Who was the third President of the USA, following on from George Washington and John Adams was also famed for his numerous inventions?
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President of the United States George Washington John Adams Thomas Jefferson John Quincy Adams
The President of the United States of America (POTUS)  is the elected head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

The President of the United States is considered one of the world's most powerful people, leading the world's only contemporary superpower.     The role includes being the commander-in-chief of the world's most expensive military with the largest nuclear arsenal and leading the nation with the largest economy by real and nominal GDP. The office of the president holds significant hard and soft power both in the United States and abroad.

Article II of the U.S. Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The power includes execution of federal law, alongside the responsibility of appointing federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory and judicial officers, and concluding treaties with foreign powers with the advice and consent of the Senate. The president is further empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves, and to convene and adjourn either or both houses of Congress under extraordinary circumstances.  The president is largely responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of the party to which the president is enrolled. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the United States.  Since the founding of the United States, the power of the president and the federal government has grown substantially. 

The president is indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term, and is one of only two nationally elected federal officers, the other being the Vice President of the United States.  The Twenty-second Amendment, adopted in 1951, prohibits anyone from ever being elected to the presidency for a third full term. It also prohibits a person from being elected to the presidency more than once if that person previously had served as president, or acting president, for more than two years of another person's term as president. In all, 43 individuals have served 44 presidencies (counting Cleveland's two non-consecutive terms separately) spanning 56 full four-year terms.  On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the 44th and current president. On November 6, 2012, he was re-elected and is currently serving the 57th term. The next presidential election is scheduled to take place on November 8, 2016; on January 20, 2017, the newly elected president will take office.

Origin

In 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though independent of each other as nation states, recognized the necessity of closely coordinating their efforts against the British. Desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states. As a central authority, Congress under the Articles was without any legislative power; it could make its own resolutions, determinations, and regulations, but not any laws, nor any taxes or local commercial regulations enforceable upon citizens. This institutional design reflected the conception of how Americans believed the deposed British system of Crown and Parliament ought to have functioned with respect to the royal dominion: a superintending body for matters that concerned the entire empire. Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives (e.g., making war, receiving ambassadors, etc.) to Congress, while severally lodging the rest within their own respective state governments. Only after all the states agreed to a resolution settling competing western land claims did the Articles take effect on March 1, 1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them.

In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies. With peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. By 1786, Americans found their continental borders besieged and weak, their respective economies in crises as neighboring states agitated trade rivalries with one another, witnessed their hard currency pouring into foreign markets to pay for imports, their Mediterranean commerce preyed upon by North African pirates, and their foreign-financed Revolutionary War debts unpaid and accruing interest. Civil and political unrest loomed.

Following the successful resolution of commercial and fishing disputes between Virginia and Maryland at the Mount Vernon Conference in 1785, Virginia called for a trade conference between all the states, set for September 1786 in Annapolis, Maryland, with an aim toward resolving further-reaching interstate commercial antagonisms. When the convention failed for lack of attendance due to suspicions among most of the other states, the Annapolis delegates called for a convention to offer revisions to the Articles, to be held the next spring in Philadelphia. Prospects for the next convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washington's attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia.

When the Constitutional Convention convened in May 1787, the 12 state delegations in attendance (Rhode Island did not send delegates) brought with them an accumulated experience over a diverse set of institutional arrangements between legislative and executive branches from within their respective state governments. Most states maintained a weak executive without veto or appointment powers, elected annually by the legislature to a single term only, sharing power with an executive council, and countered by a strong legislature. New York offered the greatest exception, having a strong, unitary governor with veto and appointment power elected to a three-year term, and eligible for reelection to an indefinite number of terms thereafter. It was through the closed-door negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U.S. Constitution emerged.

Powers and duties

Article I legislative role

The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto. The Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options:
# Sign the legislation; the bill then becomes law.
# Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections; the bill does not become law, unless each house of Congress votes to override the veto by a two-thirds vote.
# Take no action. In this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation. After 10 days, not counting Sundays, two possible outcomes emerge:
#* If Congress is still convened, the bill becomes law.
#* If Congress has adjourned, thus preventing the return of the legislation, the bill does not become law. This latter outcome is known as the pocket veto.

In 1996, Congress attempted to enhance the president's veto power with the Line Item Veto Act. The legislation empowered the president to sign any spending bill into law while simultaneously striking certain spending items within the bill, particularly any new spending, any amount of discretionary spending, or any new limited tax benefit. Congress could then repass that particular item. If the president then vetoed the new legislation, Congress could override the veto by its ordinary means, a two-thirds vote in both houses. In Clinton v. City of New York, , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such a legislative alteration of the veto power to be unconstitutional.

Article II executive powers

War and foreign affairs powers

Perhaps the most important of all presidential powers is the command of the United States Armed Forces as its commander-in-chief. While the power to declare war is constitutionally vested in Congress, the president has ultimate responsibility for direction and disposition of the military. The present-day operational command of the Armed Forces (belonging to the Department of Defense) is normally exercised through the Secretary of Defense, with assistance of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the Combatant Commands, as outlined in the presidentially approved Unified Command Plan (UCP).   The framers of the Constitution took care to limit the president's powers regarding the military; Alexander Hamilton explains this in Federalist No. 69: Congress, pursuant to the War Powers Resolution, must authorize any troop deployments longer than 60 days, although that process relies on triggering mechanisms that have never been employed, rendering it ineffectual.  Additionally, Congress provides a check to presidential military power through its control over military spending and regulation. While historically presidents initiated the process for going to war, critics have charged that there have been several conflicts in which presidents did not get official declarations, including Theodore Roosevelt's military move into Panama in 1903, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the invasions of Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1990.

Along with the armed forces, the president also directs U.S. foreign policy. Through the Department of State and the Department of Defense, the president is responsible for the protection of Americans abroad and of foreign nationals in the United States. The president decides whether to recognize new nations and new governments, and negotiates treaties with other nations, which become binding on the United States when approved by two-thirds vote of the Senate.

Although not constitutionally provided, presidents also sometimes employ "executive agreements" in foreign relations. These agreements frequently regard administrative policy choices germane to executive power; for example, the extent to which either country presents an armed presence in a given area, how each country will enforce copyright treaties, or how each country will process foreign mail. However, the 20th century witnessed a vast expansion of the use of executive agreements, and critics have challenged the extent of that use as supplanting the treaty process and removing constitutionally prescribed checks and balances over the executive in foreign relations. Supporters counter that the agreements offer a pragmatic solution when the need for swift, secret, and/or concerted action arises.

Administrative powers

The president is the head of the executive branch of the federal government and is constitutionally obligated to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."  The executive branch has over four million employees, including members of the military. 

Presidents make numerous executive branch appointments: an incoming president may make up to 6,000 before taking office and 8,000 more while serving. Ambassadors, members of the Cabinet, and other federal officers, are all appointed by a president with the "advice and consent" of a majority of the Senate. When the Senate is in recess for at least ten days, the president may make recess appointments.  Recess appointments are temporary and expire at the end of the next session of the Senate.

The power of a president to fire executive officials has long been a contentious political issue. Generally, a president may remove purely executive officials at will.  However, Congress can curtail and constrain a president's authority to fire commissioners of independent regulatory agencies and certain inferior executive officers by statute. 

The president additionally possesses the ability to direct much of the executive branch through executive orders that are grounded in federal law or constitutionally granted executive power. Executive orders are reviewable by federal courts and can be superseded by federal legislation.

To manage the growing federal bureaucracy, Presidents have gradually surrounded themselves with many layers of staff, who were eventually organized into the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Within the Executive Office, the President's innermost layer of aides (and their assistants) are located in the White House Office.

Juridical powers

The president also has the power to nominate federal judges, including members of the United States courts of appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. However, these nominations do require Senate confirmation. Securing Senate approval can provide a major obstacle for presidents who wish to orient the federal judiciary toward a particular ideological stance. When nominating judges to U.S. district courts, presidents often respect the long-standing tradition of Senatorial courtesy. Presidents may also grant pardons and reprieves, as is often done just before the end of a presidential term, not without controversy.

Historically, two doctrines concerning executive power have developed that enable the president to exercise executive power with a degree of autonomy. The first is executive privilege, which allows the president to withhold from disclosure any communications made directly to the president in the performance of executive duties. George Washington first claimed privilege when Congress requested to see Chief Justice John Jay's notes from an unpopular treaty negotiation with Great Britain. While not enshrined in the Constitution, or any other law, Washington's action created the precedent for the privilege. When Richard Nixon tried to use executive privilege as a reason for not turning over subpoenaed evidence to Congress during the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Nixon, , that executive privilege did not apply in cases where a president was attempting to avoid criminal prosecution. When President Bill Clinton attempted to use executive privilege regarding the Lewinsky scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in Clinton v. Jones, , that the privilege also could not be used in civil suits. These cases established the legal precedent that executive privilege is valid, although the exact extent of the privilege has yet to be clearly defined. Additionally, federal courts have allowed this privilege to radiate outward and protect other executive branch employees, but have weakened that protection for those executive branch communications that do not involve the president. 

The state secrets privilege allows the president and the executive branch to withhold information or documents from discovery in legal proceedings if such release would harm national security. Precedent for the privilege arose early in the 19th century when Thomas Jefferson refused to release military documents in the treason trial of Aaron Burr and again in Totten v. United States , when the Supreme Court dismissed a case brought by a former Union spy.  However, the privilege was not formally recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court until United States v. Reynolds , where it was held to be a common law evidentiary privilege.  Before the September 11 attacks, use of the privilege had been rare, but increasing in frequency.  Since 2001, the government has asserted the privilege in more cases and at earlier stages of the litigation, thus in some instances causing dismissal of the suits before reaching the merits of the claims, as in the Ninth Circuit's ruling in Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc.   Critics of the privilege claim its use has become a tool for the government to cover up illegal or embarrassing government actions.  

Legislative facilitator

The Constitution's Ineligibility Clause prevents the President (and all other executive officers) from simultaneously being a member of Congress. Therefore, the president cannot directly introduce legislative proposals for consideration in Congress. However, the president can take an indirect role in shaping legislation, especially if the president's political party has a majority in one or both houses of Congress. For example, the president or other officials of the executive branch may draft legislation and then ask senators or representatives to introduce these drafts into Congress. The president can further influence the legislative branch through constitutionally mandated, periodic reports to Congress. These reports may be either written or oral, but today are given as the State of the Union address, which often outlines the president's legislative proposals for the coming year. Additionally, the president may attempt to have Congress alter proposed legislation by threatening to veto that legislation unless requested changes are made.

In the 20th century critics began charging that too many legislative and budgetary powers have slid into the hands of presidents that should belong to Congress. As the head of the executive branch, presidents control a vast array of agencies that can issue regulations with little oversight from Congress. One critic charged that presidents could appoint a "virtual army of 'czars' – each wholly unaccountable to Congress yet tasked with spearheading major policy efforts for the White House." Presidents have been criticized for making signing statements when signing congressional legislation about how they understand a bill or plan to execute it. This practice has been criticized by the American Bar Association as unconstitutional. Conservative commentator George Will wrote of an "increasingly swollen executive branch" and "the eclipse of Congress."

According to Article II, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution, the president may convene either or both houses of Congress. If both houses cannot agree on a date of adjournment, the president may appoint a date for Congress to adjourn.

Ceremonial roles

As head of state, the president can fulfill traditions established by previous presidents. William Howard Taft started the tradition of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in 1910 at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., on the Washington Senators' Opening Day. Every president since Taft, except for Jimmy Carter, threw out at least one ceremonial first ball or pitch for Opening Day, the All-Star Game, or the World Series, usually with much fanfare. 

The President of the United States has served as the honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America since the founding of the organization. 

Other presidential traditions are associated with American holidays. Rutherford B. Hayes began in 1878 the first White House egg rolling for local children.  Beginning in 1947 during the Harry S. Truman administration, every Thanksgiving the president is presented with a live domestic turkey during the annual national thanksgiving turkey presentation held at the White House. Since 1989, when the custom of "pardoning" the turkey was formalized by George H. W. Bush, the turkey has been taken to a farm where it will live out the rest of its natural life. 

Presidential traditions also involve the president's role as head of government. Many outgoing presidents since James Buchanan traditionally give advice to their successor during the presidential transition.  Ronald Reagan and his successors have also left a private message on the desk of the Oval Office on Inauguration Day for the incoming president. 

During a state visit by a foreign head of state, the president typically hosts a State Arrival Ceremony held on the South Lawn, a custom begun by John F. Kennedy in 1961.  This is followed by a state dinner given by the president which is held in the State Dining Room later in the evening. 

The modern presidency holds the president as one of the nation's premier celebrities. Some argue that images of the presidency have a tendency to be manipulated by administration public relations officials as well as by presidents themselves. One critic described the presidency as "propagandized leadership" which has a "mesmerizing power surrounding the office." Administration public relations managers staged carefully crafted photo-ops of smiling presidents with smiling crowds for television cameras. One critic wrote the image of John F. Kennedy was described as carefully framed "in rich detail" which "drew on the power of myth" regarding the incident of PT 109 and wrote that Kennedy understood how to use images to further his presidential ambitions. As a result, some political commentators have opined that American voters have unrealistic expectations of presidents: voters expect a president to "drive the economy, vanquish enemies, lead the free world, comfort tornado victims, heal the national soul and protect borrowers from hidden credit-card fees."

Critics of presidency's evolution

Most of the nation's Founding Fathers expected the Congress, which was the first branch of government described in the Constitution, to be the dominant branch of government; they did not expect a strong executive. However, presidential power has shifted over time, which has resulted in claims that the modern presidency has become too powerful, unchecked, unbalanced, and "monarchist" in nature. Critic Dana D. Nelson believes presidents over the past thirty years have worked towards "undivided presidential control of the executive branch and its agencies." She criticizes proponents of the unitary executive for expanding "the many existing uncheckable executive powers – such as executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements – that already allow presidents to enact a good deal of foreign and domestic policy without aid, interference or consent from Congress." Activist Bill Wilson opined that the expanded presidency was "the greatest threat ever to individual freedom and democratic rule."

Selection process

Eligibility

Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution sets the following qualifications for holding the presidency:
* be a natural-born citizen of the United States;Foreign-born American citizens who met the age and residency requirements at the time the Constitution was adopted were also eligible for the presidency. However, this allowance has since become obsolete.
* be at least thirty-five years old;
* be a resident in the United States for at least fourteen years.

The Twelfth Amendment precludes anyone ineligible to being the president from becoming the vice president.

A person who meets the above qualifications is still disqualified from holding the office of president under any of the following conditions:
* Under the Twenty-second Amendment, no person can be elected president more than twice. The amendment also specifies that if any eligible person serves as president or acting president for more than two years of a term for which some other eligible person was elected president, the former can only be elected president once. Scholars disagree over whether a person precluded by the Twenty-second Amendment to being elected president is also precluded to being vice president. 
* Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 7, upon conviction in impeachment cases, the Senate has the option of disqualifying convicted individuals from holding federal office, including that of president. 
* Under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, no person who swore an oath to support the Constitution, and later rebelled against the United States, can become president. However, this disqualification can be lifted by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress.

Campaigns and nomination

The modern presidential campaign begins before the primary elections, which the two major political parties use to clear the field of candidates before their national nominating conventions, where the most successful candidate is made the party's nominee for president. Typically, the party's presidential candidate chooses a vice presidential nominee, and this choice is rubber-stamped by the convention. The most common previous profession by U.S. presidents is lawyer. 

Nominees participate in nationally televised debates, and while the debates are usually restricted to the Democratic and Republican nominees, third party candidates may be invited, such as Ross Perot in the 1992 debates. Nominees campaign across the country to explain their views, convince voters and solicit contributions. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.

Election and oath

The president is elected indirectly. A number of electors, collectively known as the Electoral College, officially select the president. On Election Day, voters in each of the states and the District of Columbia cast ballots for these electors. Each state is allocated a number of electors, equal to the size of its delegation in both Houses of Congress combined. Generally, the ticket that wins the most votes in a state wins all of that state's electoral votes and thus has its slate of electors chosen to vote in the Electoral College.

The winning slate of electors meet at its state's capital on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, about six weeks after the election, to vote. They then send a record of that vote to Congress. The vote of the electors is opened by the sitting vice president—acting in that role's capacity as President of the Senate—and read aloud to a joint session of the incoming Congress, which was elected at the same time as the president.

Pursuant to the Twentieth Amendment, the president's term of office begins at noon on January 20 of the year following the election. This date, known as Inauguration Day, marks the beginning of the four-year terms of both the president and the vice president. Before executing the powers of the office, a president is constitutionally required to take the presidential oath:

Although not required, presidents have traditionally palmed a Bible while swearing the oath and have added, "So help me God!" to the end of the oath.  Further, although the oath may be administered by any person authorized by law to administer oaths, presidents are traditionally sworn in by the Chief Justice of the United States.

Tenure and term limits

The term of office for president and vice president is four years. George Washington, the first president, set an unofficial precedent of serving only two terms, which subsequent presidents followed until 1940. Before Franklin D. Roosevelt, attempts at a third term were encouraged by supporters of Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt; neither of these attempts succeeded. In 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt declined to seek a third term, but allowed his political party to "draft" him as its presidential candidate and was subsequently elected to a third term. In 1941, the United States entered World War II, leading voters to elect Roosevelt to a fourth term in 1944. But Roosevelt died only 82 days after taking office for the fourth term on 12 April 1945.

After the war, and in response to Roosevelt being elected to third and fourth terms, the Twenty-second Amendment was adopted. The amendment bars anyone from being elected president more than twice, or once if that person served more than half of another president's term. Harry S. Truman, president when this amendment was adopted, was exempted from its limitations and briefly sought a third (a second full) term before withdrawing from the 1952 election.

Since the amendment's adoption, four presidents have served two full terms: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Barack Obama has been elected to a second term, and will complete his term on 20 January 2017, if he does not die or resign before that date. Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush sought a second term, but were defeated. Richard Nixon was elected to a second term, but resigned before completing it. Lyndon B. Johnson was the only president under the amendment to be eligible to serve more than two terms in total, having served for only fourteen months following John F. Kennedy's assassination. However, Johnson withdrew from the 1968 Democratic Primary, surprising many Americans. Gerald Ford sought a full term, after serving out the last two years and five months of Nixon's second term, but was not elected.

Vacancy or disability

Vacancies in the office of President may arise under several possible circumstances: death, resignation and removal from office.

Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution allows the House of Representatives to impeach high federal officials, including the president, for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 gives the Senate the power to remove impeached officials from office, given a two-thirds vote to convict. The House has thus far impeached two presidents: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Neither was subsequently convicted by the Senate; however, Johnson was acquitted by just one vote.

Under Section 3 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, the president may transfer the presidential powers and duties to the vice president, who then becomes acting president, by transmitting a statement to the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate stating the reasons for the transfer. The president resumes the discharge of the presidential powers and duties upon transmitting, to those two officials, a written declaration stating that resumption. This transfer of power may occur for any reason the president considers appropriate; in 2002 and again in 2007, President George W. Bush briefly transferred presidential authority to Vice President Dick Cheney. In both cases, this was done to accommodate a medical procedure which required Bush to be sedated; both times, Bush returned to duty later the same day. 

Under Section 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, the vice president, in conjunction with a majority of the Cabinet, may transfer the presidential powers and duties from the president to the vice president by transmitting a written declaration to the Speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate that the president is unable to discharge the presidential powers and duties. If this occurs, then the vice president will assume the presidential powers and duties as acting president; however, the president can declare that no such inability exists and resume the discharge of the presidential powers and duties. If the vice president and Cabinet contest this claim, it is up to Congress, which must meet within two days if not already in session, to decide the merit of the claim.

The United States Constitution mentions the resignation of the president, but does not regulate its form or the conditions for its validity. Pursuant to federal law, the only valid evidence of the president's resignation is a written instrument to that effect, signed by the president and delivered to the office of the Secretary of State.  This has only occurred once, when Richard Nixon delivered a letter to Henry Kissinger to that effect.

Section 1 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment states that the vice president becomes president upon the removal from office, death or resignation of the preceding president. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 provides that if the offices of President and Vice President are each either vacant or are held by a disabled person, the next officer in the presidential line of succession, the Speaker of the House, becomes acting president. The line then extends to the President pro tempore of the Senate, followed by every member of the Cabinet. These persons must fulfill all eligibility requirements of the office of President to be eligible to become acting president; ineligible individuals are skipped. There has never been a special election for the office of President.

