Not Your Father's Founders Read Free

among those who wanted a strong federal government (Federalists) with limited citizen involvement and those who preferred a weak one (Democratic-Republicans). Adams got into the middle of the fight. He believed in a strong federal government, but he did not discount the citizens’ role in it. Adams wanted them to be as engaged in the politics and welfare of their country as he was. He served as George Washington’s vice president for two terms, then won his own term as president in 1796.
    John Adams was the first president to live in the Executive Mansion, which did not become officially known as the White House until 1902, during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt.
    Adams had a turbulent four years. Two issues dominated his presidency: the Quasi-War with France and the unpopular Alien and Sedition Acts.
    FEDERAL FACTS
    The Federalists dominated U.S. politics through George Washington’s two terms as president. Their opposition, the Democratic-Republicans, came into prominence around 1792 and grew stronger after Adams’s presidency ended in 1801.
The Alien and Sedition Acts
    The Alien and Sedition Acts comprised four laws passed in 1798 in anticipation of war with France. They increased the waiting period for naturalization, authorized the expulsion of aliens who were considered dangerous, and curtailed press criticism of the U.S. government.
    Although the acts expired or were repealed by 1802, they killed Adams’s chances of reelection in 1800. Thomas Jefferson, who had opposed the Alien and Sedition Acts, won the election. Adams not only lost the presidency, but he temporarily lost Jefferson as a friend. They reconciled in 1812.
    REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS
    Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day: July 4, 1826. Allegedly, Adams’s last words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives.” Unbeknownst to him, Jefferson had died a few hours earlier.
    Adams spent the last quarter of his life at their farm, Peacefield, with Abigail and their children and grandchildren. The man who had traveled so much to build a country seldom left home after 1801.

JOHN QUINCY ADAMS
    Quincy, Massachusetts
July 11, 1767−February 23, 1848
His Father’s Son
    John Quincy Adams was the only Founding Father’s son to become president of the United States. He was well qualified, even if he did not live up to many people’s expectations. In his early years in politics he served as a minister to the Netherlands, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, and Britain. Later, he was a Massachusetts state senator, U.S. senator, U.S. congressman, peace and commerce treaty negotiator, secretary of state, and U.S. president. Sadly, his mother, Abigail, did not live to see him become president.

Like Father, Like Son
    Ideally, the best way for a Founding Father to make sure the ideas of his generation were carried over to succeeding generations was to inculcate them in a son. That way, the son would act as a conduit. It did not quite work out that way for John Adams and his son, John Quincy Adams.
    REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS
    John Quincy Adams watched the 1775 Battle of Bunker Hill from the family’s farm when he was seven years old. It had a chilling effect on him, as he described in a March 1846 letter. It terrified his mother and placed him and his family in “unintermitted danger” from that point on.
    By the time he was fifteen years old, he had visited more places and done more things than most people several times his age. He accompanied his father to Europe in 1768 and 1780, traveled to Russia, began his studies at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, and participated as an “additional secretary” in the peace talks in Paris to end the Revolutionary War.
    Throughout his life, he worked to expand on his father’s and his contemporaries’ visions of a strong republic, although he did not always agree with his father’s political views. He had many opportunities to accomplish the