John Adams

**John Adams** (October 19, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, lawyer, and writer who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before becoming president, he was the first vice president under President George Washington from 1789 to 1797. He was also the one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Adams was a leader of the American Revolutionry War, which caused the United States to gain independence from Great Britain. During the war, he served the U.S. government as a senior diplomat in Europe.

## Early life

Adams was born in Braintree, Massachusetts. He was the son of Lieutenant Colonel John Adams, Sr. (1691-1761), and Susanna Boylston (1708-1797) and was the cousin of the philosopher and fellow Founding Father Samuel Adams.

John Adams went to Harvard College. He married Abigail Adams in 1764.

## American Revolutionary War

Adams wanted the Thirteen Colonies to be free from Great Britain. However, he was fair and thought every person should be treated fairly. Even though he did not want British soldiers in Boston, he was the lawyer who defended the British soldiers who were involved in the Boston Massacre.

Adams was a representative from Massachusetts during the Second Continental Congress. He helped Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence. During the American Revolutionary War,  Adams helped make peace with Great Britain. He served in France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain as an ambassador in the 1780s.

## Vice president

Adams was the first vice president under President George Washington. After Washington chose not to run again, Adams won the 1796 election.

Adams is thought to have been the first president to belong to a political party, the Federalist Party, which supported Washington, but like Washington, he thought himself above any particular party. Adams beat Jefferson, who was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party.

Candidates for president and vice president then did not run together like today.  Since Jefferson got the second-highest number of votes, he became vice president.

## President

During his term, Adams resolved a conflict against France peacefully. He also passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which made it illegal to say bad things about the government. Many people did not like those acts, which they felt took away their freedom of speech. Adams was lost re-election for president to Jefferson in 1800. The Federalist Party was less popular than when Adams was elected.

One of Adams's last acts as president was to make John Marshall as Chief Justice of the United States. That kept the Federalist Party in an important role.

Of the first five U.S. presidents, Adams was the only one who never owned slaves. He was also the only one to be from New England.

## Death

Adams died on July 4, 1826 of heart failure, as the same day that Jefferson died. It was was also exactly 50 years after the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776. At 90, Adams was the longest lived president of the United States until Ronald Reagan surpassed him in October 2001.

Adams was also the longest-lived vice president until Levi P. Morton surpassed him in 1915 and later by John Nance Garner in 1959.

## Other websites

- John Adams' White House biography
- John Adams -Citizendium

## Infobox (officeholder)

- **name**: John Adams
- **image**: John Adams Portrait.jpg
- **caption**: Portrait,
- **order**: List of presidents of the United States, 2nd
- **office**: President of the United States
- **vicepresident**: Thomas Jefferson
- **term start**: March 4, 1797
- **term end**: March 3, 1801
- **predecessor**: George Washington
- **successor**: Thomas Jefferson
- **order1**: List of vice presidents of the United States, 1st
- **office1**: Vice President of the United States
- **president1**: George Washington
- **term start1**: April 21, 1789
- **term end1**: March 4, 1797
- **predecessor1**: _Office established_
- **successor1**: Thomas Jefferson
- **order2**: 1st
- **minister from2**: United States
- **country2**: Great Britain
- **appointer2**: Congress of the Confederation
- **term start2**: April 1, 1785
- **term end2**: February 20, 1788
- **successor2**: Thomas Pinckney
- **order3**: 1st
- **minister from3**: United States
- **country3**: the Netherlands
- **appointer3**: Congress of the Confederation
- **term start3**: April 19, 1782
- **term end3**: March 30, 1788
- **successor3**: Charles W. F. Dumas (acting)
- **office5**: United States Envoy to France
- **term start5**: November 28, 1777
- **term end5**: March 8, 1779
- **predecessor5**: Silas Deane
- **successor5**: Benjamin Franklin
- **office6**: Chairman of the Marine Committee
- **term start6**: October 13, 1775
- **term end6**: October 28, 1779
- **predecessor6**: _Office established_
- **successor6**: Francis Lewis (Continental Board of Admiralty)
- **order7**: 12th
- **office7**: Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court of Judicature
- **term start7**: October 1775
- **term end7**: February 1777
- **appointer7**: Massachusetts Provincial Congress, Provincial Congress
- **predecessor7**: Peter Oliver (loyalist), Peter Oliver
- **successor7**: William Cushing
- **office8**: List of delegates to the Continental Congress, Delegate from Massachusetts
- **term start8**: September 5, 1774
- **term end8**: November 28, 1777
- **predecessor8**: _Office established_
- **successor8**: Samuel Holten
- **birth place**: Braintree, Massachusetts, Braintree, Province of Massachusetts Bay, Massachusetts Bay, British America (now Quincy, Massachusetts, Quincy)
- **death place**: Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S.
- **resting place**: United First Parish Church
- **children**: 6, including Abigail Adams Smith, Abigail, John Quincy Adams, John Quincy, Charles Adams (1770–1800), Charles, and Thomas Boylston Adams (judge), Thomas
- **education**: Harvard College (Bachelor of Arts, AB, Master of Arts, AM)
- **signature**: John Adams Sig 2.svg
- **signature alt**: Cursive signature in ink