Compensation

Since 2001, the president has earned a $400,000 annual salary, along with a $50,000 annual expense account, a $100,000 nontaxable travel account, and $19,000 for entertainment.   The most recent raise in salary was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 and went into effect in 2001.

The White House in Washington, D.C., serves as the official place of residence for the president. As well as access to the White House staff, facilities available to the president include medical care, recreation, housekeeping, and security services. The government pays for state dinners and other official functions, but the president pays for personal, family and guest dry cleaning and food; the high food bill often amazes new residents.  Naval Support Facility Thurmont, popularly known as Camp David, is a mountain-based military camp in Frederick County, Maryland, used as a country retreat and for high alert protection of the president and guests. Blair House, located next to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House Complex and Lafayette Park, is a complex of four connected townhouses exceeding 70000 sqft of floor space which serves as the president's official guest house and as a secondary residence for the president if needed. 

For ground travel, the president uses the presidential state car, which is an armored limousine built on a heavily modified Cadillac-based chassis.[http://www.secretservice.gov/press/GPA02-09_Limo.pdf New Presidential Limousine enters Secret Service Fleet] U.S. Secret Service Press Release (January 14, 2009) Retrieved on January 20, 2009. One of two identical Boeing VC-25 aircraft, which are extensively modified versions of Boeing 747-200B airliners, serve as long distance travel for the president and are referred to as Air Force One while the president is on board (although any U.S. Air Force aircraft the President is aboard is designated as "Air Force One" for the duration of the flight). In-country trips are typically handled with just one of the two planes while overseas trips are handled with both, one primary and one backup. Any civilian aircraft the President is aboard is designated Executive One for the flight.   The president also has access to a fleet of thirty-five U.S. Marine Corps helicopters of varying models, designated Marine One when the president is aboard any particular one in the fleet. Flights are typically handled with as many as five helicopters all flying together and frequently swapping positions as to disguise which helicopter the President is actually aboard to any would-be threats.

The U.S. Secret Service is charged with protecting the sitting president and the first family. As part of their protection, presidents, first ladies, their children and other immediate family members, and other prominent persons and locations are assigned Secret Service codenames.  The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names simply serve for purposes of brevity, clarity, and tradition. 

File:White House lawn (1).tif|The White House

File:Camp David 1959.jpg|Camp David
File:Blair House daylight.jpg|Blair House
File:GPA02-09 US SecretService press release 2009 Limousine Page 3 Image.jpg|State car
File:Air Force One over Mt. Rushmore.jpg|Air Force One
File:Marine One (1970).jpg|Marine One

Post-presidency

Beginning in 1959, all living former presidents were granted a pension, an office, and a staff. The pension has increased numerous times with Congressional approval. Retired presidents now receive a pension based on the salary of the current administration's cabinet secretaries, which was $199,700 each year in 2012.  Former presidents who served in Congress may also collect congressional pensions.  The Former Presidents Act, as amended, also provides former presidents with travel funds and franking privileges. Prior to 1997, all former presidents, their spouses, and their children until age 16 were protected by the Secret Service until the president's death.   In 1997, Congress passed legislation limiting secret service protection to no more than 10 years from the date a president leaves office.  On January 10, 2013, President Obama signed legislation reinstating lifetime secret service protection for him, George W. Bush, and all subsequent presidents.  A spouse who remarries is no longer eligible for secret service protection.

Some presidents have had significant careers after leaving office. Prominent examples include William Howard Taft's tenure as Chief Justice of the United States and Herbert Hoover's work on government reorganization after World War II. Grover Cleveland, whose bid for reelection failed in 1888, was elected president again four years later in 1892. Two former presidents served in Congress after leaving the White House: John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives, serving there for seventeen years, and Andrew Johnson returned to the Senate in 1875. John Tyler served in the provisional Congress of the Confederate States during the Civil War and was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives, but died before that body first met.

Presidents may use their predecessors as emissaries to deliver private messages to other nations or as official representatives of the United States to state funerals and other important foreign events.   Richard Nixon made multiple foreign trips to countries including China and Russia and was lauded as an elder statesman.  Jimmy Carter has become a global human rights campaigner, international arbiter, and election monitor, as well as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Bill Clinton has also worked as an informal ambassador, most recently in the negotiations that led to the release of two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, from North Korea. Clinton has also been active politically since his presidential term ended, working with his wife Hillary on her 2008 and 2016 presidential bids and President Obama on his reelection campaign.

File:Carter 2k14.tif|Jimmy Carter39th (1977–81)
File:President George H. W.tif|George H. W. Bush41st (1989–93)
File:Clinton 2k15.tif|Bill Clinton42nd (1993–2001)
File:Bush 2k14.tif|George W. Bush43rd (2001–09)

Presidential libraries

Since Herbert Hoover, each president has created a repository known as a presidential library for preserving and making available his papers, records and other documents and materials. Completed libraries are deeded to and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); the initial funding for building and equipping each library must come from private, non-federal sources.  There are currently thirteen presidential libraries in the NARA system. There are also presidential libraries maintained by state governments and private foundations and Universities of Higher Education, such as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by the State of Illinois, the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by Texas A&M University and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by the University of Texas at Austin.

As many presidents live for many years after leaving office, several of them have personally overseen the building and opening of their own presidential libraries, some even making arrangements for their own burial at the site. Several presidential libraries therefore contain the graves of the president they document, such as the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The graves are viewable by the general public visiting these libraries.

Timeline of Presidents George Washington (Contemporary records, which used the Julian calendar and the Annunciation Style of enumerating years, recorded his birth as February 11, 1731. The provisions of the British Calendar (New Style) Act 1750, implemented in 1752, altered the official British dating method to the Gregorian calendar with the start of the year on January 1 (it had been March 25). These changes resulted in dates being moved forward 11 days, and for those between January 1 and March 25, an advance of one year. For a further explanation, see Old Style and New Style dates. – , 1799) was the first President of the United States (1789–97), the Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He presided over the convention that drafted the current United States Constitution and during his lifetime was called the "father of his country". 

Widely admired for his strong leadership qualities, Washington was unanimously elected president by the Electoral College in the first two national elections. He oversaw the creation of a strong, well-financed national government that maintained neutrality in the French Revolutionary Wars, suppressed the Whiskey Rebellion, and won acceptance among Americans of all types.  Washington's incumbency established many precedents, still in use today, such as the cabinet system, the inaugural address, and the title Mr. President.   His retirement from office after two terms established a tradition that lasted until 1940, when Franklin Delano Roosevelt won an unprecedented third term. The 22nd Amendment (1951) now limits the president to two elected terms. Born into the provincial gentry of Colonial Virginia, his family were wealthy planters who owned tobacco plantations and slaves which he inherited.  In his youth he became a senior officer in the colonial militia during the first stages of the French and Indian War. In 1775 the Second Continental Congress commissioned Washington as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in the American Revolution. In that command, Washington forced the British out of Boston in 1776, but was defeated and nearly captured later that year when he lost New York City. After crossing the Delaware River in the middle of winter, he defeated the British in two battles (Trenton and Princeton), retook New Jersey and restored momentum to the Patriot cause.

His strategy enabled Continental forces to capture two major British armies at Saratoga in 1777 and Yorktown in 1781. Historians laud Washington for the selection and supervision of his generals, preservation and command of the army, coordination with the Congress, state governors and their militia, and attention to supplies, logistics, and training. In battle, however, Washington was repeatedly outmaneuvered by British generals with larger armies. After victory had been finalized in 1783, Washington resigned as commander-in-chief rather than seize power, proving his opposition to dictatorship and his commitment to American republicanism.  Washington presided over the Constitutional Convention in 1787, which devised a new form of federal government for the United States. Following his election as president in 1789, he worked to unify rival factions in the fledgling nation. He supported Alexander Hamilton's programs to satisfy all debts, federal and state, established a permanent seat of government, implemented an effective tax system, and created a national bank.  In avoiding war with Great Britain, he guaranteed a decade of peace and profitable trade by securing the Jay Treaty in 1795, despite intense opposition from the Jeffersonians. Although he remained nonpartisan, never joining the Federalist Party, he largely supported its policies. Washington's Farewell Address was an influential primer on civic virtue, warning against partisanship, sectionalism, and involvement in foreign wars. He retired from the presidency in 1797, returning to his home and plantation at Mount Vernon.

While in power, his use of national authority pursued many ends, especially the preservation of liberty, reduction of regional tensions, and promotion of a spirit of American nationalism.  Upon his death, Washington was eulogized as "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen" by Henry Lee.  Revered in life and in death, scholarly and public polling consistently ranks him among the top three presidents in American history; he has been depicted and remembered in monuments, currency, and other dedications through the present day.

Early life (1732–1753)

The first child of Augustine Washington (1694–1743) and his second wife, Mary Ball Washington (1708–1789), George Washington was born on their Pope's Creek Estate near present-day Colonial Beach in Westmoreland County, Virginia. According to the Julian calendar and Annunciation Style of enumerating years (then in use in the British Empire), Washington was born on February 11, 1731; the Gregorian calendar, adopted later within the British Empire in 1752, renders a birth date of February 22, 1732. 

Washington was of primarily English gentry descent, especially from Sulgrave, England. His great-grandfather, John Washington, emigrated to Virginia in 1656 and began accumulating land and slaves, as did his son Lawrence and his grandson, George's father, Augustine. Augustine was a tobacco planter who also tried his hand in iron-mining ventures.  In George's youth, the Washingtons were moderately prosperous members of the Virginia gentry, of "middling rank" rather than one of the leading planter families.  At this time, Virginia and other southern colonies had employed slave labor, in which slaveholders (and the rich in general) formed the ruling class and much of the economy was based upon slave labor. 

Six of George's siblings reached maturity, including two older half-brothers, Lawrence and Augustine, from his father's first marriage to Jane Butler Washington, and four full siblings, Samuel, Elizabeth (Betty), John Augustine and Charles. Three siblings died before adulthood: his full sister Mildred died when she was about one, his half-brother Butler died in infancy,
and his half-sister Jane died at age twelve, when George was about two. His father died of a sudden illness in April 1743 when George was eleven years old, and his half-brother Lawrence became a surrogate father and role model. William Fairfax, Lawrence's father-in-law and cousin of Virginia's largest landowner, Thomas, Lord Fairfax, was also a formative influence.  

Washington's father was the Justice of the Westmoreland County Court.  Young Washington spent much of his boyhood at Ferry Farm in Stafford County near Fredericksburg. Lawrence Washington inherited another family property from his father, a plantation on the Potomac River at Little Hunting Creek, which he named Mount Vernon, in honor of his commanding officer, Admiral Edward Vernon. George inherited Ferry Farm upon his father's death and eventually acquired Mount Vernon after Lawrence's death. 

The death of his father prevented Washington from an education at England's Appleby School, as his older brothers had received. He achieved the equivalent of an elementary school education from a variety of tutors, as well as from a school run by an Anglican clergyman in or near Fredericksburg.   Talk of securing an appointment in the Royal Navy for him when he was 15 was dropped when his widowed mother objected. 

In 1751 Washington traveled to Barbados with Lawrence, who was suffering from tuberculosis, with the hope that the climate would be beneficial to Lawrence's health. Washington contracted smallpox during the trip, which left his face slightly scarred, but immunized him against future exposures to the dreaded disease.  However, Lawrence's health failed to improve, and he returned to Mount Vernon, where he died in the summer of 1752.  Lawrence's position as Adjutant General (militia leader) of Virginia was divided into four district offices after his death. Washington was appointed by Governor Dinwiddie as one of the four district adjutants in February 1753, with the rank of major in the Virginia militia.  During this period, Washington became a Freemason while in Fredericksburg, although his involvement was minimal. 

Surveyor

Washington's introduction to surveying began at an early age through school exercises that taught him the basics of the profession, followed by practical experience in the field. His first experiences at surveying occurred in the surrounding territory of Mount Vernon. Washington's first opportunity as a surveyor occurred in 1748 when he was invited to join a survey party organized by his neighbor and friend George Fairfax of Belvoir. Fairfax organized a professional surveying party to layout large tracts of land along the border of western Virginia where the young Washington gained invaluable experience in the field. 

In 1749, at the age of 17, Washington began his career as a professional surveyor. He subsequently received a commission and surveyor's license from the College of William and Mary and became the official surveyor for the newly formed Culpeper County.  Thanks to his older brother Lawrence's connection to the prominent Fairfax family, Washington had been appointed to this well-paid official position.  In less than two days he completed his first survey, plotting a 400 acre parcel of land and was well on his way to a promising career.  He was subsequently able to purchase land in the Shenandoah Valley, the first of his many land acquisitions in western Virginia. For the next four years Washington worked surveying land in Western Virginia and for the Ohio Company, a land investment company funded by Virginia investors. Thanks to Lawrence's position as commander of the Virginia militia, Washington came to the notice of the new lieutenant governor of Virginia, Robert Dinwiddie. He was hard to miss: At over six feet, he was taller than most of his contemporaries.  In October 1750, Washington resigned his position as an official surveyor, though he continued to work diligently over the next three years at his new profession. He continued to survey professionally for two more years, mostly in Frederick County before receiving a military appointment as adjutant for southern Virginia. By 1752, Washington completed close to 200 surveys on numerous properties totaling more than 60,000 acres. He would continue to survey at different times throughout his life and as late as 1799.

French and Indian War

Washington began his military service in the French and Indian War as a major in the militia of the British Province of Virginia. In 1753 he was sent as an ambassador from the British crown to the French officials and Indians as far north as present-day Erie, Pennsylvania. The Ohio Company was an important vehicle through which British investors planned to expand into the Ohio Valley, opening new settlements and trading posts for the Indian trade.. In 1753 the French themselves began expanding their military control into the Ohio Country, a territory already claimed by the British colonies of Virginia and Pennsylvania. These competing claims led to a war in the colonies called the French and Indian War (1754–62), and contributed to the start of the global Seven Years' War (1756–63). By chance, Washington became involved in its beginning.

Robert Dinwiddie, lieutenant governor of colonial Virginia, was ordered by the British government to guard the British territorial claims including the Ohio River basin. In late 1753 Dinwiddie ordered Washington to deliver a letter asking the French to vacate the Ohio Valley; he was eager to prove himself as the new adjutant general of the militia, appointed by the Lieutenant Governor himself only a year before. During his trip Washington met with Tanacharison (also called "Half-King") and other Iroquois chiefs allied with England at Logstown to secure their support in case of a military conflict with the French—indeed Washington and Tanacharison became friends. He delivered the letter to the local French commander Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, who politely refused to leave.  Washington kept a diary during his expedition which was printed by William Hunter on Dinwiddie's order and which made Washington's name recognizable in Virginia.  This increased notoriety helped him to obtain a commission to raise a company of 100 men and start his military career. 

Dinwiddie sent Washington back to the Ohio Country to safeguard an Ohio Company's construction of a fort at present-day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. However, before he reached the area, a French force drove out colonial traders and began construction of Fort Duquesne. A small detachment of French troops led by Joseph Coulon de Jumonville, was discovered by Tanacharison and a few warriors east of present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania. On May 28, 1754, Washington and some of his militia unit, aided by their Mingo allies, ambushed the French in what has come to be called the Battle of Jumonville Glen. Exactly what happened during and after the battle is a matter of contention, but several primary accounts agree that the battle lasted about 15 minutes, that Jumonville was killed, and that most of his party were either killed or taken prisoner. Whether Jumonville died at the hands of Tanacharison in cold blood or was somehow shot by an onlooker with a musket as he sat with Washington or by another means, is not completely clear.   He was given the epithet Town Destroyer by Tanacharison. 

The French responded by attacking and capturing Washington at Fort Necessity in July 1754.  However, he was allowed to return with his troops to Virginia. Historian Joseph Ellis concludes that the episode demonstrated Washington's bravery, initiative, inexperience and impetuosity.  These events had international consequences; the French accused Washington of assassinating Jumonville, who they claimed was on a diplomatic mission. Both France and Great Britain were ready to fight for control of the region and both sent troops to North America in 1755; war was formally declared in 1756. 

Braddock disaster 1755

In 1755 Washington became the senior American aide to British General Edward Braddock on the ill-fated Braddock expedition. This was the largest British expedition to the colonies, and was intended to expel the French from the Ohio Country; the first objective was the capture of Fort Duquesne.  Washington initially sought an appointment as a major from Braddock, but upon advice that no rank above captain could be given except by London, he agreed to serve as a staff volunteer. During the passage of the expedition, Washington fell ill with severe headaches and fever; nevertheless, when the pace of the troops continued to slow, Washington recommended to Braddock that the army be split into two divisions – a primary and more lightly, but adequately equipped, "flying column" offensive which could move at a more rapid pace, to be followed by a more heavily armed reinforcing division. Braddock accepted the recommendation (likely made in a council of war including other officers) and took command of the lead division.  

In the Battle of the Monongahela the French and their Indian allies ambushed Braddock's reduced forces and the general was mortally wounded. After suffering devastating casualties, the British panicked and retreated in disarray; however, Washington rode back and forth across the battlefield, rallying the remnants of the British and Virginian forces into an organized retreat. In the process, despite his lingering illness, he demonstrated much bravery and stamina—he had two horses shot from underneath him, while his coat was pierced with four bullets. In his report, Washington chiefly blamed the disaster on the conduct of the redcoats while praising that of the Virginia contingent. Whatever responsibility rested on him for the defeat as a result of his recommendation to Braddock, Washington was not included by the succeeding commander, Col. Thomas Dunbar, in planning subsequent force movements. 

Commander of Virginia Regiment

Lt. Governor Dinwiddie rewarded Washington in 1755 with a commission as "Colonel of the Virginia Regiment and Commander in Chief of all forces now raised in the defense of His Majesty's Colony" and gave him the task of defending Virginia's frontier. The Virginia Regiment was the first full-time American military unit in the colonies (as opposed to part-time militias and the British regular units). Washington was ordered to "act defensively or offensively" as he thought best.  While Washington happily accepted the commission, the coveted redcoat of a British officer as well as the accompanying pay continued to elude him. Dinwiddie as well pressed in vain for the British military to incorporate the Virginia Regiment into its ranks. 

In command of a thousand soldiers, Washington was a disciplinarian who emphasized training. He led his men in brutal campaigns against the Indians in the west; in 10 months his regiment fought 20 battles, and lost a third of its men. Washington's strenuous efforts meant that Virginia's frontier population suffered less than that of other colonies; Ellis concludes "it was his only unqualified success" in the war.  

In 1758 Washington participated in the Forbes Expedition to capture Fort Duquesne. He was embarrassed by a friendly fire episode in which his unit and another British unit thought the other was the French enemy and opened fire, with 14 dead and 26 wounded in the mishap. Washington was not involved in any other major fighting on the expedition, and the British scored a major strategic victory, gaining control of the Ohio Valley, when the French abandoned the fort. Following the expedition, he retired from his Virginia Regiment commission in December 1758. Washington did not return to military life until the outbreak of the revolution in 1775. 

Lessons learned

Although Washington never gained the commission in the British army he yearned for, in these years the young man gained valuable military, political, and leadership skills. ;   ;   ;   ;   . He closely observed British military tactics, gaining a keen insight into their strengths and weaknesses that proved invaluable during the Revolution. Washington learned to organize, train, drill, and discipline his companies and regiments. From his observations, readings and conversations with professional officers, he learned the basics of battlefield tactics, as well as a good understanding of problems of organization and logistics.  He gained an understanding of overall strategy, especially in locating strategic geographical points. 

Washington demonstrated his resourcefulness and courage in the most difficult situations, including disasters and retreats. He developed a command presence, given his size, strength, stamina, and bravery in battle that demonstrated to soldiers he was a natural leader whom they could follow without question.   However Washington's fortitude in his early years was sometimes manifested in less constructive ways. Biographer John R. Alden contends Washington offered "fulsome and insincere flattery to British generals in vain attempts to win great favor" and on occasion showed youthful arrogance, as well as jealousy and ingratitude in the midst of impatience. 

