvard graduate and began his career as a lawyer. He defended John Hancock on smuggling charges in 1768.

3) In 1770, He defended the British soldiers accused of killing five colonists in what became known as the Boston Massacre.

4) American representatives John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay signed the Treaty of Paris officially ending the American Revolution, in 1783

5) Adams and Jefferson were the only 2 signers of the Declaration of Independence who later became president!

6) His son John Quincy Adams was the first son of a former president to also hold the high office.

7) Quincy was the 6th U.S. President. This historical event would not repeat until the 41st and 43rd presidents, Father and Son, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush.

His final words were "Thomas Jefferson still survives". However, he didn't know that Jefferson had died a few hours earlier! July 4, 1826


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