I am currently reading the Pulitzer Prize winning book by McCullough on John Adams. I have to say I am amazed I didn't know more about this man before reading this book. When we look at the founding fathers, we always think of Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, Henry, Hancock, Hamilton, and eventually John Adams. One of the funniest quotes from the book is from King George III who said I know of Samuel Adams, is there another?" I am not exactly sure why Adams has been overlooked but it is probably because he wasn't a politician but more of a well read lawyer that had a obstinate streak of what he felt was right and wrong. That obsistancy would not serve him well in the pages of history but he probably wouldn't care because he always did what he felt was right. He was the right man in 1775 at the 1st Constitutional Congress when after meeting George Washington, was the person who nominated him to lead the American Army. He was in the right place in 1776 when he almost singlehandedly persuaded the 2nd Constitutional Congress to declare independance. He was then sent overseas and was ambassador to Holland and first fought a courageous battle just to get recognized by that nation and then negotiated seemingly neverending loans that kept America solvent during the "Confederation" years. He wrote the Massachusetts Constitution which is the oldest living document of its kind in the world and while it copied some ideas from others, it was wholly original and was one of the models for the eventual United States Constitution. He was the first ambassador to England and the first American to be officially recognized by the king after independence. He was absent during the Constitutional debates but wrote a small book on the matter that had a great affect of the precedings. Thomas Jefferson, who was the ambassador to France and at that time Adams good friend, said that it was an excellent book and he agreed with it. Interestingly enough on the other side of the ocean, Jefferson's ally James Madison was allying with Alexander Hamilton to push for passage of the new Constitution. With the passage of the Constitution, Adams asked to be excused from his Holland and England ambassadorships and returned home. George Washington was elected president and John Adams was elected vice president. After 8 years of faithful service to Washington, Adams was elected to the presidency.
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It's funny to read this post as I originally wrote the above in 2005 but never finished it. I know my intention was to finish my discussion of John Adams career with a focus on how he kept us out of war with France when the public and his party were pushing him to declare war. John Adams was no great lover of the French but he was a great lover of his country. He knew that a war at that time would have been disasterous for a nation that was just then beginning to pay its debts from the costly revolution from the proceeds of Alexander Hamilton's reforms during George Washington's presidency. One of the great things that occurred during this time was an increasing faith in the United States as a country that would live up to its obligations. John Adams knew that another war would most likely make it impossible for the country to continue on this path. Who knows what would have happened if he didn't stand up for his beliefs? It is possible that the United States would have followed the economic path of their counterparts in Latin America. It's hard to know but I am thankful John Adams made the choice that he did. In many ways, John Adams doesn't deserve the reputation as a royalist as he was a hard working self made man while his principal foe (and sometimes friend) Thomas Jefferson was hailed as a democratic man of the people but was in fact a rich landowner (rich in land -- bad with money). The truth is that John Adams was a straight talker similar to Harry Truman which is ideal trait for a leader but bad for a politician. Unfortuately the president has to be both. Jefferson is in many way the first "politician" in the United States (followed closely by Hamilton and Burr whose duel ended any real opposition to Jefferson) and Adams had the misfortune to stand in his way.
As perhaps is obvious, I was going to contrast Adams with George Bush and specifically his decision to put us into an unnecessary war with Iraq. While certainly it is nice we did it and 5 years later it appears to be on the road to stability (I'll believe it if that is still true in another 10 years). The bottom line is the United States has many issues that need to be addressed at home and GB42's foray has threatened the long term stability of our country for little gain. I would close with the thought that if John Adams were alive today, based on his France decision I doubt he would have thought invading Iraq was a good idea. I was probably also going to compare GB42's folksy image as compared to the reality of his pampered upbringing and contrast that with Thomas Jefferson but in hindsight ... putting GB42 in a sentence with Thomas Jefferson is insulting to TJ and by no means was Mr Jefferson even close to perfection.
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Of course it is 5 years hence and I don't really know what I would have said. Everything I typed above is from memory and as you can probably tell, the John Adams story has really stuck with me and the country was lucky to have his service during their time of need. It is probably a story I should re-read.