Historian Ron Chernow is of the opinion that his frustrations in dealing with government officials during this conflict led him to advocate the advantages of a strong national government and a vigorous executive agency that could get results; other historians tend to ascribe Washington's position on government to his later American Revolutionary War service. He developed a very negative idea of the value of militia, who seemed too unreliable, too undisciplined, and too short-term compared to regulars.  On the other hand, his experience was limited to command of at most 1000 men, and came only in remote frontier conditions that were far removed from the urban situations he faced during the Revolution at Boston, New York, Trenton and Philadelphia. 

Between the wars: Mount Vernon (1759–1774)

On January 6, 1759, Washington married the wealthy widow Martha Dandridge Custis, then 28 years old. Surviving letters suggest that he may have been in love at the time with Sally Fairfax, the wife of a friend. Nevertheless, George and Martha made a compatible marriage, because Martha was intelligent, gracious, and experienced in managing a planter's estate. 

Together the two raised her two children from her previous marriage, John Parke Custis and Martha Parke (Patsy) Custis; later the Washingtons raised two of Mrs. Washington's grandchildren, Eleanor Parke Custis and George Washington Parke Custis. George and Martha never had any children together—his earlier bout with smallpox in 1751 may have made him sterile.   The newlywed couple moved to Mount Vernon, near Alexandria, where he took up the life of a planter and political figure.

Washington's marriage to Martha greatly increased his property holdings and social standing, and made him one of Virginia's wealthiest men. He acquired one-third of the 18000 acre Custis estate upon his marriage, worth approximately $100,000, and managed the remainder on behalf of Martha's children, for whom he sincerely cared. 

In 1754 Lieutenant Governor Dinwiddie had promised land bounties to the soldiers and officers who volunteered to serve during the French and Indian War.  After Washington prevailed upon Lord Botetourt, the new governor, he finally fulfilled Dinwiddie's promise in 1769–1770,  with Washington subsequently receiving title to 23200 acre where the Kanawha River flows into the Ohio River, in what is now western West Virginia.  He also frequently bought additional land in his own name. By 1775 Washington had doubled the size of Mount Vernon to 6500 acre, and had increased its slave population to over 100. As a respected military hero and large landowner, he held local office and was elected to the Virginia provincial legislature, representing Frederick County in the House of Burgesses for seven years, beginning in 1758. 

Washington lived an aristocratic lifestyle—fox hunting was a favorite leisure activity.   He also enjoyed going to dances and parties, in addition to the theater, races, and cockfights. Washington also was known to play cards, backgammon, and billiards.  Like most Virginia planters, he imported luxuries and other goods from England and paid for them by exporting his tobacco crop. Washington began to pull himself out of debt in the mid-1760s by diversifying his previously tobacco-centric business interests into other ventures and paying more attention to his affairs.

In 1766 he started switching Mount Vernon's primary cash crop away from tobacco to wheat, a crop that could be processed and then sold in various forms in the colonies, and further diversified operations to include flour milling, fishing, horse breeding, spinning, weaving and (in the 1790s) erected a distillery for whiskey production which yielded more than 1000 gallons a month.  After several prior epileptic attacks Patsy Custis died in Washington arms in 1773. Her early and unexpected death proved to be one of the saddest moments in his life. He intimated his hopes to Martha and others that she had gone to a "happier place". Washington cancelled all business activity and for the next three months was not away from Martha for one single night.  Patsy's death enabled Washington to pay off his British creditors, since half of her inheritance passed to him.   

A successful planter of tobacco and wheat, Washington was a leader in the social elite in Virginia. From 1768 to 1775, he invited some 2000 guests to his Mount Vernon estate, mostly those he considered "people of rank". As for people not of high social status, his advice was to "treat them civilly" but "keep them at a proper distance, for they will grow upon familiarity, in proportion as you sink in authority".  In 1769 he became more politically active, presenting the Virginia Assembly with legislation to ban the importation of goods from Great Britain. 

American Revolution (1775–1783)

Washington played a leading military and political role in the American Revolution. His involvement began in 1767, when he first took political stands against the various acts of the British Parliament. He opposed the 1765 Stamp Act, the first direct tax on the colonies imposed by the British Parliament, which included no representatives from the colonies; he began taking a leading role in the growing colonial resistance when protests against the Townshend Acts (enacted in 1767) became widespread. In May 1769 Washington introduced a proposal, drafted by his friend George Mason, calling for Virginia to boycott English goods until the Acts were repealed.  Parliament repealed the Townshend Acts in 1770. However, Washington regarded the passage of the Intolerable Acts in 1774 as "an Invasion of our Rights and Privileges".  Washington told friend Bryan Fairfax, "I think the Parliament of Great Britain has no more right to put their hands in my pocket without my consent than I have to put my hands into yours for money." He also said that Americans must not submit to acts of tyranny "till custom and use shall make us as tame and abject slaves, as the blacks we rule over with such arbitrary sway." 

In July 1774 he chaired the meeting at which the "Fairfax Resolves" were adopted, which called for the convening of a Continental Congress, among other things. In August, Washington attended the First Virginia Convention, where he was selected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress.  

Commander in chief

After the Battles of Lexington and Concord near Boston in April 1775, the colonies went to war. Washington appeared at the Second Continental Congress in a military uniform, signaling that he was prepared for war.  Washington had the prestige, military experience, charisma and military bearing of a military leader and was known as a strong patriot. Virginia, the largest colony, deserved recognition, and New England—where the fighting began—realized it needed Southern support. Washington did not explicitly seek the office of commander and said that he was not equal to it,   but there was no serious competition.  Congress created the Continental Army on June 14, 1775.  Nominated by John Adams of Massachusetts, Washington was then appointed as a full General and Commander-in-chief.   The British then articulated the peril of Washington and his army—on August 23, 1775 Britain issued a Royal proclamation labeling American rebels as traitors; if they resorted to force, they faced confiscation of their property. Their leaders were subject to execution upon the scaffold. 
General Washington essentially assumed three roles during the war. First, in 1775–77, and again in 1781 he provided leadership of troops against the main British forces. Although he lost many of his battles, he never surrendered his army during the war, and he continued to fight the British relentlessly until the war's end. He plotted the overall strategy of the war, in cooperation with Congress. 

Secondly, he was charged with organizing and training the army. He recruited regulars and assigned Baron von Steuben, a veteran of the Prussian general staff, to train them. The war effort and getting supplies to the troops were under the purview of Congress,  but Washington pressured the Congress to provide the essentials.  In June 1776 Congress' first attempt at running the war effort was established with the committee known as "Board of War and Ordnance", succeeded by the Board of War in July 1777, a committee which eventually included members of the military. The command structure of the armed forces was a hodgepodge of Congressional appointees (and Congress sometimes made those appointments without Washington's input) with state-appointments filling the lower ranks and of all of the militia-officers. The results of his general staff were mixed, as some of his favorites (like John Sullivan) never mastered the art of command.

Eventually, he found capable officers, such as General Nathanael Greene, General Daniel Morgan—"the old wagoner" that he had served with in The French and Indian War, Colonel Henry Knox—chief of artillery, and Colonel Alexander Hamilton—chief-of-staff. The American officers never equaled their opponents in tactics and maneuver, and consequently they lost most of the pitched battles. The great successes, at Boston (1776), Saratoga (1777) and Yorktown (1781), came from trapping the British far from base with much larger numbers of troops. Daniel Morgan's annihilation of Banastre Tarleton's legion of dragoons at Cowpens in February 1781, came as a result of Morgan's employment of superior line tactics against his British opponent, resulting in one of the very few double envelopments in military history, another being Hannibal's defeat of the Romans at Cannae in 216 b.c. The decisive defeat of Col. Patrick Ferguson's Tory Regiment at King's Mountain demonstrated the superiority of the riflery of American "over-mountain men" over British-trained troops armed with musket and bayonet. These "over-mountain men" were led by a variety of elected officers, including the 6'6" William Campbell who had become one of Washington's officers by the time of Yorktown. Similarly, Morgan's Virginia riflemen proved themselves superior to the British at Saratoga, a post-revolutionary war development being the creation of trained "rifle battalions" in the European armies.

Washington's third, and most important role in the war effort, was the embodiment of armed resistance to the Crown—the representative man of the Revolution. His long-term strategy was to maintain an army in the field at all times, and eventually this strategy worked. His enormous personal and political stature and his political skills kept Congress, the army, the French, the militias, and the states all pointed toward a common goal. Furthermore, by voluntarily resigning his commission and disbanding his army when the war was won (rather than declaring himself monarch), he permanently established the principle of civilian supremacy in military affairs. Yet his constant reiteration of the point that well-disciplined professional soldiers counted for twice as much as erratic militias (clearly demonstrated in the rout at Camden, where only the Maryland and Delaware Continentals under Baron DeKalb held firm), helped overcome the ideological distrust of a standing army. 

Victory at Boston

Washington assumed command of the Continental Army in the field at Cambridge, Massachusetts, in July 1775, during the ongoing siege of Boston. Realizing his army's desperate shortage of gunpowder, Washington asked for new sources. American troops raided British arsenals, including some in the Caribbean, and some manufacturing was attempted. They obtained a barely adequate supply (about 2.5 million pounds) by the end of 1776, mostly from France. 

Washington reorganized the army during the long standoff, and forced the British to withdraw by putting artillery on Dorchester Heights overlooking the city. The British evacuated Boston in March 1776 and Washington moved his army to New York City. 

Although highly disparaging toward most of the Patriots, British newspapers routinely praised Washington's personal character and qualities as a military commander. These articles were bold, as Washington was an enemy general who commanded an army in a cause that many Britons believed would ruin the empire. 

Defeat at New York

In August 1776 British General William Howe launched a massive naval and land campaign designed to seize New York. The Continental Army under Washington engaged the enemy for the first time as an army of the newly independent United States at the Battle of Long Island, the largest battle of the entire war. The Americans were heavily outnumbered, many men deserted, and Washington was badly defeated.  After conferring with other generals of the situation a plan of retreat was decided. Washington instructed General Heath to make available every flat bottom river boat and sloop in the area. In little time Washington's army under the cover of darkness crossed the East River safely to Manhattan Island, and did so without loss of life or materiel. 

Washington had considered abandoning the island and Fort Washington, but heeding Generals Greene and Putnam's recommendation to attempt a defense of this fort, he belatedly retreated further across the Hudson to Fort Lee, to avoid encirclement. With the Americans in retreat Howe was then able to take the offensive and on November 16, landed his troops on the island and surrounded and captured Fort Washington, resulting in high Continental casualties. Biographer Alden opines that "although Washington was responsible for the decision to delay the patriots' retreat, he tried to ascribe blame for the decision to defend Fort Washington to the wishes of Congress and the bad advice of Nathaniel Greene." 

Crossing the Delaware

Washington then continued his flight across New Jersey; the future of the Continental Army was in doubt due to expiring enlistments and the string of losses.  On the night of December 25, 1776, Washington staged a comeback with a surprise attack on a Hessian outpost in western New Jersey. He led his army across the Delaware River to capture nearly 1,000 Hessians in Trenton, New Jersey. Washington followed up his victory at Trenton with another over British regulars at Princeton in early January. The British retreated to New York City and its environs, which they held until the peace treaty of 1783. Washington's victories wrecked the British carrot-and-stick strategy of showing overwhelming force then offering generous terms. The Americans would not negotiate for anything short of independence.  These victories alone were not enough to ensure ultimate Patriot victory, however, since many soldiers did not reenlist or deserted during the harsh winter. Washington and Congress reorganized the army with increased rewards for staying and punishment for desertion, which raised troop numbers effectively for subsequent battles. 

In February 1777, while encamped at Morristown, New Jersey, Washington became convinced that only smallpox inoculation would prevent the destruction of his Army, by using variolation. Washington ordered the inoculation of all troops and by some reports, death by smallpox in the ranks dropped from 17% of all deaths to 1% of all reported deaths. 

Historians debate whether or not Washington preferred a Fabian strategy to harass the British with quick, sharp attacks followed by a retreat so the larger British army could not catch him, or whether he preferred to fight major battles. While his southern commander Greene in 1780–81 did use Fabian tactics, Washington did so only in fall 1776 to spring 1777, after losing New York City and seeing much of his army melt away. Trenton and Princeton were Fabian examples. By summer 1777, however, Washington had rebuilt his strength and his confidence; he stopped using raids and went for large-scale confrontations, as at Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth and Yorktown. 

1777 campaigns

In late summer of 1777, British General John Burgoyne led a major invasion army south from Quebec, with the intention of splitting off rebellious New England; but General Howe in New York took his army south to Philadelphia instead of going up the Hudson River to join with Burgoyne near Albany—a major strategic mistake. Meanwhile, Washington rushed to Philadelphia to engage Howe, while closely following the action in upstate New York, where the patriots were led by General Philip Schuyler and his successor Horatio Gates. The ensuing pitched battles at Philadelphia were too complex for Washington's relatively inexperienced men and they were defeated. At the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, Howe outmaneuvered Washington, and marched into the American capital at Philadelphia unopposed on September 26. Washington's army unsuccessfully attacked the British garrison at Germantown in early October. Meanwhile, to the north, Burgoyne, beyond the reach of help from Howe, was trapped and forced to surrender after the Battles of Saratoga.  This was a major turning point militarily and diplomatically—the French responded to Burgoyne's defeat by entering the war, allying with America and expanding the Revolutionary War into a major worldwide affair.

Washington's loss at Philadelphia prompted some members of Congress to consider removing Washington from command. This movement, termed the Conway Cabal, failed after Washington's supporters rallied behind him.  Biographer Alden relates, "it was inevitable that the defeats of Washington's forces and the concurrent victory of the forces in upper New York should be compared." The zealous admiration of Washington indeed inevitably waned. John Adams (never a fan of the southern delegation to the Continental Congress) wrote "Congress will appoint a thanksgiving; and one cause of it ought to be that the glory of turning the tide of arms is not immediately due to the commander-in-chief nor to southern troops. If it had been, idolatry and adulation would have been unbounded...Now we can allow a certain citizen to be wise, virtuous, and good, without thinking him a deity or a savior." 

Valley Forge

Washington's army of 11,000 went into winter quarters at Valley Forge north of Philadelphia in December 1777. Over the next six months, the deaths in camp numbered in the thousands (the majority being from disease, compounded by lack of food, proper clothing, poor shelter and the extreme cold), with historians' death toll estimates ranging from 2,000 to over 3,000 men.    While the British were comfortably quartered in Philadelphia and paid for their supplies in sterling, Washington had difficulty procuring supplies from the few farmers in the area who would not accept rapidly depreciating American paper currency, while the woodlands about the valley had soon been exhausted of game. As conditions worsened, Washington was faced with the task of maintaining morale and discouraging desertion which by February had become common.  Washington had repeatedly petitioned the Continental Congress for badly needed provisions but with no success. Finally, on January 24, 1778, five Congressmen came to Valley Forge to examine the conditions of the Continental Army. Washington expressed the urgency of the situation exclaiming, "Something must be done. Important alterations must be made." At this time he also contended that Congress should take control of the army supply system, pay for its supplies and promptly expedite them as they became necessary.  In response to Washington's urgent appeal, Congress soon gave full support to funding the supply lines of the army, an advent which also resulted in the reorganizing the commissary department, which controlled the gathering of the supplies for the army. By late February, there were adequate supplies flowing throughout camp.

The next spring, a revitalized army emerged from Valley Forge in good order, thanks in part to a full-scale training program supervised by General von Steuben.  The British evacuated Philadelphia to New York in June, 1778. After Washington summoned a council of war with Generals Lee, Greene and Wayne and Lafayette, Washington decided to make a partial attack on the retreating British at the Battle of Monmouth. Lee and Lafayette, moving with 4000 men and without Washington's immediate knowledge, attempted to launch but bungled the first attack at the British rear guard, where Clinton, also with 4000 men and waiting in anticipation, came about and offered stiff resistance, keeping the Americans in check. After sharp words of criticism Washington relieved Lee and continued fighting to an effective draw in one of the war's largest battles. When night fall came the fighting came to a stop and the British continued their retreat and headed towards New York, where Washington soon moved his army just outside that city.  

Sullivan Expedition

In the summer of 1779 Washington and Congress decided to strike the Iroquois warriors of the "Six Nations" in a campaign to force Britain's Indian allies out of New York, which they had used as a base to attack American settlements across New England.  In June 1779 the warriors had joined with Tory rangers led by Colonel William Butler, using barbarities normally shunned, slew over 200 frontiersmen and laid waste to the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania. Indeed, one British officer who witnessed the Tory brutality said the redcoats on return to England would "scalp every son of a bitch of them."  In August of 1779 General John Sullivan led a military operation that destroyed at least 40 Iroquois villages, burned all available crops. Few people were killed as the Indians fled to British protection in Canada. Sullivan later reported that "the immediate objects of this expedition are accomplished, viz: total ruin of the Indian settlements and the destruction of their crops, which were designed for the support of those inhuman barbarians." 

Hudson River and Southern battles

Washington at this time moved his headquarters from Middlebrook in New Jersey up to New Windsor on the Hudson, with an army of 10,000. The British, led by Howe's successor, Sir Henry Clinton made a move up the Hudson against American posts at Verplanck's Point and Stony Point and both places succumbed, but a counter-offensive by the patriots led by General Anthony Wayne was briefly successful. Clinton was in the end able to shut off Kings Ferry but it was a strategic loss; he could proceed no further up the river, due to American fortifications and Washington's army. The skirmishes at Verplanck's Point and at Stony Point demonstrated that the continental infantry had become quite formidable and were an enormous boost to morale. 

The winter of 1779–1780, when Washington went into quarters at Morristown, represented the worst suffering for the army during the war. The temperatures fell to 16 below zero, the New York Harbor was frozen over, and snow and ice covered the ground for weeks, with the troops again lacking provisions for a time as at Valley Forge.  In late 1779 Clinton moved his forces south to Charleston for an offensive against the patriots, led by Benjamin Lincoln. After his success there Clinton returned victorious to New York, leaving Cornwallis in the south. Congress replaced Lincoln with Gates, despite Washington's recommendation of Greene. When Gates failed in South Carolina, he was then replaced by Greene. The British at the time seemed to have the South almost in their grasp. Despite this news, Washington was encouraged to learn in mid-1780 that Lafayette had returned from France with additional naval assets and forces.

Arnold's treason

In the summer of 1778 George Washington ordered Major Benjamin Tallmadge to form the Culper Ring. This group was composed of select few trustworthy individuals, whose purpose was to collect information about the British movements and activities in New York City. The Ring is  famous for uncovering the intentions of  treason of Benedict Arnold,  which shocked Washington because Arnold was someone who had contributed significantly to the war effort. Embittered by his dealings with Congress over rank and finances, as well as the alliance with France, Arnold joined the British cause; he conspired with the British in a plan to seize the post he commanded at West Point. Washington just missed apprehending him, but did capture his conspirator, Major John André, a British intelligence officer under Clinton, who was later hanged by order of a court-martial called by Washington. 

Washington's army went into winter quarters at New Windsor in 1780 and suffered again for lack of supplies. There resulted a considerable mutiny by Pennsylvania troops; Washington prevailed upon Congress as well as state officials to come to their aid with provisions. He very much sympathized with their suffering, saying he hoped the army would not "continue to struggle under the same difficulties they have hitherto endured, which I cannot help remarking seem to reach the bounds of human patience". 

Victory at Yorktown

In July 1780, 5,000 veteran French troops led by the comte de Rochambeau arrived at Newport, Rhode Island to aid in the war effort;  French naval forces then landed, led by Admiral François Joseph Paul de Grasse. Though it was Washington's hope initially to bring the allied fight to New York and to end the war there, de Grasse was advised by Rochambeau that Cornwallis in Virginia was the better target. de Grasse followed Rochambeau's advice and arrived off the Virginia Coast. Washington immediately saw the advantage created, made a feinting move with his force towards Clinton in New York and then headed south to Virginia. 

Washington's Continental Army, also newly funded by $20,000 in French gold, delivered the final blow to the British in 1781, after a French naval victory allowed American and French forces to trap a British army in Virginia, preventing reinforcement by Clinton from the North.  The surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, marked the end of major fighting in continental North America.  Cornwallis failed to appear at the official surrender ceremony, and sent General Charles Oharrow as his proxy; Washington then assigned his role to Benjamin Lincoln of equal rank. 

