Easton Press books:
John Adams Biography - 2 volumes - Page Smith - 1988
The works of John Adams - 2 volumes - 1992
John Adams a Life - John Ferling - 2001
President John Adams - David McCullough - 2002
President John Adams
Adams, John {1735-1826}, second President of the United States, born in Braintree (now Quincy), Mass, and educated at Harvard College. After teaching in Worcester, Mass, he studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1758. In 1764 he married Abigail Smith, whose influence and help were important in his later career, and soon after he enters politics. In 1765 John Adams helped present and argue for a memorial presented by Boston to the British government against the Stamp Act, and in following year he wrote essays for the newspaper the Boston Gazette in support of the rights of the colonies. While a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives John Adams was chosen as one of five delegates to the first Continental Congress in 1774. He was one of the leading exponents in that body of complete American independence, and was a member of the committed selected by its successor, the Second Continental Congress, to draw up the Declaration of Independence. Though the document was mainly the work of Thomas Jefferson, Adams was especially influential in securing its adoption, and was one of its best-known signers.
In 1778 Adams was sent to France to replace the diplomat Silas Deane in the negotiation for a treaty pledging French aid to America in the Revolution. The negotiations were concluded before his arrival. He returned to America to join the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention and was the principal member of the committee which drafted the Massachusetts constitution (1780). In the same year John Adams was appointed minister to Holland. There he negotiated a loan to aid the American colonies in their struggle against Great Britain, and in 1782 he at last succeeded in obtaining recognition from Holland as a minister from an independent nation. Late in 1782 Adams joined the diplomats John Jay and Benjamin Franklin in Paris for the negotiation of a peace treaty with Great Britain. Three years latter he became the first United States minister to Great Britain. The hostility of the British made John Adams post a difficult one, and he was unable to render his country any special service; in 1788 he returned to America, and in the same year was elected the first Vice-President of the United States under its new constitution.
John Adams served two terms as Vice President, becoming a leader of the Federalist Party and an opponent of support for Great Britain and opposition to France in international affairs. In 1796 he was elected President to succeed George Washington, defeating his opponent, Thomas Jefferson, by only three electoral votes. During his term of office, a conflict arose over control of the Federalist Party, with Adams and Alexander Hamilton as the leaders of rival factions. Eventually, Hamilton virtually controlled John Adams' cabinet, and John Adams' own administration consistently obstructed his plans. Adams refused to become involved in a war with France, even under extreme provocation, thus further alienating his party. Finally, the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts, designed to suppress all criticism of the administration, provoked nationwide hostility toward the Federalists and against John Adams in particular. Though re-nominated for the Presidency in 1800, he was badly defeated by Thomas Jefferson. Thereafter he remained in retirement, a constant and often outspoken critic of national affairs.
Books by John Adams are as follows:
Thoughts on Government - 1776
Essays in support of independence and defense of the constitutions of government of the United States - 3 volumes - 1787 to 1788
Study of the State constitutions of the United States - written during service in England
