If there is one person who has been grossly overlooked in American history, it is John Adams.
People forget how easily he could have been the 1st President of our great Country.
We have John Adams to thank for writing everything down that happened when the United States was born. Because of his journals and record keeping, our history is preserved to this day.
His presidency was short, and almost forgotten. He wasn’t a war hero like Washington, or good looking like Jefferson. He was a quiet humble man who served his country and NEVER asked for anything else. When his own friends turned on him, he stuck to his beliefs and forged ahead. He didn’t do what was popular and never went with the majority because it was safe. It was his voice that rose above the rest to establish the very system we have in place to this day.
His early career could have been derailed when he defended 8 British soldiers for killing 5 civilians in what is now known as the Boston Massacre. The soldiers had trouble finding counsel. The public was outraged and ready for blood. John Adams knew that his very reputation was at stake when he accepted the call to defend these scared men. In court he uttered what has remained a standard for what is justice:
"Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence."
6 soldiers were acquitted, and 2 were charged with the lesser charge of manslaughter.
John Adams stepped up when no one else dared.
Even though history largely credits Thomas Jefferson with writing the Declaration of Independence, Mr.
Jefferson had this to say about John Adam’s role:
“The pillar of the Declaration's support on the floor of Congress, its ablest advocate and defender against the multifarious assaults it encountered."
Twice John Adams was sent to England by congress to represent them. It was John Adams who was front and center in maintaining good relationships with Europe. His presence and influence is still felt to this day in the relationship the United States maintains with other governments.
About government he roughly stated:
“There is no good government but what is republican. That the only valuable part of the British constitution is so; because the very definition of a republic is 'an empire of laws, and not of men.”
His heart would break if he saw what our government has become.
Becoming Vice President to President Washington, and later President, John Adams was the first President to live in the White House. It was horrible living conditions at the time, with the entire interior unfinished and cold.
He fell short in his bid to be reelected. Not because he didn’t try, but because he wouldn’t go against his principal beliefs. He wouldn’t lie and cheat another man, even if it meant he would lose the Presidency. His own friends turned on him in his most desperate time of need. He remained a man of dignity and honor, regardless of what his peers thought of him.
Later in life it was his letters to Thomas Jefferson that gives us a glimpse into the man he was. Their correspondence lasted 14 years, and consisted of nearly 158 letters. They died on the same day, hours apart of each other.
When asked his thoughts about the future of the United States before his death, he declared:
“My best wishes, in the joys, and festivities, and the solemn services of that day on which will be completed the fiftieth year from its birth, of the independence of the United States: a memorable epoch in the annals of the human race, destined in future history to form the brightest or the blackest page, according to the use or the abuse of those political institutions by which they shall, in time to come, be shaped by the human mind.”
But what sticks out the most in my opinion is the relationship he had with his dear wife Abigail. The man loved and cherished his wife through thick and thin. Abigail was everything and more to him. His marriage to her has been written about in numerous books. An example we could all follow to this day.
I have not met this man, nor will I in this life. Strange as it seems, I can’t help but feel like I know him. I know he is with his maker standing with his head held high.
A man we likely will never see again.
John Adams, thank you for your sacrifice and example of strong integrity. We owe our very freedoms to you and the other great men that stood with you!
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