Demobilization

Though substantial combat had ended, the war had not, and a formal treaty of peace was months away, creating tension. The British still had 26,000 troops occupying New York City, Charleston and Savannah, together with a powerful fleet. The French army and navy departed, so the Americans were on their own in 1782–83. Money matters fed the anxiety—the treasury was empty, and the unpaid soldiers were growing restive, almost to the point of mutiny. At one point the mutineers forced an adjournment of the Congress from Philadelphia to Princeton. Washington dispelled unrest among officers by suppressing the Newburgh Conspiracy in March 1783, and Congress came up with the promise of a five-year bonus. 

With the initial peace treaty articles ratified in April, a recently formed Congressional committee under Hamilton was considering needs and plans for a peacetime army. On May 2, 1783, the Commander in Chief submitted his Sentiments on a Peace Establishment  to the Committee, essentially providing an official Continental Army position. The original proposal was defeated in Congress in two votes (May 1783, October 1783) with a truncated version also being rejected in April 1784. 

By the Treaty of Paris (signed that September), Great Britain recognized the independence of the United States. Washington disbanded his army and, on November 2, gave an eloquent farewell address to his soldiers.  On November 25, the British evacuated New York City, and Washington and the governor took possession. At Fraunces Tavern on December 4, Washington formally bade his officers farewell and on December 23, 1783, he resigned his commission as commander-in-chief, saying "I consider it an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life, by commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping."  Historian Gordon Wood concludes that the greatest act in his life was his resignation as commander of the armies.  King George III called Washington "the greatest character of the age" because of this. 

Washington later submitted a formal account of the expenses he had personally advanced the army over the eight year conflict, of about $450,000. It is said to have been detailed regarding small items, vague concerning large ones and included the expenses incurred from Martha's visits to his headquarters, as well as his compensation for service, none of which had been drawn during the war. 

Historian John Shy says that by 1783 Washington was "a mediocre military strategist but had become a master political tactician with an almost perfect sense of timing and a developed capacity to exploit his charismatic reputation, using people who thought they were using him". 

Constitutional Convention

Washington's retirement to personal business at Mount Vernon was short-lived. Making an exploratory trip to the western frontier in 1784, he inspected his land holdings in Western Pennsylvania that had been earned decades earlier for his service in the French and Indian War. There, he confronted squatters, including David Reed and the Covenanters, who vacated, but only after losing a court decision heard in Washington, Pennsylvania in 1786.
After much reluctance, he was persuaded to attend the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia during the summer of 1787 as a delegate from Virginia, where he was elected in unanimity as president of the Convention.  He held considerable criticism of the Articles of Confederation of the thirteen colonies, for the weak central government it established, referring to the Articles as no more than "a rope of sand" to support the new nation.  Washington's view for the need of a strong federal government grew out of the recent war, moreover, the inability of the Continental Congress to rally the states to provide for the needs of the military, as was clearly demonstrated for him during the winter at Valley Forge. The general populace however did not share Washington's views of a strong federal government binding the states together, comparing such a prevailing entity to the British Parliament that previously ruled and taxed the colonies. 

Washington's participation in the debates was minor, although he cast his vote when called upon; his prestige facilitated the collegiality and productivity of the delegates. After a couple of months into the task, Washington told Alexander Hamilton, "I almost despair of seeing a favorable issue to the proceedings of our convention and do therefore repent having had any agency in the business."
Following the Convention, his support convinced many, but not all of his colleagues, to vote for ratification. He unsuccessfully lobbied anti-federalist Patrick Henry, saying that "the adoption of it under the present circumstances of the Union is in my opinion desirable;" he declared that the only alternative would be anarchy. Nevertheless, he did not consider it appropriate to cast his vote in favor of adoption for Virginia, since he was expected to be nominated president thereunder.  The new Constitution was subsequently ratified by all thirteen states.  The delegates to the convention designed the presidency with Washington in mind, allowing him to define the office by establishing precedent once elected.  In the end after agreements were hatched however, Washington thought the achievements finally made were monumental.

Presidency (1789–1797)

The Electoral College unanimously elected Washington as the first president in 1789, and again 1792;  He remains the only president to receive the totality of electoral votes. John Adams, who received the next highest vote total, was elected vice president. On April 30, 1789, Washington was inaugurated, taking the first presidential oath of office on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City.  The oath, as follows, was administered by Chancellor Robert R. Livingston: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Historian John R. Alden indicates that Washington added the words "So help me God." 

The 1st United States Congress voted to pay Washington a salary of $25,000 a year—a large sum in 1789, valued at about $340,000 in 2015 dollars. Washington, despite facing financial troubles then, initially declined the salary, valuing his image as a selfless public servant. At the urging of Congress, however, he ultimately accepted the payment, to avoid setting a precedent whereby the presidency would be perceived as limited only to independently wealthy individuals who could serve without any salary.  The president, aware that everything he did set a precedent, attended carefully to the pomp and ceremony of office, making sure that the titles and trappings were suitably republican and never emulated European royal courts.  To that end, he preferred the title "Mr. President" to the more majestic names proposed by the Senate. 

Washington proved an able administrator, and established many precedents in the functions of the presidency, including messages to Congress and the cabinet form of government. Despite fears that a democratic system would lead to political violence, he set the standard for tolerance of opposition voices and conducted a smooth transition of power to his successor. An excellent delegator and judge of talent and character, he talked regularly with department heads and listened to their advice before making a final decision.  In handling routine tasks, he was "systematic, orderly, energetic, solicitous of the opinion of others ... but decisive, intent upon general goals and the consistency of particular actions with them."  After reluctantly serving a second term, Washington refused to run for a third, establishing the tradition of a maximum of two terms for a president, which was solidified by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. 

Domestic issues

Washington was not a member of any political party and hoped that they would not be formed, fearing conflict that would undermine republicanism.  His closest advisors formed two factions, setting the framework for the future First Party System. Secretary of Treasury Alexander Hamilton had bold plans to establish the national credit and build a financially powerful nation, and formed the basis of the Federalist Party. Secretary of the State Thomas Jefferson, founder of the Jeffersonian Republicans, strenuously opposed Hamilton's agenda, but Washington typically favored Hamilton over Jefferson, and it was Hamilton's agenda that went into effect. Jefferson's political actions, his support of Philip Freneau's National Gazette,  and his attempt to undermine Hamilton, nearly led George Washington to dismiss Jefferson from his cabinet. Though Jefferson left the cabinet voluntarily, Washington never forgave him, and never spoke to him again. 

In early 1790 Hamilton devised a plan with the approval of Washington, culminating in The Residence Act of 1790, that established the creditworthiness of the new government, as well as its permanent location. Congress had previously issued almost $22 million in certificates of debt during the war to suppliers; some of the states had incurred debt as well (more so in the north). In accordance with the plan, Congress authorized the "assumption" and payment of these debts, and provided funding through customs duties and excise taxes. The proposal was largely favored in the north and opposed in the south. Hamilton obtained the approval of the southern states in exchange for an agreement to place the new national capitol on the Potomac River. While the national debt increased as a result during Hamilton's service as Secretary of the Treasury, the nation established its good credit. Many in the Congress and elsewhere in the government profited from trading in the debt paper which was assumed. Though many of Washington's fellow Virginians, as well as others, were vexed by this, he considered they had adequate redress through their Congressional representatives. 

The Revenue Act authorized the president to select the specific location of the seat of the government on the Potomac; the president was to appoint three commissioners to survey and acquire property for this seat. Washington personally oversaw this effort throughout his term in office. In 1791 the commissioners named the permanent seat of government "The City of Washington in the Territory of Columbia" to honor Washington. In 1800, the Territory of Columbia became the District of Columbia when the federal government moved to the site according to the provisions of the Residence Act. 

In 1791 partly as a result of the Copper Panic of 1789, Congress imposed an excise tax on distilled spirits, which led to protests in frontier districts, especially Pennsylvania. By 1794 after Washington ordered the protesters to appear in U.S. district court, the protests turned into full-scale defiance of federal authority known as the Whiskey Rebellion. The federal army was too small to be used, so Washington invoked the Militia Act of 1792 to summon militias from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland and New Jersey.  The governors sent the troops, with Washington taking initial command. He subsequently named Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee as field commander to lead the troops into the rebellious districts. The rebels dispersed and there was no fighting, as Washington's forceful action proved the new government could protect itself. This represented the premier instance of the federal government using military force to exert authority over the states and citizens  and is also the only time a sitting U.S. president personally commanded troops in the field. 

Foreign affairs

In February 1793 the French Revolutionary Wars broke out between Great Britain and its allies and revolutionary France, and engulfed Europe until 1815; Washington, with cabinet approval, proclaimed American neutrality. The revolutionary government of France sent diplomat Edmond-Charles Genêt, called "Citizen Genêt", to America. Genêt was welcomed with great enthusiasm, and began promoting the case for France using a network of new Democratic Societies in major cities. He even issued French letters of marque and reprisal to French ships manned by American sailors so they could capture British merchant ships. Washington denounced the societies and demanded the French government recall Genêt, which they did. 

Hamilton formulated the Jay Treaty to normalize trade relations with Great Britain, remove them from western forts, and resolve financial debts remaining from the Revolution;  John Jay negotiated and signed the treaty on November 19, 1794. Jeffersonians supported France and strongly attacked the treaty. Washington listened to both sides then announced his strong support, which mobilized public opinion and was pivotal in securing ratification in the Senate by the requisite two-thirds majority.  

The British agreed to depart from their forts around the Great Lakes and the United States-Canadian boundary had to be re-adjusted; numerous pre-Revolutionary debts were liquidated, and the British opened their West Indies colonies to American trade. Most importantly, the treaty delayed war with Great Britain and instead brought a decade of prosperous trade with the British. The treaty angered the French and became a central issue in many political debates.  Relations with France deteriorated after the treaty was signed, leaving the succeeding president, John Adams, with the prospect of war.  

Farewell Address

Washington's Farewell Address (issued as a public letter in 1796) was one of the most influential statements of republicanism. Drafted primarily by Washington himself, with help from Hamilton, it gives advice on the necessity and importance of national union, the value of the Constitution and the rule of law, the evils of political parties and the proper virtues of a republican people. He referred to morality as "a necessary spring of popular government", and said, "Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle."  The address warned against foreign influence in domestic affairs and American meddling in European affairs, and as well against bitter partisanship in domestic politics; he also called for men to move beyond partisanship and serve the common good. He cautioned against "permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world",  saying the United States must concentrate primarily on American interests. He counseled friendship and commerce with all nations, but advised against involvement in European wars and entering into long-term "entangling" alliances. While advancing the general idea of noninvolvement in foreign affairs the Farewell Address made no clear distinction between domestic and foreign policies—John Quincy Adams interpreted Washington's policy as advocating a strong nationalist foreign policy while not limiting America's international activities. The address, however, quickly set American values regarding foreign affairs. Washington's policy of noninvolvement in the foreign affairs of the old world was largely embraced by the founding generation of American Statesmen, including John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.  

Retirement (1797–1799)

After retiring from the presidency in March 1797, Washington returned to Mount Vernon with a profound sense of relief. He devoted much time to his plantations and other business interests, including his distillery which produced its first batch of spirits in February 1797.  As  explains, his plantation operations were only minimally profitable. The lands out west yielded little income because they were under attack by Indians and the squatters living there refused to pay him rent. Most Americans assumed he was rich because of the well-known "glorified façade of wealth and grandeur" at Mount Vernon.  Historians estimate his estate was worth about $1 million in 1799 dollars, equivalent to about $19.9 million in 2014 purchasing power. 

By 1798 relations with France had deteriorated to the point that war seemed imminent, and on July 4, 1798, President Adams offered Washington a commission as lieutenant general and Commander-in-chief of the armies raised or to be raised for service in a prospective war. He accepted, and served as the senior officer of the United States Army from July 13, 1798 until his death seventeen months later. He participated in the planning for a Provisional Army to meet any emergency that might arise, but avoided involvement in details as much as possible; he delegated most of the work, including leadership of the army, to Hamilton, then serving as a major general in the U.S. Army.  

Comparisons with Cincinnatus

During the Revolutionary and Early Republican periods of American history, many commentators compared Washington with the Roman aristocrat and statesman Cincinnatus. The comparison arose as Washington, like Cincinnatus, remained in command of the Continental Army only until the British had been defeated. Thereafter, instead of seeking great political power, he returned as quickly as possible to cultivating his lands.   Remarking on Washington's resignation in December 1783, and his decision to retire to Mount Vernon, poet Philip Freneau wrote: Thus He, whom Rome's proud legions sway'd/Return'd, and sought his sylvan shade.  Lord Byron's Ode to Napoleon also lionized Washington as "the Cincinnatus of the West". 

Death

On Thursday, December 12, 1799, Washington spent several hours inspecting his plantation on horseback, in snow, hail, and freezing rain; later that evening he ate his supper without changing from his wet clothes. That Friday he awoke with a severe sore throat and became increasingly hoarse as the day progressed, yet still rode out in the heavy snow, marking trees on the estate that he wanted cut. Sometime around 3 a.m. that Saturday, he suddenly awoke with severe difficulty breathing and almost completely unable to speak or swallow. A firm believer in bloodletting, a standard medical practice of that era which he had used to treat various ailments of slaves on his plantation, he ordered estate overseer Albin Rawlins to remove half a pint of his blood.

A total of three physicians were sent for, including Washington's personal physician Dr. James Craik  along with Dr. Gustavus Brown and Dr. Elisha Dick. Craik and Brown thought that Washington had "quinsey" or "quincy", while Dick, the younger man, thought the condition was more serious or a "violent inflammation of the throat".  By the time the three physicians finished their treatments and bloodletting of the president, there had been a massive volume of blood loss—half or more of his total blood content was removed over the course of just a few hours. Recognizing that the bloodletting and other treatments were failing, Dr. Dick proposed performing an emergency tracheotomy, a procedure that few American physicians were familiar with at the time, as a last-ditch effort to save Washington's life, but the other two doctors disapproved.

Washington died at home around 10 p.m. on Saturday, December 14, 1799, aged 67. In his journal, Lear recorded Washington's last words as being "'Tis well." 

The diagnosis of Washington's final illness and the immediate cause of his death have been subjects of debate since the day he died.  In the days immediately following his death, Craik and Dick's published account stated that they felt his symptoms had been consistent with "cynanche trachealis", a term of that period used to describe severe inflammation of the structures of the upper airway.  Even at that early date, there were accusations of medical malpractice, with some believing that Washington had been bled to death. Various modern medical authors have speculated that Washington probably died from a severe case of epiglottitis which was complicated by the given treatments (all of which were accepted medical practice in Washington's day)—most notably the massive deliberate blood loss, which almost certainly caused hypovolemic shock.

Throughout the world, people were saddened by Washington's death. In the United States, memorial processions were held in major cities and thousands wore mourning clothes for months. Martha Washington wore a black mourning cape for one year. In France, First Consul Napoleon Bonaparte ordered ten days of mourning throughout the country;  

To protect their privacy, Martha Washington burned the correspondence they had exchanged; only five letters between the couple are known to have survived, two letters from Martha to George and three from him to Martha.  

On December 18, 1799, a funeral was held at Mount Vernon, where his body was interred.  Congress passed a joint resolution to construct a marble monument in the planned crypt below the rotunda of the center section of the Capitol (then still under construction) for his body, a plan supported by Martha. In December 1800, the House passed an appropriations bill for $200,000 to build the mausoleum, which was to be a pyramid with a 100 ft square base. Southern representatives and senators, in later opposition to the plan, defeated the measure because they felt it was best to have Washington's body remain at Mount Vernon. 

In 1831, for the centennial of his birth, a new tomb was constructed to receive his remains. That year, an unsuccessful attempt was made to steal the body of Washington. Despite this, a joint Congressional committee in early 1832, debated the removal of President Washington's body from Mount Vernon to a crypt in the Capitol, built by architect Charles Bulfinch in the 1820s during the reconstruction of the burned-out structure after the British set it afire in August 1814, during the "Burning of Washington". Southern opposition was intense, antagonized by an ever-growing rift between North and South. Congressman Wiley Thompson of Georgia expressed the fear of Southerners when he said, "Remove the remains of our venerated Washington from their association with the remains of his consort and his ancestors, from Mount Vernon and from his native State, and deposit them in this capitol, and then let a severance of the Union occur, and behold the remains of Washington on a shore foreign to his native soil."

Washington's remains were moved on October 7, 1837 to the new tomb constructed at Mount Vernon, presented by John Struthers of Philadelphia. After the ceremony, the inner vault's door was closed and the key was thrown into the Potomac.

Personal life

Along with Martha's biological family, George Washington had a close relationship with his nephew and heir, Bushrod Washington, son of George's younger brother, John Augustine Washington. The year before his uncle's death, Bushrod became an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. George, however, apparently had difficulty getting along with his mother, Mary Ball Washington (Augustine's second wife), a very difficult and exacting woman. 

As a young man, Washington had red hair.  A popular myth is that he wore a wig, as was the fashion among some at the time. However, Washington did not wear a wig; instead, he powdered his hair, as is represented in several portraits, including the well-known, unfinished Gilbert Stuart depiction called the "Athenaeum Portrait." 

Washington's height was variously recorded as 6 ft to 6 ft, and he had unusually great physical strength that amazed younger men. Jefferson called Washington "the best horseman of his age", and both American and European observers praised his riding; the horsemanship benefited his hunting, a favorite hobby. Washington was an excellent dancer and frequently attended the theater, often referencing Shakespeare in letters.  He drank in moderation and precisely recorded gambling wins and losses, but Washington disliked the excessive drinking, gambling, smoking, and profanity that was common in colonial Virginia. Although he grew tobacco, he eventually stopped smoking, and considered drunkenness a man's worst vice; Washington was glad that post-Revolutionary Virginia society was less likely to "force [guests] to drink and to make it an honor to send them home drunk." 

Washington suffered from problems with his teeth throughout his life, and historians have tracked his experiences in great detail.  He lost his first adult tooth when he was twenty-two and had only one left by the time he became president. John Adams claims he lost them because he used them to crack Brazil nuts but modern historians suggest the mercury oxide, which he was given to treat illnesses such as smallpox and malaria, probably contributed to the loss. He had several sets of false teeth made, four of them by a dentist named John Greenwood. None of the sets were made from wood. The set made when he became president was carved from hippopotamus and elephant ivory, held together with gold springs.  Prior to these, he had a set made with real human teeth,  likely ones he purchased from "several unnamed 'Negroes,' presumably Mount Vernon slaves" in 1784.  Dental problems left Washington in constant pain, for which he took laudanum.  This distress may be apparent in many of the portraits painted while he was still in office, including the one still used on the $1 bill.

Religion

For his entire life Washington was affiliated with the Anglican Church, later called the Episcopal Church. He served as a vestryman and as church warden for both Fairfax Parish in Alexandria and Truro Parish, administrative positions that, like all positions in Virginia while it had an official religion, required one to swear they would not speak or act in a way that did not conform to the tenets of the Church. Numerous historians have suggested that theologically, Washington agreed largely with the Deists. However, he never spoke about any particular Deist beliefs he may of have had. He often used words for the deity, such as "God" and "Providence," while avoiding using the words "Jesus" and "Christ." In his collected works, they appear in an official letter to Indians that might have been drafted by an aide. At the time, Deism was a theological outlook, not an organized denomination, and was compatible with being an Episcopalian. Historian Gregg Frazer argues that Washington was not a deist but a "theistic rationalist." This theological position rejected core beliefs of Christianity, such as the divinity of Christ, the Trinity and original sin. However, unlike the deists, the theological rationalists believed in the efficacy of prayer to God.  Historian Peter A. Lillback argues that Washington was neither a deist nor a "theistic rationalist" but a Christian who believed in the core beliefs of Christianity.

Washington frequently accompanied his wife to church services. Although third-hand reports say he took communion,  he is usually characterized as never or rarely participating in the rite.   He would regularly leave services before communion with the other non-communicants (as was the custom of the day), until, after being admonished by a rector, he ceased attending at all on communion Sundays. 

Washington regarded religion as a protective influence for America's social and political order, and recognized the church's "laudable endeavors to render men sober, honest, and good citizens, and the obedient subjects of a lawful government". 

