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Second president
1797-1801

Born in Massachusetts in 1735, Adams was a cerebral farmer and lawyer who supported revolution but not anarchy. A philosophical man with a profound love of justice, he made his name successfully defending the British troops involved in the Boston Massacre against murder charges. Though it was not a popular verdict, rebel leaders recognized the intelligent and well-spoken Adams as an asset to their cause.

He spent much of the Revolutionary War abroad, enlisting support from France and Holland. Afterward, he did much to ease British-American tensions as ambassador to Great Britain. Always ambitious, he served two frustrating terms as vice president before being elected president in 1796.

As president, he worked diligently to keep his fragile young nation from taking sides in the war between Britain and France. During that period, Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, a heavy-handed measure that clamped down on political opposition under the guise of national security.

A complex man unafraid to speak his mind, Adams was defeated in his bid for a second term by Thomas Jefferson, a friend turned political rival. The first president to occupy the newly built White House retired to his farm, where he would live to see his son, John Quincy Adams, elected president in 1825. Adams died the following year in 1826.

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