While it is generally conceded that Washington was a Christian, the exact nature of his religious beliefs has still been debated by some historians and biographers for over two hundred years. Washington biographer Don Higginbotham notes that in such instances people with diametrically opposing opinions frequently base their views of Washington's beliefs on their own beliefs.  Though Washington was in ways conventionally enlightened about religion, once saying, "being no bigot myself to any mode of worship" he harbored no contempt of organized Christianity and its clergy as did Jefferson.  Washington, as commander of the army and as president, was a vigorous promoter of tolerance for all religious denominations. He believed religion was an important support for public order, morality and virtue. He often attended services of different denominations. He suppressed anti-Catholic celebrations in the Army. 

Michael Novak and Jana Novak suggest that it may have been "Washington's intention to maintain a studied ambiguity (and personal privacy) regarding his own deepest religious convictions, so that all Americans, both in his own time and for all time to come, might feel free to approach him on their own terms—and might also feel like full members of the new republic, equal with every other".  They conclude: "He was educated in the Episcopal Church, to which he always adhered; and my[sic] conviction is, that he believed in the fundamental doctrines of Christianity as usually taught in that Church, according to his understanding of them; but without a particle of intolerance, or disrespect for the faith and modes of worship adopted by Christians of other denominations." 

Freemasonry

Washington was initiated into Freemasonry in 1752.  He had a high regard for the Masonic Order and often praised it, but he seldom attended lodge meetings. He was attracted by the movement's dedication to the Enlightenment principles of rationality, reason and fraternalism; the American lodges did not share the anti-clerical perspective that made the European lodges so controversial.  In 1777 a convention of Virginia lodges recommended Washington to be the Grand Master of the newly established Grand Lodge of Virginia; however, Washington declined, due to his necessity to lead the Continental Army at a critical stage, and because he had never been installed as Master or Warden of a lodge, he did not consider it Masonically legal to serve as Grand Master.  In 1788 Washington, with his personal consent, was named Master in the Virginia charter of Alexandria Lodge No. 22. 

Slavery

Washington was the only prominent Founding Father to arrange in his will for the manumission of all his slaves following his death.  He privately opposed slavery as an institution which he viewed as economically unsound and morally indefensible. He also regarded the divisiveness of his countrymen's feelings about slavery as a potentially mortal threat to the unity of the nation.  He never publicly challenged the institution of slavery,  possibly because he wanted to avoid provoking a split in the new republic over so inflammatory an issue,   but he did pass the Slave Trade Act of 1794, which limited American involvement in the Atlantic slave trade.  Washington had owned slaves since the death of his father in 1743, when at the age of eleven, he inherited 10 slaves. At the time of his marriage to Martha Custis in 1759, he personally owned at least 36 slaves, which meant he had achieved the status of a major planter. The wealthy widow Martha brought at least 85 "dower slaves" to Mount Vernon by inheriting a third of her late husband's estate. Using his wife's great wealth, Washington bought more land, tripling the size of the plantation at Mount Vernon, and purchased the additional slaves needed to work it. By 1774 he paid taxes on 135 slaves (this figure does not include the "dowers"). The last record of a slave purchase by him was in 1772, although he later received some slaves in repayment of debts.  Washington also used some hired staff and white indentured servants; in April 1775, he offered a reward for the return of two runaway white servants. 

Legacy

As Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, hero of the Revolution and the first president of the United States, George Washington's legacy remains among the two or three greatest in American history. Congressman Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, a Revolutionary War comrade, famously eulogized Washington, "First in war—first in peace—and first in the hearts of his countrymen". 

Lee's words set the standard by which Washington's overwhelming reputation was impressed upon the American memory. Biographers hailed him as the great exemplar of republicanism.  Washington set many precedents for the national government, and the presidency in particular, and was called the "Father of His Country" as early as 1778.   Washington's Birthday, is a federal holiday in the United States.  In terms of personality, a leading biographer Douglas Southall Freeman concluded, "the great big thing stamped across that man is character." By character, says David Hackett Fischer "Freeman meant integrity, self-discipline, courage, absolute honesty, resolve, and decision, but also forbearance, decency, and respect for others." 

As the leader of the first successful revolution against a colonial empire in world history, Washington became an international icon for liberation and nationalism. The Federalists made him the symbol of their party but for many years, the Jeffersonians continued to distrust his influence and delayed building the Washington Monument.  After Yorktown, his service as Commander in Chief brought him election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

During the United States Bicentennial year, George Washington was posthumously appointed to the grade of General of the Armies of the United States by the congressional joint resolution Public Law 94-479 passed on January 19, 1976, with an effective appointment date of July 4, 1976. This restored Washington's position as the highest-ranking military officer in U.S. history.

Papers

The serious collection and publication of Washington's documentary record began with the pioneer work of Jared Sparks in the 1830s, Life and Writings of George Washington (12 vols., 1834–1837). The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745–1799 (1931–44) is a 37 volume set edited by John C. Fitzpatrick. It contains over 17,000 letters and documents and is available online from the University of Virginia.  The definitive letterpress edition of his writings was begun by the University of Virginia in 1968, and today comprises 52 published volumes, with more to come. It contains everything written by Washington, or signed by him, together with most of his incoming letters. Part of the collection is available online from the University of Virginia. 

Monuments and memorials

Starting with victory in their Revolution, there were many proposals to build a monument to Washington. After his death, Congress authorized a suitable memorial in the national capital, but the decision was reversed when the Democratic-Republicans took control of Congress in 1801. The Democratic-Republicans were dismayed that Washington had become the symbol of the Federalist Party.  Construction of the 554 foot memorial didn't begin until 1848.

Several naval vessels, including the USS George Washington, are named in Washington's honor. 

Washington, together with Theodore Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and Lincoln, is depicted in stone at the Mount Rushmore Memorial. The Washington Monument, one of the best known American landmarks, was built in his honor. The George Washington Masonic National Memorial in Alexandria, Virginia, was constructed between 1922 and 1932 with voluntary contributions from all 52 local governing bodies of the Freemasons in the United States.  

Many places and entities have been named in honor of Washington. Washington's name became that of the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., one of two national capitals across the globe to be named after an American president (the other is Monrovia, Liberia). The state of Washington is the only state to be named after a United States president.  Mount Washington in New Hampshire, the tallest mountain in the Northeastern United States, was named soon after the American Revolution by Colonel John Whipple and others who were the first to climb to the summit for scientific observations in 1784. 

There are many other "Washington Monuments" in the United States, including two well-known equestrian statues: one in Manhattan and one in Richmond, Virginia. The first statue to show Washington on horseback was dedicated in 1856 and is located in Manhattan's Union Square. 

Postage and currency

George Washington appears on contemporary U.S. currency, including the one-dollar bill and the quarter-dollar coin (the Washington quarter).

Washington, along with Benjamin Franklin, appeared on the nation's first postage stamps in 1847. Since that time Washington has appeared on many postage issues, more than all other presidents combined. 

Washington's victory over Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown was commemorated with a two-cent stamp on the battle's 150th anniversary on October 19, 1931.  The 150th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution with George Washington as presiding officer was celebrated with a three-cent issue on September 17, 1937, was adapted from the painting by Julius Brutus Stearns.  Washington's presidential inauguration at Federal Hall in New York City was celebrated on its 150th anniversary on April 30, 1939. 

Selected Issues :

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Cherry tree

Perhaps the best known story about Washington's childhood is that he chopped down his father's favorite cherry tree and admitted the deed when questioned: "I can't tell a lie, Pa." The anecdote was first reported by biographer Parson Weems, who after Washington's death interviewed people who knew him as a child over a half-century earlier. The Weems text was very widely reprinted throughout the 19th century, for example in McGuffey Readers. Adults wanted children to learn moral lessons from history, especially as taught by example from the lives of great national heroes like Washington. After 1890 however, historians insisted on scientific research methods to validate every statement, and there was no documentation for this anecdote apart from Weems' report that he learned it from one of the neighbors who knew the young Washington. Joseph Rodman in 1904 claimed that Weems plagiarized other Washington tales from published fiction set in England, but no one has found an alternative source for the cherry tree story.   Austin Washington, the great-nephew of George Washington, maintains that it is unlikely that Parson Weems, a man of the clergy, while writing an account about truth and honesty, would then turn around and outright lie about such a story. He further maintains that if Weems was making up a story he would have more dramatically depicted the young Washington 'chopping down' the cherry tree, not merely "barking it", (i.e.removing some if the bark). i.e.Weems never claimed the tree was chopped down. There has been much conjecture and ad hominem attacks from some historians about Weems and his story, but none have proven or disproven the story to this date. 

Personal property auction record

On June 22, 2012, George Washington's personal annotated copy of the "Acts Passed at a Congress of the United States of America" from 1789, which includes the Constitution of the United States and a draft of the Bill of Rights, was sold at Christie's for a $9,826,500 (with fees added to the final cost), to The Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. This was the record for a document sold at auction. John Adams (October 30 [O.S. October 19] 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American lawyer, author, statesman, and diplomat. He served as the second President of the United States (1797–1801), the first Vice President (1789–97),  and as a Founding Father was a leader of American independence from Great Britain.  Adams was a political theorist in the Age of Enlightenment who promoted republicanism and a strong central government. His innovative ideas were frequently published. He was also a dedicated diarist and correspondent, particularly with his wife and key advisor Abigail.

He collaborated with his cousin, revolutionary leader Samuel Adams, but he established his own prominence prior to the American Revolution. After the Boston Massacre, despite severe local anti-British sentiment, he provided a successful though unpopular legal defense of the accused British soldiers, driven by his devotion to the right to counsel and the Presumption of innocence|"protect[ion] of innocence".  As a delegate from Massachusetts to the Continental Congress, Adams played a leading role in persuading Congress to declare independence. He assisted Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and was its foremost advocate in the Congress. As a diplomat in Europe, he helped negotiate the eventual peace treaty with Great Britain, and acquired vital governmental loans from Amsterdam bankers. Adams was the primary author of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780 which influenced American political theory, as did his earlier Thoughts on Government (1776).

Adams' credentials as a revolutionary secured for him two terms as President George Washington's vice president (1789 to 1797) and also his own election in 1796 as the second president. In his single term as president, he encountered fierce criticism from the Jeffersonian Republicans, as well as the dominant faction in his own Federalist Party, led by his rival Alexander Hamilton. Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts, and built up the army and navy in the face of an undeclared naval "Quasi-War" with France. The major accomplishment of his presidency was a peaceful resolution of the conflict in the face of Hamilton's opposition. Due to his strong posture on defense, Adams is "often called the father of the American Navy".  He was the first U.S. president to reside in the executive mansion, now known as the White House. 

In 1800, Adams lost re-election to Thomas Jefferson, and retired to Massachusetts. He eventually resumed his friendship with Jefferson upon the latter's own retirement by initiating a correspondence which lasted fourteen years.  He and his wife established a family of politicians, diplomats, and historians now referred to as the Adams political family. Adams was the father of John Quincy Adams, the sixth President of the United States. He died on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Modern historians in the aggregate have ranked his administration favorably.

Early life and education

Childhood

John Adams was born on October 30, 1735 (October 19, 1735 Old Style, Julian calendar), to John Adams Sr. (1691–1761) and Susanna Boylston (1708–1797). He had two younger brothers, Peter and Elihu. Adams' birthplace was then in Braintree, Massachusetts (now Quincy, Massachusetts), and is preserved at Adams National Historical Park. Adams' mother was from a leading medical family of current Brookline, Massachusetts.  His father was a Congregationalist deacon, a farmer, a cordwainer, and a lieutenant in the militia. He further served as a selectman (town councilman) and supervised the building of schools and roads. Adams often praised his father and recalled their close relationship. His paternal great-grandfather David Adams was born and bred at "Fferm Penybanc", Llanboidy, Carmarthenshire, North Wales.  He emigrated from Wales in 1675 and sixty years later his great-grandson, John Adams, was born.   

Though raised in modest surroundings, Adams felt an acute responsibility to live up to his family's heritage of reverence. He was a direct descendent of Puritans, who came to the American wilderness in the 1630s, established a colonial presence in America, and profoundly affected the culture, laws, and traditions of their region. Journalist Richard Brookhiser wrote that Adams' Puritan ancestors "believed they lived in the Bible. England under the Stuarts was Egypt; they were Israel fleeing ... to establish a refuge for godliness, a city upon a hill."Brookhiser, Richard. (2002). America's First Dynasty. The Adamses, 1735–1918. The Free Press. p. 13. ISBN 0736685545 By the time of John Adams' birth in 1735, Puritan tenets such as predestination were no longer as widely accepted, and many of their stricter practices had moderated with time, but Adams "considered them bearers of freedom, a cause that still had a holy urgency." It was a value system he believed in and wished to live up to. Adams emphatically recalled that his parents, "held every Species of Libertinage in...Contempt and horror," and portrayed "pictures of disgrace, or baseness and of Ruin" from any debauchery.

Adams, as the eldest child, was under a mandate from his parents to obtain a formal education. This began at age six at a Dame school for boys and girls, which was conducted at a teacher's home, and centered upon The New England Primer. Shortly thereafter, Adams attended Braintree Latin School under Joseph Cleverly, where studies included Latin, rhetoric, logic and arithmetic. Adams' reflections on early education were in the negative mostly, including incidents of truancy, a dislike for his master and a desire to become a farmer. All questions on the matter ended when his father commanded that he remain in school saying, "You shall comply with my desires." Deacon Adams also retained a new school master, Joseph Marsh, and his son responded positively.

College education and adulthood

At age sixteen, Adams entered Harvard College in 1751. He took all his courses under the tutorship of Joseph Mayhew who administered his entrance exam.   He did not share his father's expectation that he become a minister. After graduating in 1755 with an A.B. degree, he taught school for a few years in Worcester, Massachusetts while pondering his permanent vocation. In the next four years he discerned a passion for prestige, saying that he craved "Honour or Reputation" and "more defference from [his] fellows"; and at age twenty-one he was determined to become "a great Man". He decided to become a lawyer to further those ends, writing his father that he found among lawyers "noble and gallant achievements" but among the clergy, the "pretended sanctity of some absolute dunces." Doctrinally, he later became a Unitarian, and dropped belief in predestination, eternal damnation, the divinity of Christ and most other Calvinist beliefs of his Puritan ancestors. Nevertheless, his remnant Puritanism frequently prompted reservations about his hunger for fame, which he once referred to as mere "trumpery", and he questioned his not properly attending to the "happiness of [his] fellow men."

The French and Indian War began in 1754 and Adams began to struggle with the issue of a young man's responsibility in the conflict; contemporaries of his social position were largely spectators, while those who were less solvent joined the battle as a means to make some money. Adams later said, "I longed more ardently to be a Soldier than I ever did to be a Lawyer." He was acutely aware that he was the first in his family that "degenerated from the virtues of the house so far as not to have been an officer in the militia."

Law practice and marriage

Adams followed the usual course of reading the law in order obtain his license to practice. In 1756 he became an apprentice in the office of John Putnam, a leading lawyer in Worcester. In 1758, he earned an A.M. from Harvard,  and was also that year admitted to the bar, having completed his studies under Putnam.  From an early age, he developed the habit of writing descriptions of events and impressions of men which are scattered through his diary, which included his report of the 1761 argument of James Otis, Jr. in the Massachusetts Superior Court as to the legality of Writs of Assistance. Otis's argument inspired Adams to the cause of the American colonies. In 1763 he had published seven essays in Boston newspapers–treatises that represented his forging into the convoluted realm of political theory. The essays were offered anonymously, with Adams using the nom de plume "Humphrey Ploughjogger"; this author reappeared in the Boston Gazette in 1765 to oppose the Stamp Act.  While Adams was initially not as popular as his cousin Samuel, his influence emerged through his work as a constitutional lawyer and his in-depth analysis of historical examples, together with his dedication to the principles of republicanism. Even so, Adams often found his inborn contentiousness to be a constraint in his political career. 

Adams married his third cousin Abigail Smith (1744–1818) on October 25, 1764. Her parents were Elizabeth Quincy and Rev. William Smith, a Congregational minister at Weymouth, Massachusetts.  They had six children; Abigail "Nabby" in 1765, future president John Quincy Adams in 1767, Susanna in 1768, Charles in 1770, Thomas in 1772, and Elizabeth (who was stillborn) in 1777.

Career before the Revolution

Opponent of Stamp Act 1765

Adams first rose to prominence leading widespread opposition to the Stamp Act of 1765, imposed by the British Parliament without consulting the American legislatures, and requiring payment of a direct tax by the colonies for various stamped documents. Adams in 1765 authored the "Braintree Instructions", a letter sent to the representatives of Braintree in the Massachusetts legislature, which served as a model for other towns' instructions. In the piece he explained that the Stamp Act should be opposed since it denied two fundamental rights guaranteed to all Englishmen, and which all free men deserved: rights to be taxed only by consent and to be tried only by a jury of one's peers. The instructions were a succinct and forthright defense of colonial rights and liberties.

In August 1765, reprising his pen name "Humphrey Ploughjogger", he contributed four articles to the Boston Gazette (republished in The London Chronicle in 1768 as True Sentiments of America, also known as A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law). He delivered a speech in December before the governor and council in which he pronounced the Stamp Act invalid on the ground that Massachusetts, being without representation in Parliament, had not given its assent to it. He later observed that many protests were sparked by an oft-reprinted sermon of the Boston minister, Jonathan Mayhew, invoking Romans 13 to justify insurrection.  In 1766, a town meeting of Braintree elected John Adams as a selectman. 

He moved the family to Boston in April of 1768, renting a clapboard house on Brattle Street, a place known locally as the "White House." He and Abigail and the children lived there for a year, then moved to Cold Lane; still later they moved again, to a larger house in Brattle Square in the center of the city.

Counsel for the British – Boston Massacre

On March 5, 1770, a street confrontation, known as the Boston Massacre, resulted in British soldiers killing five civilians.  The accused soldiers were arrested on criminal charges and expectedly had trouble finding legal representation. Adams ultimately agreed to defend them, though he feared it would hurt his reputation. In arguing their case, Adams made his legendary statement regarding jury decisions: "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." He also expounded upon Blackstone's Ratio: "It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished. But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, 'whether I do good or whether I do evil is immaterial, for innocence itself is no protection,' and if such an idea as that were to take hold in the mind of the citizen that would be the end of security whatsoever." Adams won an acquittal for six of the soldiers. Two of them who had fired directly into the crowd were charged with murder but were convicted only of manslaughter. Adams was paid a small sum by his clients.  

Biographer John Ferling opines that Adams made the most of juror selection during the Voir dire stage of the trial, saying that Adams, "...expertly exercised his right to challenge individual jurors and contrived what amounted to a packed jury. Not only were several jurors closely tied through business arrangements to the British army, but five ultimately became Loyalist exiles." Indeed, Hiller B. Zobel, a scholar who has most closely studied the trial, concluded, "we can be fairly sure that before a single witness had been sworn, the outcome of the trial was certain." Ferling also surmises that Adams was likely encouraged to take the case in exchange for political office – when one of Boston's seats in the Massachusetts legislature opened three months later, Adams was the town's first choice to fill the vacancy.

His law practice increased greatly from this exposure, as did the demands on his time. In 1771 he moved Abigail and the children to Braintree, but he kept his office in Boston, saying, "I shall spend more Time in my Office than ever I did." He also noted on the day of the family's move, "Now my family is away, I feel no Inclination at all, no Temptation, to be any where but at my Office. I am in it by 6 in the Morning – I am in it at 9 at night. . . . In the Evening, I can be alone at my Office, and no where else. I never could in my family." Nevertheless, after some time in the capital, he became disenchanted with the rural and "vulgar" Braintree as a home for his family. In August 1772, therefore, Adams moved his family back to Boston. He purchased a large brick house on Queen Street, not far from his office. In 1774, due to the increasingly unstable situation in Boston, Adams and Abigail returned the family to the farm, and Braintree remained their permanent Massachusetts home. 

Objections to British Parliament's authority

Governor Thomas Hutchinson and his judges until 1772 received their salaries from the Massachusetts legislature. The Coercive Acts and the Tea Act were then passed by Parliament, and the British Crown assumed payment of those wages, drawn from customs revenues imposed upon that colony. According to biographer Ferling, the British government thus singled out Massachusetts for reprisals of previous rebellion and hoped in the process to force the other colonies into line. Boston radicals protested and asked John Adams to proclaim their objections. In "Two Replies of the Massachusetts House of Representatives to Governor Hutchinson" Adams argued that the colonists had never been under the sovereignty of Parliament. Their original charter, as well as their allegiance, was exclusively with the king. If a workable line could not be drawn between parliamentary sovereignty and the total independence of the colonies, he continued, the colonies would have no other choice but independence from England.

Adams authored Novanglus; or, A History of the Dispute with America, From Its Origin, in 1754, to the Present Time; he repudiated the essays by Daniel Leonard which in turn defended Hutchinson's arguments for the absolute authority of Parliament over the colonies. In Novanglus ("New Englander") Adams gave a point-by-point refutation of Leonard's essays, and then provided one of the most extensive and learned arguments made by the colonists against British imperial policy. It was a systematic attempt by Adams to describe the origins, nature, and jurisdiction of (unwritten) British concepts of constitutionality. Adams used his wide knowledge of English and colonial legal history to argue that the provincial legislatures were fully sovereign over their own internal affairs, and that the colonies were connected to Great Britain only through the king. 

The Boston Tea Party – a historic demonstration against the British enactments – took place in December 1773. The British schooner Dartmouth, loaded with tea to be traded subject to the new tea tax, had previously dropped anchor. By 9:00 PM on the night of the 16th, the work of the protesters was done – they had demolished 342 chests of tea worth about ten thousand pounds – today's equivalent of about $1 million. Adams was briefly retained by the Dartmouth owners regarding the question of their liability for the destroyed shipment. Adams applauded the destruction of the tea. There had been no choice, he thought, and he called the defiant boarding of the vessels and the quick obliteration of the dutied beverage the "grandest Event" in the history of the colonial protest movement. He wrote the following day that the destruction of the dutied tea by the protesters had been an "absolutely and indispensably" necessary action. 

John Adams vehemently supported the right of all Americans to jury trials. Adams protested the 1765 passage of the Stamp Act, which gave jurisdiction to British Vice Admiralty Courts, rather than common law courts.  Many colonists, including Adams, believed these courts, which operated without a jury, were corrupt and unfair. 

Member of Continental Congress

 Massachusetts sent Adams to the first and second Continental Congresses in 1774 and from 1775 to 1777 respectively. The Massachusetts delegation resolved to assume a largely passive role in the first Congress. But Adams felt strongly that the conservatives of 1774, men like Joseph Galloway and James Duane, were no different than Hutchinson and Peter Oliver, and he denigrated such men, telling Abigail that "Spiders, Toads, Snakes, are their only proper Emblems." Yet at that point his views were similar to those of conservative John Dickinson. He sought repeal of objectionable policies, but at the early stage he continued to see positive benefits for America remaining part of the British empire.

In 1774, as a delegate to the First Constitutional Congress,  John Adams renewed his push for the right to a jury trial, stating  "Representative government and trial by jury are the heart and lungs of liberty. Without them, we have no other fortification against being ridden like horses, fleeced like sheep, worked like cattle, and fed and clothed like swines and hounds.”  

By early 1775, Adams became convinced that Congress was moving in the proper direction – away from its relationship with Great Britain. "Reconciliation if practicable," he said publicly, yet he agreed with Benjamin Franklin's confidential observation that independence was inevitable. In the fall of 1775 no one in Congress labored more ardently than Adams to hasten America's separation from Great Britain.

In June 1775, with a view of promoting union among the colonies, he nominated George Washington of Virginia as commander-in-chief of the army then assembled around Boston. His influence in Congress was great, and he then argued in favor of permanent severance from Britain. In October 1775, he was also appointed the chief judge of the Massachusetts Superior Court, but he never served, and resigned in February 1777. 

Over the next decade, Americans from every state gathered and deliberated on new governing documents, employing many of Adams' innovative positions. Prior tradition suggested that a society's form of government need not be codified in a single document. As radical as it was to write constitutions, what was equally profound was the revolutionary nature of American political thought as the summer of 1776 dawned.Wood, Gordon S. (1992). The Radicalism of the American Revolution. Vintage Books. ISBN 0679736883.

Thoughts on Government

A number of delegates sought Adams' advice about forming new governments, and found his views so convincing they urged him to commit them to paper. He did so in separate letters to these colleagues, each missive a bit longer and more thoughtful. So impressed was Richard Henry Lee that, with Adams's consent, he had the most comprehensive letter printed. Published anonymously just after mid-April 1776, it was titled simply Thoughts on Government and styled as "a Letter from a Gentleman to his Friend." Many historians agree that none of Adams' other compositions rivaled the enduring influence of this pamphlet. 

Adams advised that the form of government should be chosen to attain the desired ends–the happiness and virtue of the greatest number of people. He wrote that, "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." The treatise also defended bicameralism, for "a single assembly is liable to all the vices, follies and frailties of an individual".  He also suggested that there should be a separation of powers between the executive, the judicial and the legislative branches, and further recommended that if a continental government were to be formed then it "should sacredly be confined" to certain enumerated powers. Thoughts on Government was referenced as an authority in every state-constitution writing hall. 

Declaration of Independence

Adams in the 1776 session of Congress drafted the preamble to the Lee resolution of colleague Richard Henry Lee (Virginia), which called on the colonies to adopt new independent governments.  On June 7, 1776 he seconded the resolution, which stated, "These colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states."  Adams also championed the measure until it was adopted by Congress on July 2. Once the resolution passed, independence became inevitable, though it still had to be declared formally. The commitment was, as Adams put it, "independence itself".

A Committee of Five was charged with drafting the Declaration, and included Adams, along with Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Robert R. Livingston and Roger Sherman.  The Committee, after discussing the general outline that the document should follow, decided that Jefferson would write the first draft.  Jefferson particularly thought Adams should write the document; but Adams persuaded the Committee to choose Jefferson while agreeing to consult with Jefferson personally. Adams recorded his exchange with Jefferson on the question: Jefferson asked, "Why will you not? You ought to do it." To which Adams responded, "I will not – reasons enough." Jefferson replied, "What can be your reasons?" And Adams responded, "Reason first, you are a Virginian, and a Virginian ought to appear at the head of this business. Reason second, I am obnoxious, suspected, and unpopular. You are very much otherwise. Reason third, you can write ten times better than I can." "Well," said Jefferson, "if you are decided, I will do as well as I can." Adams concluded, "Very well. When you have drawn it up, we will have a meeting." The Committee left no minutes, and the drafting process itself is uncertain – accounts written many years later by Jefferson and Adams, although frequently cited, are otherwise contradictory.  Although the first draft was written primarily by Jefferson, Adams assumed a primary role in its completion. After editing the document further, Congress approved it on July 4. Many years later Jefferson hailed Adams as "the pillar of [the Declaration's] support on the floor of Congress, [its] ablest advocate and defender against the multifarious assaults it encountered." 

Government during revolution

After defeating the Continental Army at the Battle of Long Island on August 27, 1776, British Admiral Richard Howe mistakenly assumed a strategic advantage to be at hand, and requested the Second Continental Congress send representatives in an attempt to negotiate peace. A delegation, including Adams and Benjamin Franklin, met with Howe at the Staten Island Peace Conference on September 11.  Howe's authority was premised on the Colonists' submission, so no common ground was to be found.  When Lord Howe unhappily stated he could view the American delegates only as British subjects, Adams replied, "Your lordship may consider me in what light you please, ...except that of a British subject."  Adams learned many years later that his name was on a list of people specifically excluded from Howe's pardon-granting authority.  Being quite unimpressed with General Howe, and also after payments to colonial volunteers were increased, Adams in September of 1776 said about the war, "We shall do well enough." Indeed, if Washington got his men, the British would be "ruined". 

In 1777, Adams began serving as the head of the Board of War and Ordnance; in fact, he sat on no less than ninety committees, chairing twenty-five. No other congressman approached the assumption of such a work load. As Benjamin Rush reported, he was acknowledged "to be the first man in the House." He was also referred to as a "one man war department",  working eighteen-hour days and mastering the details of raising, equipping and fielding an army under civilian control. He also authored the "Plan of Treaties," laying out the Congress's requirements for the crucial treaty with France. 

Diplomat in Europe

Commissioner to France and Minister Plenipotentiary

In the spring of 1776 Adams advocated in Congress that independence was necessary in order to establish trade, and conversely trade was essential for the attainment of independence; he specifically urged negotiation of a commercial treaty with France. He was then appointed, along with Franklin, Dickinson, Benjamin Harrison V of Virginia and Robert Morris of Pennsylvania, "to prepare a plan of treaties to be proposed to foreign powers". Indeed, while Jefferson was laboring over the Declaration of Independence, Adams worked on the Model Treaty. 

Adams joined Franklin and Arthur Lee in 1778 as a commissioner to France, replacing Silas Deane. He sailed for France with his 10-year-old son John Quincy aboard the frigate Boston early that year. The stormy trip was treacherous, with lightning injuring 19 sailors and killing one. Adams' ship was later pursued by several British frigates in the mid-Atlantic, but evaded them. Near the coast of Spain, Adams himself took up arms to help capture a heavily armed British merchantman ship, the Martha. Later, a cannon malfunction killed one and injured five more of the crew before the ship arrived in France. 

Adams did not speak French, the international language of diplomacy at the time.  He therefore assumed a less visible role, but emerged as the commission's chief administrator, imposing order and methods lacking in his delegation's finances and record-keeping affairs. His first stay in Europe, between April 1, 1778, and June 17, 1779, was otherwise unremarkable, and he returned to his home in Braintree in early August 1779. Back home, Adams became one of the founders and charter members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1780. 

In the fall of 1779 Adams was unanimously appointed a Minister Plenipotentiary, charged with negotiating a "treaty of peace, amity and commerce" with peace commissioners from Britain. Following the conclusion of the Massachusetts constitutional convention, he departed for Europe in November  aboard the French frigate Sensible – accompanied by John Quincy and 9-year-old son Charles. In France, constant disagreement between Lee and Franklin eventually resulted in Adams assuming the role of tie-breaker in almost all votes on commission business; Adams also increased his usefulness by mastering the French language. In time Lee was recalled and Adams later developed his own enmity towards the older Franklin, whom the younger, more aggressive Adams felt was overly deferential to the French.

The French foreign minister, Charles Gravier disapproved of Adams, so Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, John Jay, and Henry Laurens were appointed to collaborate with Adams; nevertheless, Jefferson did not go to Europe and Laurens was posted to the Dutch Republic. Jay, Adams, and Franklin played the major part in the final negotiations. Overruling Franklin and distrustful of Vergennes, Jay and Adams decided not to consult with France; instead, they dealt directly with the British commissioners. 

Throughout the negotiations, Adams successfully demanded that the right of the United States to the fisheries along the Atlantic coast be recognized. The American negotiators were able to secure a favorable treaty securing most lands east of the Mississippi, and the document was signed on September 3, 1783.

Ambassador to Holland

In July 1780 Adams replaced Laurens as the ambassador to the Dutch Republic, then one of the few other Republics in the world. With the aid of the Dutch Patriot leader Joan van der Capellen tot den Pol, Adams secured the recognition of the United States as an independent government at The Hague on April 19, 1782. In February 1782 the Frisian states was the first Dutch province to recognize the United States, while France had been the first European country to grant diplomatic recognition in 1778. He also negotiated a loan of five million guilders financed by Nicolaas van Staphorst and Wilhelm Willink. By 1794 a total of eleven loans were granted in Amsterdam to the United States with a value of 29 million guilders. In October 1782, he negotiated with the Dutch a treaty of amity and commerce, the first such treaty between the United States and a foreign power following the 1778 treaty with France.  The house that Adams bought during this stay in The Netherlands became the first American-owned embassy on foreign soil. 

In 1784 and 1785, he was one of the architects of extensive trade relations between the United States and Prussia. The Prussian ambassador in The Hague, Friedrich Wilhelm von Thulemeyer, was involved, as were Jefferson and Franklin, who were in Paris. 

Ambassador to Great Britain

Adams was appointed in 1785 the first American minister to the Court of St. James's (ambassador to Great Britain). When asked by a counterpart if he had any British relatives, Adams replied, "Neither my father or mother, grandfather or grandmother, great grandfather or great grandmother, nor any other relation that I know of, or care a farthing for, has been in England these one hundred and fifty years; so that you see I have not one drop of blood in my veins but what is American". 

During her visit to Washington to mark the bicentennial of American independence in 1976, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom gave historical perspective to Adam's service: "John Adams, America's first ambassador, said to my ancestor, King George III, that it was his desire to help with the restoration of 'the old good nature and the old good humor between our peoples.' That restoration has long been made, and the links of language, tradition, and personal contact have maintained it". 

Adams was joined by his wife while in London; they suffered the stares and hostility of the Court, and chose to escape it when they could by seeking out Richard Price, minister of Newington Green Unitarian Church and instigator of the Revolution Controversy.

Conceptions of constitutional government

Adams' preoccupation with political and governmental affairs–which caused considerable separation from his wife and children–ironically had a distinct familial context, which he articulated in 1780: "I must study Politicks and War that my sons may have the liberty to study Mathematicks and Philosophy. My sons ought to study Geography, natural History, Naval Architecture, navigation, Commerce and Agriculture, in order to give their children a right to study Painting, Poetry, Musick, Architecutre, Statuary, Tapestry, and Porcelaine." 

The Massachusetts Constitution of that year, to which Adams was a primary contributor, structured its government closely on his views of politics and society; in 1779, he drafted the document together with Samuel Adams and James Bowdoin. It was the first constitution written by a special committee, then ratified by the people; and was also the first to feature a bicameral legislature. Included were a distinct executive–though restrained by an executive council–with a partial (two-thirds) veto, and a separate judicial branch.

While in London, Adams published a work entitled A Defence of the Constitutions of Government of the United States (1787).  In it he repudiated the views of Turgot and other European writers as to the viciousness of state government frameworks. In the book, Adams suggested that "the rich, the well-born and the able" should be set apart from other men in a senate—that would prevent them from dominating the lower house. Adams' Defence is described as an articulation of the classical republican theory of mixed government. Adams contended that social classes exist in every political society, and that a good government must accept that reality. For centuries, dating back to Aristotle, a mixed regime balancing monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy—that is, the king, the nobles, and the people—was required to preserve order and liberty. 

Wood (2006) has maintained that Adams' political philosophy had become irrelevant by the time the Federal Constitution was ratified. By then, American political thought, transformed by more than a decade of vigorous debate as well as formative experiential pressures, had abandoned the classical perception of politics as a mirror of social estates. Americans' new understanding of popular sovereignty was that the citizenry were the sole possessors of power in the nation. Representatives in the government enjoyed mere portions of the people's power and only for a limited time. Adams was thought to have overlooked this evolution and revealed his continued attachment to the older version of politics.  Yet Wood ignored Adams' peculiar definition of the term "republic," and his support for a constitution ratified by the people.  He also underestimated Adams' belief in checks and balances, such as Adams' statement that, "Power must be opposed to power, and interest to interest." This sentiment was later echoed by James Madison's famous statement that, "[a]mbition must be made to counteract ambition", in The Federalist No. 51, explaining the separation of powers established under the new Constitution.   Adams was unsurpassed in his dedication to establishing checks and balances as a governing strategem.

On the government's role in education Adams offered unambiguously that, "The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves. 

Vice Presidency

When Washington won the presidential election of 1789 with 69 votes in the electoral college, Adams came in second with 34 votes and became Vice President; in that capacity, he became under the Constitution the President of the United States Senate. Due to a delay in the decision of the electoral college, Adams first presided over the Senate on April 21. Washington was officially sworn in and gave his inaugural address on April 30. Beyond Adams' nominal position in the Senate (he was allotted a vote as tie breaker when required), he otherwise played a minor role in the politics of the early 1790s. He was reelected Vice President in 1792. Washington seldom asked Adams for advice on policy and legal issues during his tenure as vice president. 

At the start of Washington's administration, Adams became deeply involved in a month-long Senate controversy over the official title of the President. Adams favored grandiose titles derived from British Crown tradition, such as "His Majesty the President" or "His High Mightiness, the President of the United States and Protector of Their Liberties." Jefferson described Adams' proposed titles as "superlatively ridiculous." The plain "President of the United States" eventually won the debate. The perceived pomposity of his stance, along with his being overweight, led to Adams earning the nickname "His Rotundity." 

As president of the Senate, Adams cast a historic 31 tie-breaking votes. He thus protected the president's sole authority over the removal of appointees and influenced the location of the nation's capital. But his views did not always align with Washington, who joined Franklin as the object of Adams' ire, as shown in this quote: "The History of our Revolution will be one continued lie. . . . The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin's electrical Rod smote the Earth and out sprung General Washington. That Franklin electrized him with his Rod—and henceforth these two conducted all the Policy, Negotiations, Legislatures and War." On at least one occasion, he persuaded senators to vote against legislation that he opposed, and he frequently lectured the Senate on procedural and policy matters. Adams' political views and his attempt to assume a more active role in the Senate made him a natural target for critics of the Washington administration. Toward the end of his first term, as a result of a threatened resolution that would have silenced him except for procedural and policy matters, he began to exercise more restraint. When the nation's first two opposing political parties formed, he joined the Federalist Party, though he was consistently in opposition to its dominant leader Alexander Hamilton.

Adams' two terms as Vice President were frustrating experiences for him. He complained to his wife Abigail, "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived." 

Presidential Election of 1796

The 1796 election was the premier contest under the First Party System. Adams was the presumptive presidential nominee of the Federalist Party; the other Federalist candidate was Thomas Pinckney, the Governor of South Carolina, considered electable as the vice-president. At that time there was no formal practice of naming a vice-presidential nominee–the result was left to the electoral college in determining the vice-president as the second-place winner of electoral votes. 

Adams' and Pinckney's opponents, of the Democratic-Republican Party, were former Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, who was joined by Senator Aaron Burr of New York as the party's second nominee. Many Federalists would have preferred Hamilton to be a candidate. Although Hamilton supported Adams, his more austere background made him somewhat resentful; some suspected Hamilton of supporting Pinckney over Adams, though this was later demonstrated to be false–Hamilton was more determined to defeat Jefferson. Hamilton and his supporters did however believe that Adams lacked the seriousness and popularity that had caused Washington to be successful, and feared that Adams was too vain, opinionated, unpredictable and stubborn to follow their directions.  Adams vowed he would resign if elected to the second place spot of vice-president under Jefferson.

Burr was the only active campaigner in the group. In keeping with the current practice, Adams stayed in his home town (as did the others) rather than actively campaign for the Presidency. He specifically wanted to stay out of what he called the "silly and wicked game". His party, however, campaigned for him, while the Democratic-Republicans campaigned for Jefferson. It was expected that Adams would dominate the votes in New England, while Jefferson was expected to win the Southern states. In the end, Adams won the election by a narrow margin of 71 electoral votes to 68 for Jefferson (who became the vice president), including one crucial vote from Jefferson's own Virginia and also one from North Carolina.

Presidency: 1797–1801

Adams followed Washington's lead in using the presidency to exemplify republican values and civic virtue; and his service was free of scandal. He continued to strengthen the central government by expanding the navy and army. In July 1798 Adams signed into law the Act for the Relief of Sick and Disabled Seamen, which authorized the establishment of a government-operated marine hospital service. 

Historians debate his decision to retain en masse the members of Washington's cabinet. Many felt he was oblivious to the political danger of such a decision, in light of the cabinet's loyalty to Hamilton. The "Hamiltonians who surround him," Jefferson soon remarked, "are only a little less hostile to him than to me." Although aware of the Hamilton factor, Adams was convinced their retention ensured a smoother succession.  Adams' economic programs maintained those of Hamilton, who indeed had regularly consulted with key cabinet members, especially the powerful Secretary of the Treasury, Oliver Wolcott, Jr.  Adams was in other respects quite independent of his cabinet, often making decisions despite strong opposition from it. Such self-reliance enabled him to avoid war with France, despite a strong desire among his cabinet secretaries for the conflict. The Quasi-War with France resulted in the detachment from European affairs that Washington had sought. It also had psychological benefits, allowing America to view itself as holding its own against a European power.

Historian George Herring argues that Adams was the most independent-minded of the founders.  Though he aligned with the Federalists, he was somewhat a party unto himself, disagreeing with the Federalists as much as he did the Democratic-Republicans.  He was often described as "prickly", but his tenacity was fed by good decisions made in the face of universal opposition. Adams was often combative, which diminished presidential decorum, as Adams himself admitted in his old age: "[As president] I refused to suffer in silence. I sighed, sobbed, and groaned, and sometimes screeched and screamed. And I must confess to my shame and sorrow that I sometimes swore."  Adams' resolve to advance peace with France, rather than to continue hostilities, especially reduced his popularity.  This played an important role in his reelection defeat, however he was so pleased with the outcome that he had it engraved on his tombstone. Adams spent much of his term at home in Massachusetts, ignoring the details of political patronage nursed by other office holders. 

Quasi-War and peace with France

The president's term was marked by disputes concerning the country's role, if any, in the expanding conflict in Europe, where Britain and France were at war. Hamilton and the Federalists supported Britain, while Jefferson and the Democratic-Republicans favored France.  The French had supported Jefferson for president and became even more belligerent at his loss.  When Adams entered office, he decided to continue Washington's policy of staying out of the European war. The intense battle over the Jay Treaty in 1795 had previously polarized politics throughout the nation. The French saw America as Britain's junior partner and began seizing American merchant ships that were trading with the British. Nevertheless, most Americans were initially pro-French due to France's assistance during the Revolutionary War, and would not have sufficiently rallied behind anyone to stop France.Kurtz, ch. 13. 

Sentiments changed with the XYZ Affair, in which the French demanded huge bribes before any discussions could begin regarding American complaints; this substantially weakened popular American support of France. The pro-French Jeffersonians lost support and quickly became the minority as many began to demand full-scale war. The affair heightened fears of sedition by the administration's opponents and legislation was introduced in response. The president knew that America would be unable to win a conflict, as France at the time was dominating the fight in most of Europe. Adams therefore pursued a strategy whereby American ships harassed French ships in an effort sufficient to stem the French assaults on American interests. This was the undeclared naval war between the U.S. and France–the Quasi-War which broke out in 1798.

There was danger of invasion from the more powerful French forces, so Adams and the Federalist congress built up the army, bringing back Washington as its commander. Washington wanted Hamilton to be his second-in-command and Adams reluctantly accommodated.  It became apparent that Hamilton was truly in charge due to Washington's advanced years. The angered president remarked at the time, "Hamilton I know to be a proud Spirited, conceited, aspiring Mortal always pretending to Morality," he wrote, but "with as debauched Morals as old Franklin who is more his Model than anyone I know." 

Adams also rebuilt the Navy, adding six fast, powerful frigates, most notably the USS Constitution. To pay for the military buildup, Congress imposed new taxes on property: the Direct Tax of 1798.  It was the first (and last) such federal tax. Taxpayers were angered, especially in southeast Pennsylvania, where the bloodless Fries's Rebellion broke out among rural German-speaking farmers who protested what they saw as a threat to their republican liberties and to their churches.  

Hamilton assumed control in the War department, and the rift between Adams' and Hamilton's supporters widened. Many sought to vest Hamilton with command authority over the army, and they also resisted giving prominent Democratic-Republicans positions in the army, which Adams wanted to do in order to gain bipartisan support. By building a large standing army, Hamilton's supporters raised popular alarms and played into the hands of the Democratic-Republicans. They also alienated Adams and his large personal following. They shortsightedly viewed the Federalist party as their own tool and ignored the need to pull together the entire nation in the face of war with France. Overall, however, patriotic sentiments and a series of naval victories, popularized the war as well as the president. 

In February 1799, Adams surprised many by sending diplomat William Vans Murray on a peace mission to France. Napoleon, realizing that the conflict was pointless, signaled his readiness for friendly relations. At the Convention of 1800 the Treaty of Alliance of 1778 was superseded and the United States was then free of foreign entanglements, as Washington had advised in his farewell address. Adams brought in John Marshall as Secretary of State and demobilized the emergency army.  Adams proudly avoided war, but deeply split his party in the process. 

Alien and Sedition Acts

Despite the discredit of the XYZ Affair, the Democratic-Republicans' opposition persisted. In the midst of war, which included the reign of terror during the French Revolution, political tensions were incendiary. Some pro-French Democratic-Republicans even fostered a movement in America, similar to the French Revolution, to overthrow the Federalists.  When Democratic-Republicans in some states refused to enforce federal laws, some Federalists voiced the intention to send in an army and force them to capitulate. As the hostility sweeping Europe bled over into America, calls for secession began to reach new heights.  Some Federalists accused the French and their associated immigrants of provoking civil unrest. In an attempt to quell the uprising, the Federalists introduced, and the Congress passed, a series of laws collectively referred to as the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were signed by Adams in 1798.

Congress specifically passed four measures – the Naturalization Act, the Alien Friends Act, the Alien Enemies Act and the Sedition Act. These statutes were designed to mitigate the threat of secessionists by disallowing their most extreme firebrands. The Naturalization Act increased to 14 years the period of residence required for an immigrant to attain American citizenship (naturalized citizens tended to vote for the Democratic-Republicans.) The Alien Friends Act and the Alien Enemies Act allowed the president to deport any foreigner (from friendly and hostile nations, respectively) which he considered dangerous to the country. The Sedition Act made it a crime to publish "false, scandalous, and malicious writing" against the government or its officials. Punishments included 2–5 years in prison and fines of up to $5,000. Although Adams had not promoted any of these acts, he signed them into law.

The acts became controversial from prosecution thereunder of a Congressman and a number of newspaper editors. Indeed, the Federalist administration initiated fourteen or more indictments under the Sedition Act, as well as suits against five of the six most prominent Democratic-Republican newspapers. The majority of the legal actions began in 1798 and 1799, and went to trial on the eve of the 1800 presidential election–timing that hardly appeared coincidental, according to biographer Ferling. Other historians have cited evidence that the Alien and Sedition Acts were rarely enforced, namely: 1) only 10 convictions under the Sedition Act have been identified; 2) Adams never signed a deportation order; and 3) the sources of expressed furor over the acts were Democratic-Republicans. However, other historians have emphasized that the Acts were employed for political targeting from the outset, causing many aliens to leave the country. The Acts as well allowed for prosecution of many who opposed the Federalists, even on the floor of Congress.  In any case, the election of 1800 in fact became a bitter and volatile contest, with each side expressing extraordinary fear of the other and its policies; after Democratic-Republicans prevailed in the elections of 1800, they used the acts against Federalists before the laws finally expired.

Election of 1800

The death of Washington in 1799 weakened the Federalists, as they lost the one man who united the party. In the presidential election of 1800, Adams and his fellow Federalist candidate, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, opposed the Republican ticket of Jefferson and Burr. Hamilton tried his hardest to sabotage Adams' campaign in the hope of boosting Pinckney's chances of winning the presidency. In the end, Adams lost narrowly to Jefferson by 65 to 73 electoral votes, with New York providing the decisive margin. 

Adams' defeat resulted from 1) the stronger organization of the Democratic-Republicans, 2) Federalist disunity, 3) the controversy of the Alien and Sedition Acts, 4) the popularity of Jefferson in the south and 5) the effective politicking of Aaron Burr in New York State, where the legislature shifted from Federalist to Democratic-Republican on the basis of a few wards in New York City controlled by Burr's machine.

In the closing months of his term Adams became the first president to occupy the new, but unfinished President's Mansion (later known as the White House) beginning November 1, 1800.   "I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it," Adams wrote on his second night in the mansion. "May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof." 

After his defeat in the hotly contested election, Adams was depressed when he left office. His son Charles had also recently died from alcoholism, and he was anxious to rejoin his wife Abigail, who had left for Massachusetts months before the inauguration. As a result, he did not attend Jefferson's inauguration, departing the White House at 4:00 a.m. that day, and making him one of only four presidents surviving in office not to attend his successor's inauguration. Adams' correspondence with Jefferson at the time is not indicative of the animosity and resentment that scholars have attributed to him.

Administration and cabinet

Judicial appointments

Supreme court

Adams named John Marshall as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States to succeed Oliver Ellsworth, who had retired due to ill health. Marshall's long tenure represents the most lasting influence of the Federalists, as he infused the Constitution with a judicious and carefully reasoned nationalistic interpretation and established the Judicial Branch as the equal of the Executive and Legislative branches.

Other judicial appointments

The lame-duck session of Congress in late 1800 enacted the Judiciary Act of 1801, which created a set of federal appeals courts between the district courts and the Supreme Court. The purpose of the statute was twofold – first, to remedy the defects in the federal judicial system inherent in the Judiciary Act of 1789, and second, to enable the defeated Federalists to staff the new judicial offices with loyal Federalists in the face of the party's defeat in 1800 – the party had lost control of both houses of congress in addition to the White House.  Adams filled the vacancies created in this statute by appointing a series of judges, whom his opponents called the "Midnight Judges" because most of them were appointed just days before his presidential term expired. Most of these judges lost their posts when the Jeffersonian Republicans enacted the Judiciary Act of 1802, abolishing the courts created by the Judiciary Act of 1801 and returning the federal courts to their original structure as specified in the 1789 statute. 

Retirement

Adams resumed farming at his home Peacefield in the town of Quincy; he also began work on an autobiography (which he never finished) and resumed correspondence with such old friends as Benjamin Waterhouse and Benjamin Rush. 

After Jefferson's retirement from public life in 1809, Adams became more vocal. He published a three-year marathon of letters in the Boston Patriot newspaper, refuting line-by-line an 1800 pamphlet by Hamilton which attacked his conduct and character. Though Hamilton had died in 1804 in a duel with Aaron Burr, Adams felt the need to vindicate his character against the New Yorker's vehement charges.

The years of retirement in the Adams' household were not without some temporary financial adversity; in 1803 the bank holding his cash reserves of about $13,000 collapsed. Son John Quincy came to the rescue by purchasing from him his properties in Weymouth and Quincy, including Peacefield, for the sum of $12,800.

Daughter Abigail ("Nabby") was married to Representative William Stephens Smith, but she returned to her parents' home after the failure of the marriage; she died of breast cancer in 1813. His wife Abigail died of typhoid on October 28, 1818. His son Thomas and wife Ann, along with seven children, lived with Adams to the end of Adams' life, as well as Louisa Smith (Abigail's niece by her brother William). Sixteen months before John Adams' death, his son, John Quincy Adams, became the sixth president of the United States in 1825, the only son to succeed his father as President until George W. Bush in 2001. 

Correspondence with Jefferson

In early 1812, Adams reconciled with Jefferson. Their mutual friend Benjamin Rush, a fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence who had been corresponding with both, encouraged them to reach out to the other. On New Year's Day Adams sent a brief, friendly note to Jefferson to accompany the delivery of "two pieces of homespun," a two-volume collection of lectures on rhetoric by John Quincy Adams. Jefferson replied immediately with a cordial letter, and the two men revived their friendship, which they sustained by mail. The correspondence that they resumed in 1812 lasted the rest of their lives, and has been hailed as among their great legacies of American literature.

Their letters represent an insight into both the period and the minds of the two revolutionary leaders and Presidents. The missives lasted fourteen years, and consisted of 158 letters–109 from Adams and 49 from Jefferson. The two men discussed "natural aristocracy." Jefferson said, "The natural aristocracy I consider as the most precious gift of nature for the instruction, the trusts, and government of society. And indeed it would have been inconsistent in creation to have formed man for the social state, and not to have provided virtue and wisdom enough to manage the concerns of society. May we not even say that the form of government is best which provides most effectually for a pure selection of these natural [aristocrats] into the offices of government?"  Adams wondered if it ever would be so clear who these people were, "Your distinction between natural and artificial aristocracy does not appear to me well founded. Birth and wealth are conferred on some men as imperiously by nature, as genius, strength, or beauty. . . . When aristocracies are established by human laws and honour, wealth, and power are made hereditary by municipal laws and political institutions, then I acknowledge artificial aristocracy to commence." It would always be true, Adams argued, that fate would bestow influence on some men for reasons other than true wisdom and virtue. That being the way of nature, he thought such "talents" were natural. A good government, therefore, had to account for that reality. 

Death

Less than a month before his death, Adams issued a statement about the destiny of the United States, which historians such as Joy Hakim have characterized as a "warning" for his fellow citizens: "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." 

On July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, Adams died at his home in Quincy, at approximately 6:20 PM.  Jefferson died earlier the same day.  Adams' crypt lies at United First Parish Church in Quincy, Massachusetts, with his wife Abigail and son John Quincy Adams.  When Adams died, his last words included an acknowledgement of his longtime friend and rival: "Thomas Jefferson survives", though Adams was unaware that Jefferson had died several hours before.  

Political philosophy and views

Slavery

Adams never bought a slave and declined on principle to utilize slave labor, saying, "I have, through my whole life, held the practice of slavery in such abhorrence, that I have never owned a negro or any other slave, though I have lived for many years in times, when the practice was not disgraceful, when the best men in my vicinity thought it not inconsistent with their character, and when it has cost me thousands of dollars for the labor and subsistence of free men, which I might have saved by the purchase of negroes at times when they were very cheap." Adams generally tried to keep the issue out of national politics, because of the anticipated southern response during a time when unity was needed to achieve independence. He spoke out in 1777 against a bill to emancipate slaves in Massachusetts, saying that the issue was presently too divisive, and so the legislation should "sleep for a time." He also was against use of black soldiers in the Revolution, due to opposition from southerners. Slavery was abolished in Massachusetts about 1780, when it was forbidden by implication in the Declaration of Rights that John Adams wrote into the Massachusetts Constitution.  Abigail Adams, on the other hand, vocally opposed slavery.

Accusations of monarchism

Throughout his lifetime Adams expressed controversial and shifting views regarding the virtues of monarchical and hereditary political institutions.  At times he conveyed substantial support for these approaches,  suggesting for example that "hereditary monarchy or aristocracy" are the "only institutions that can possibly preserve the laws and liberties of the people." Yet at other times he distanced himself from such ideas, calling himself "a mortal and irreconcilable enemy to Monarchy" and "no friend to hereditary limited monarchy in America."  Such denials did not assuage his critics, and Adams was often accused of being a Monarchist. 

Many of these attacks are considered to have been scurrilous, including suggestions that he was planning to "crown himself king" and "grooming John Quincy as heir to the throne". However, Peter Shaw has argued that: "[T]he inevitable attacks on Adams, crude as they were, stumbled on a truth that he did not admit to himself. He was leaning toward monarchy and aristocracy (as distinct from kings and aristocrats) at the time he wrote 'Davila', though he did not directly reveal this in its essays. Decidedly, sometime after he became vice-president, Adams concluded that the United States would have to adopt a hereditary legislature and a monarch... and he outlined a plan by which state conventions would appoint hereditary senators while a national one appointed a president for life."  In contradiction to such notions, Adams asserted in a letter to Thomas Jefferson: "If you suppose that I have ever had a design or desire of attempting to introduce a government of King, Lords and Commons, or in other words an hereditary Executive, or an hereditary Senate, either into the government of the United States, or that of any individual state, in this country, you are wholly mistaken. There is not such a thought expressed or intimated in any public writing or private letter of mine, and I may safely challenge all of mankind to produce such a passage and quote the chapter and verse." 

Religious views

Adams was raised a Congregationalist, since his ancestors were Puritans. According to biographer McCullough, "as his family and friends knew, Adams was both a devout Christian, and an independent thinker".  In a letter to Benjamin Rush, Adams credited religion with the success of his ancestors since their migration to the New World in the 1630s.  Adams was educated at Harvard when the influence of deism was growing there, and sometimes used deistic terms in his speeches and writing.  He also believed that regular church service was beneficial to man's moral sense. Everett (1966) concludes that "Adams strove for a religion based on a common sense sort of reasonableness" and maintained that religion must change and evolve toward perfection.  Fielding (1940) argues that Adams' beliefs synthesized Puritan, deist, and humanist concepts. Adams at one point said that Christianity had originally been revelatory, but was being misinterpreted and misused in the service of superstition, fraud, and unscrupulous power.  Goff (1993) acknowledges Fielding's "persuasive argument that Adams never was a deist because he allowed the suspension of the laws of nature and believed that evil was internal, not the result of external institutions." 

Frazer (2004) notes that while Adams shared many perspectives with deists, "Adams clearly was not a deist. Deism rejected any and all supernatural activity and intervention by God; consequently, deists did not believe in miracles or God's providence....Adams, however, did believe in miracles, providence, and, to a certain extent, the Bible as revelation."  Frazer further argues that Adams' "theistic rationalism, like that of the other Founders, was a sort of middle ground between Protestantism and deism."  By contrast, David L. Holmes has argued that Adams, beginning as a Congregationalist, ended his days as a Christian Unitarian, accepting central tenets of the Unitarian creed, but also accepting Jesus as the redeemer of humanity and the biblical account of his miracles as true.  Like many of his Protestant contemporaries, Adams criticized the claims to universal authority made by the Roman Catholic Church. In 1796, Adams denounced political opponent Thomas Paine's deistic criticisms of Christianity in The Age of Reason, saying, "The Christian religion is, above all the religions that ever prevailed or existed in ancient or modern times, the religion of wisdom, virtue, equity and humanity, let the Blackguard Paine say what he will." 

Biographies

Adams' grandson Charles Francis Adams, Sr. edited the first two volumes of The Works of John Adams, Esq., Second President of the United States. This was published between 1850 and 1856 by Charles C. Little and James Brown in Boston. The first seven chapters were produced by Adams' son John Quincy Adams. 

The premier modern biography was Honest John Adams, a 1933 biography by the noted French specialist in American history Gilbert Chinard, who came to Adams after writing his acclaimed 1929 biography of Thomas Jefferson. For a generation, Chinard's work was regarded as the best life of Adams, and it is still an important text in illustrating the themes of Adams' biographical and historical scholarship. Following the opening of the Adams family papers in the 1950s, Page Smith published the first major biography to use these previously inaccessible primary sources; his biography won a 1962 Bancroft Prize but was criticized for its scanting of Adams' intellectual life and its diffuseness. In 1975, Peter Shaw published The Character of John Adams, a thematic biography noted for its psychological insight into Adams' life. The 1992 character study by Joseph J. Ellis, Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams, was Ellis's first major publishing success and remains one of the most useful and insightful studies of Adams' personality. In 1992, the Revolutionary War historian and biographer John E. Ferling published his acclaimed John Adams: A Life, also noted for its psychological sensitivity.

In 2001, historian David McCullough published a biography entitled John Adams, that won various awards. McCullough's biography was the basis for a 2008 TV miniseries. Thomas Jefferson (April 13 [O.S. April 2] 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776). He was elected the second Vice President of the United States (1797–1801), serving under John Adams and in 1800 was elected the third President (1801–09). Jefferson was a proponent of democracy, republicanism, and individual rights, which motivated American colonists to break from Great Britain and form a new nation. He produced formative documents and decisions at both the state and national level.

Primarily of English ancestry, Jefferson was born and educated in Virginia. He graduated from the College of William & Mary and briefly practiced law, at times defending slaves seeking their freedom. During the American Revolution, he represented Virginia in the Continental Congress that adopted the Declaration, drafted the law for religious freedom as a Virginia legislator, and served as a wartime governor (1779–1781). He became the United States Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the nation's first Secretary of State in 1790–1793 under President George Washington. Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the First Party System. With Madison, he anonymously wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in 1798–1799, which sought to embolden states' rights in opposition to the national government by nullifying the Alien and Sedition Acts.

As President Jefferson pursued the nation's shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies respectively. He also organized the Louisiana Purchase almost doubling the country's territory. As a result of peace negotiations with France, his administration reduced military forces. He was reelected in 1804. Jefferson's second term was beset with difficulties at home, including the trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr. American foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act of 1807, responding to British threats to U.S. shipping. In 1803, Jefferson began a controversial process of Indian tribe removal to the newly organized Louisiana Territory, and, in 1807, signed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves.

Jefferson mastered many disciplines which ranged from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and mechanics. He was a proven architect in the classical tradition. Jefferson's keen interest in religion and philosophy earned him the presidency of the American Philosophical Society. He shunned organized religion, but was influenced by both Christianity and deism. He was well versed in linguistics and spoke several languages.  He founded the University of Virginia after retiring from public office. He was a prolific letter writer and corresponded with many prominent and important people throughout his adult life. His only full-length book, Notes on the State of Virginia (1785), is considered the most important American book published before 1800.

Jefferson owned several plantations which were worked by hundreds of slaves. Most historians now believe that after the death of his wife in 1782, he had a relationship with his slave Sally Hemings and fathered at least one of her children. Historical opinion of Jefferson has generally been exalted over the years. Although in recent times he has been criticized by some historians over owning slaves, presidential scholars overall continue to rank Jefferson among the greatest presidents.

Early life and career 

Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13, 1743 (April 2, 1743 OS), at the family home in Shadwell in the Colony of Virginia, the third of ten children.  He was of English and possibly Welsh descent and was born a British subject.Malone, 1948, pp. 5–6 His father, Peter Jefferson, was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen; his mother was Jane Randolph. Peter Jefferson moved his family to Tuckahoe Plantation in 1745 upon the death of a friend who had named him guardian of his children. The Jeffersons returned to Shadwell in 1752, where Peter died in 1757; his estate was divided between his two sons, young Thomas and Randolph.  Thomas inherited approximately 5000 acre of land, including Monticello. He assumed full authority over his property at age 21.Malone, 1948, pp. 437–40

Education 

Jefferson began his childhood education beside the Randolph children with tutors at Tuckahoe.  In 1752, he began attending a local school run by a Scottish Presbyterian minister. At age nine, he started studying Latin, Greek, and French; he learned to ride horses and began nature studies. He was taught from 1758 to 1760 by Reverend James Maury near Gordonsville, Virginia, where he studied history, science, and the classics while boarding with Maury's family. 

Jefferson entered the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, at age 16, and studied mathematics, metaphysics, and philosophy under Professor William Small. Small introduced him to the British Empiricists including John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton. Jefferson improved his French, Greek, and his skill at the violin. He graduated, two years after starting, in 1762. He read the law under Professor George Wythe's tutelage to obtain his law license, while working as a law clerk in Wythe's office.  He also read a wide variety of English classics and political works. 

Jefferson treasured his books. In 1770 his Shadwell home, including a library of 200 volumes inherited from his father, was destroyed by fire.  Nevertheless, by 1773 he had replenished his library with 1,250 titles, and in 1814, his collection grew to almost 6,500 volumes.  After the British burned the Library of Congress that year, he sold more than 6,000 books to the Library for $23,950. Though he had intended to pay off some of his large debt, he resumed collecting for his personal library, writing to John Adams, "I cannot live without books".Library of Congress

Lawyer and House of Burgesses 

Jefferson was admitted to the Virginia bar in 1767 and then lived with his mother at Shadwell.  In addition to practicing law, Jefferson represented Albemarle County as a delegate in the Virginia House of Burgesses from 1769 until 1775.  He pursued reforms to slavery. He introduced legislation allowing masters to take control over the emancipation of slaves in 1769, taking discretion away from the royal Governor and General Court. Jefferson persuaded his cousin Richard Bland to spearhead the legislation's passage, but reaction was strongly negative. 

Jefferson took seven cases for freedom-seeking slaves,  and waived his fee for one client who claimed he should be freed before the statutory age of thirty-one required for emancipation in cases with inter-racial grandparents.Gordon-Reed, 2008, pp. 99–100 He invoked Natural Law to argue, "everyone comes into the world with a right to his own person and using it at his own will ... This is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the author of nature, because it is necessary for his own sustenance." The judge cut him off and ruled against his client. As a consolation, Jefferson gave his client some money, conceivably used to aid his escape shortly thereafter. He later incorporated this sentiment into the Declaration of Independence.  He also took on 68 cases for the General Court of Virginia in 1767 in addition to three notable cases Howell v. Netherland (1770), Bolling v. Bolling (1771), and Blair v. Blair (1772).Konig, David T., Encyclopedia Virginia

Following the British Parliament's passing the Intolerable Acts in 1774, Jefferson wrote a resolution calling for a 'Day of Fasting and Prayer' in protest, as well as a boycott of all British goods. His resolution was later expanded into A Summary View of the Rights of British America, in which he argued people have the right to govern themselves. 

Monticello, marriage and family 

In 1768 Jefferson began constructing his primary residence, Monticello (Italian for "Little Mountain"), on a hilltop overlooking his 5,000-acre plantation. Construction was done mostly by local masons and carpenters, assisted by Jefferson's slaves. 

He moved into the South Pavilion in 1770. Turning Monticello into a neoclassical masterpiece in the Palladian style was his perennial project. 
On January 1, 1772, Jefferson married his third cousin Martha Wayles Skelton, the 23-year-old widow of Bathurst Skelton and she moved into the South Pavilion.   She was a frequent hostess for Jefferson and managed the large household. Biographer Dumas Malone described the marriage as the happiest period of Jefferson's life.  Martha read widely, did fine needlework and was a skilled pianist—Jefferson often accompanied her on the violin or cello.  During their ten years of marriage, Martha bore six children: Martha "Patsy" (1772–1836); Jane (1774–1775); a son who lived for only a few weeks in 1777; Mary Wayles "Polly" (1778–1804); Lucy Elizabeth (1780–1781); and another Lucy Elizabeth (1782–1785). Only Martha and Mary survived more than a few years.   After her father John Wayles died in 1773, the couple inherited 135 slaves, 11000 acre, and the estate's debts. The debts took Jefferson years to satisfy, contributing to his financial problems.

Martha later suffered from ill health, including diabetes, and frequent childbirth further weakened her. Martha's mother had died young, and as a girl, Martha lived with two stepmothers. A few months after the birth of her last child, she died on September 6, 1782, at the age of 33 with Jefferson at her bedside. Shortly before her death, Martha made Jefferson promise never to marry again, telling him she could not bear to have another mother raise her children.  Jefferson was grief-stricken by her death, relentlessly pacing back and forth, nearly to the point of exhaustion. After three weeks, he emerged, taking long rambling rides on secluded roads with his daughter Martha, by her description, "a solitary witness to many a violent burst of grief". 

After working as Secretary of State (1790–93), he returned to Monticello and initiated a remodeling based on the architectural concepts he had acquired in Europe. The work continued throughout most of his presidency, being finished in 1809.  

Political career 1775–1800 

Declaration of Independence 

Jefferson was the primary author of the Declaration of Independence. At age 33 he was one of the youngest delegates to the Second Continental Congress beginning in 1775 at the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War where a formal declaration of independence from Britain was overwhelmingly favored.  Jefferson chose his words for the Declaration in June 1775 shortly after the war had begun where the idea of Independence from Britain had long since become popular among the colonies. He was also inspired by the Enlightenment ideals of the sanctity of the individual as well as the writings of Locke and Montesquieu. 

He sought out John Adams who, along with the latter's cousin Samuel, had emerged as a leader of the Congress.  Jefferson and Adams established a permanent friendship which led to Jefferson's work on the Declaration of Independence. Adams supported Jefferson's appointment to the Committee of Five formed to write the Declaration in furtherance of the Lee Resolution passed by the Congress.   After discussing the general outline of the document, the committee decided that Jefferson would write the first draft. The committee, including Jefferson particularly, initially thought Adams should write the document, but Adams persuaded the committee to choose Jefferson.

Consulting with other committee members over the next seventeen days, Jefferson drew on his own proposed draft of the Virginia Constitution, George Mason's draft of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, and other sources.  The other committee members made some changes. A final draft was presented to the Congress on June 28, 1776. 

The declaration was introduced on Friday, June 28, and congress began debate over its contents on Monday, July 1. resulting in the omission of a fourth of the text, including a passage critical of King George III and the slave trade.  While Jefferson resented the changes, he did not speak publicly about the revisions. On July 4, 1776, the Congress ratified the Declaration, and delegates signed it on August 2 and in doing so were committing an act of treason against the Crown.  Jefferson's preamble is regarded as an enduring statement of human rights, and the phrase "all men are created equal" has been called "one of the best-known sentences in the English language" containing "the most potent and consequential words in American history". 

Virginia state legislator and governor 

At the start of the Revolution Jefferson was a Colonel and named commander of the Albemarle County Militia on September 26, 1775.  He was then elected to the Virginia House of Delegates for Albemarle County in September 1776, when finalizing a state constitution was a priority. Ferling, 2004, p. 26
For nearly three years, he assisted with the constitution and was especially proud of his Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom, which forbade state support of religious institutions or enforcement of religious doctrine.  The bill failed to pass, as did his legislation to disestablish the Anglican church, but both were later revived by James Madison. 

In 1778, Jefferson was given the task of studying and revising the state's laws. He drafted 126 bills in three years, including laws to establish fee simple tenure in land and to streamline the judicial system. Jefferson's proposed statutes abolished primogeniture and provided for general education, which he considered the basis of "republican government".

Jefferson was elected governor for one-year terms in 1779 and 1780.  He transferred the state capital from Williamsburg to Richmond, and introduced measures for public education, religious freedom, and revision of inheritance laws. 

During General Benedict Arnold's 1781 invasion of Virginia, Jefferson escaped Richmond just ahead of the British forces, and the city was burned to the ground.   General Charles Cornwallis that spring dispatched a cavalry force led by Banastre Tarleton to capture Jefferson and members of the Assembly at Monticello, but Jack Jouett of the Virginia militia thwarted the British plan. Jefferson escaped to Poplar Forest, his plantation to the west.  When the General Assembly reconvened in June 1781, it conducted an inquiry into Jefferson's actions which eventually concluded Jefferson had acted with honor, but he was not re-elected. 

In April of the same year, his daughter Lucy died at age one. A second daughter of that name was born the following year but died at age three. 

Notes on the State of Virginia 

Jefferson received a letter of inquiry in 1780 about the geography, history, and government of Virginia from French diplomat François Barbé-Marbois, who was gathering data on the United States. Jefferson included his written responses in a book, Notes on the State of Virginia (1785).  He compiled the book over five years, including reviews of scientific knowledge, Virginia's history, politics, laws, culture, and geography.  The book explores what constitutes a good society, using Virginia as an exemplar. Jefferson included extensive data about the state's natural resources and economy, and wrote at length about slavery, miscegenation, and his belief that blacks and whites could not live together as free people in one society because of justified resentments of the enslaved.  He also wrote of his views on the American Indian and considered them as equals in body and mind to European settlers.   

Notes was first published in 1785 in French and appeared in English in 1787.  Biographer George Tucker considered the work "surprising in the extent of the information which a single individual had been thus able to acquire, as to the physical features of the state",  and Merrill D. Peterson described it as an accomplishment for which all Americans should be grateful. 

Member of Congress 

Following victory in the Revolutionary War and a peace treaty with Great Britain in 1783, the United States formed a Congress of the Confederation, to which Jefferson was appointed as a Virginia delegate. As a member of the committee setting foreign exchange rates, he recommended an American currency based on the decimal system, and his plan was adopted.  He advised formation of the Committee of the States, to fill the power vacuum when Congress was in recess.  The Committee met when Congress adjourned, but disagreements rendered the Committee dysfunctional. 

In the Congress's 1783–84 session, Jefferson acted as chairman of committees to establish a viable system of government for the new Republic and propose a policy for the settlement of the western territories. Jefferson was the principal author of the Land Ordinance of 1784, whereby Virginia ceded to the national government the vast area it claimed northwest of the Ohio River. He insisted this territory not be used as colonial territory by any of the thirteen states, but that it be divided into sections which could become states. He plotted borders for nine new states in their initial stages and wrote an ordinance banning slavery in all the nation's territories. Congress made extensive revisions, including rejection of the ban of slavery.Peterson, 1960, pp. 189–90  The provisions banning slavery, known later as the 'Jefferson Proviso', were modified and implemented three years later in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 and became the law for the entire Northwest.

Minister to France 

Jefferson was sent by the Congress of the Confederation to join Benjamin Franklin and John Adams as ministers in Europe for negotiation of trade agreements with England, Spain, and France. Some believed the recently widowed Jefferson was depressed and that the assignment would distract him from his wife's death.  With his young daughter Patsy and two servants, he departed in July 1784, arriving in Paris the next month.Stewart, 1997, p. 39  When Count de Vergennes, the French foreign minister, commented, "You replace Monsieur Franklin, I hear," Jefferson replied, "I succeed. No man can replace him."  Franklin resigned as minister in March 1785, and departed in July. 

Jefferson had Patsy educated at the Pentemont Abbey. In 1786, Jefferson met and fell in love with Maria Cosway, an accomplished, and married, Italian-English musician of 27. They saw each other frequently over a period of six weeks. She returned to Great Britain, but they maintained a lifelong correspondence. 
 
Jefferson sent for his youngest surviving child, nine-year-old Polly, in June 1787. He brought some of his slaves, including James Hemings whom he had trained in French cuisine.  That year Jefferson suffered a fall and fractured his right wrist, requiring him to write with his left hand for a time. 

While in France he became a regular companion of the Marquis de Lafayette, a French hero of the American Revolutionary War, and used his influence to procure trade agreements with France.Bowers, 1945, p. 328Burstein, 2010, p. 120 As the French Revolution began, Jefferson allowed his Paris residence, the Hôtel de Langeac, to be used for meetings by Lafayette and other republicans; he was in Paris during the storming of the Bastille and consulted with Lafayette while the latter drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen.  Jefferson often found his mail opened by postmasters, so he invented his own enciphering device, the 'Wheel Cipher'; he wrote important communications in code for the rest of his career.  Jefferson left Paris in September 1789 intending to return soon; however, President George Washington appointed him the country's first Secretary of State, forcing him to remain.  Jefferson remained a firm supporter of the French Revolution while opposing its more violent elements. 

Secretary of State 

Soon after returning from France, Jefferson accepted Washington's invitation to serve as Secretary of State.  Jefferson had initially expected to return to France, but Washington insisted Jefferson be on his new Cabinet.Randall (1996), p. 1 Pressing issues at this time were the national debt and the permanent location of the capital. Jefferson opposed a national debt preferring each state retire its own, in contrast to Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, who desired consolidation of various states' debts by the federal government.  Hamilton also had bold plans to establish the national credit and a national bank, but Jefferson strenuously opposed this and attempted to undermine his agenda, which nearly led Washington to dismiss him from his cabinet. Though Jefferson later left the cabinet voluntarily, Washington never forgave him, and never spoke to him again.  The second major issue was the capital's permanent location. Hamilton favored a capital close to the major commercial centers of the Northeast, while Washington, Jefferson, and other agrarians, wanted it located to the south. 

After lengthy deadlock, the Compromise of 1790 was struck permanently locating the capital on the Potomac River, and the federal government assumed the war debts of all thirteen states. In the Spring of 1791, Jefferson and Congressman James Madison took a vacation to Vermont. Jefferson had been suffering from migraines and he was tired of Hamilton infighting. In May 1792 Jefferson, alarmed at the political rivalries taking shape, wrote to Washington, urging him to run for re-election that year as a unifying influence.  He urged the president to rally the citizenry to a party that would defend democracy against the corrupting influence of banks and monied interests, as espoused by the Federalists. Historians recognize this letter as the earliest delineation of Democratic-Republican Party principles.  Jefferson, Madison, and other Democratic-Republican organizers favored states' rights and local control and opposed federal concentration of power, whereas Hamilton sought more power for the federal government. 

Jefferson supported France against Britain when the two nations fought in 1793, though his arguments in the Cabinet were undercut by French Revolutionary envoy Edmond-Charles Genêt's open scorn for President Washington.  In his discussions with British Minister George Hammond, Jefferson tried unsuccessfully to persuade the British to acknowledge their violation of the Treaty of Paris, to vacate their posts in the Northwest, and to compensate the U.S. for slaves whom the British had freed at the end of the war. Seeking a return to private life, Jefferson resigned the cabinet position in December 1793, perhaps to bolster his political influence from outside the administration. 

After the Washington administration negotiated the Jay Treaty with Great Britain (1794), Jefferson saw a cause around which to rally his party and organized a national opposition from Monticello.  The treaty, designed by Hamilton, aimed to reduce tensions and increase trade. Jefferson warned that it would increase British influence and subvert republicanism, calling it "the boldest act [Hamilton and Jay] ever ventured on to undermine the government".  The Treaty passed, but when it expired in 1805 during Jefferson's administration, it was not renewed. Jefferson continued his pro-French stance; during the violence of the Reign of Terror, he declined to disavow the revolution because "To back away from France would be to undermine the cause of republicanism in America." 

Election of 1796 and Vice Presidency 

In the presidential campaign of 1796, Jefferson lost the electoral college vote to Federalist John Adams by 71–68, and was elected vice president. As presiding officer of the Senate, Jefferson assumed a more passive role than his predecessor. He allowed the Senate to freely conduct debates and confined his participation to procedural issues, which he called an "honorable and easy" role.  Jefferson had previously studied parliamentary law and procedure for forty years, making him unusually well qualified to serve as presiding officer. In 1800, he published his assembled notes on Senate procedure as A Manual of Parliamentary Practice. 

Jefferson held four confidential talks with the French consul Joseph Létombe in the spring of 1797 where he attacked Adams, predicting his rival would serve only one term, and encouraged France to invade England. Jefferson advised Létombe to stall any American envoys sent to Paris by instructing him to "listen to them and then drag out the negotiations at length and mollify them by the urbanity of the proceedings."  This toughened the tone the French government adopted toward the Adams administration. After Adams' initial peace envoys were rebuffed, Jefferson and his supporters lobbied for the release of papers related to the incident, called the XYZ Affair after the letters used to disguise the identities of the French officials involved.  However, the tactic backfired when it was revealed that French officials had demanded bribes, rallying public support against France. The U.S. began an undeclared naval war with France known as the Quasi-War. 

During the Adams presidency, the Federalists rebuilt the military, levied new taxes, and enacted the Alien and Sedition Acts. Jefferson believed these laws were intended to suppress Democratic-Republicans, rather than prosecute enemy aliens, and considered them unconstitutional.  To rally opposition, he and James Madison anonymously wrote the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions, declaring that the federal government had no right to exercise powers not specifically delegated to it by the states.  Though the resolutions followed the "interposition" approach of Madison—in which states may shield their citizens from federal laws they deem unconstitutional—Jefferson advocated nullification, allowing states to outright invalidate federal laws.  Jefferson warned that, "unless arrested at the threshold", the Alien and Sedition Acts would "necessarily drive these states into revolution and blood". 

Historian Ron Chernow opines that "the theoretical damage of the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions was deep and lasting, and was a recipe for disunion", contributing to the American Civil War as well as later events.  Washington was so appalled by the resolutions that he told Patrick Henry that if "systematically and pertinaciously pursued", the resolutions would "dissolve the union or produce coercion." 

In the effort to counter Hamilton's Federalist policies, which he was promoting through the influential Federalist newspaper, the Gazette of the United States, Jefferson and Madison along, with the poet and writer Phillip Freneau, moved to Philadelphia and founded the National Gazette in 1791. The National Gazette made particular criticism of the policies promoted by Alexander Hamilton, often through, at Jefferson's urging, anonymous essays signed by the pen name Brutus, which were actually written by Madison. 

Jefferson had always admired Washington's leadership skills but felt his Federalist party was leading the country in the wrong direction. Because of acute differences with Washington while serving as Secretary of State, Jefferson thought it wise not to attend his funeral in 1799 and remained at Monticello. 

Election of 1800 

In the 1800 presidential election, Jefferson contended once more against Federalist John Adams. Adams' campaign was weakened by unpopular taxes and vicious Federalist infighting over his actions in the Quasi-War.  Republicans pointed to the Alien and Sedition Acts and accused the Federalists of being secret monarchists, while Federalists charged that Jefferson was a godless libertine in thrall to the French.  Historian Joyce Appleby said the election was "one of the most acrimonious in the annals of American history". 

Republicans ultimately won more electoral college votes, but Jefferson and his vice-presidential candidate Aaron Burr unexpectedly received an equal total. Due to the tie, the election was decided by the Federalist-dominated House of Representatives.  Hamilton lobbied Federalist representatives on Jefferson's behalf, believing him a lesser political evil than Burr. On February 17, 1801, after thirty-six ballots, the House elected Jefferson president and Burr vice president.

The win was marked by Republican celebrations throughout the country.  Some of Jefferson's opponents argued that he owed his victory over Adams to the South's inflated number of electors, due to counting slaves as partial population under the Three-Fifths Compromise."  Others alleged that Jefferson secured James Asheton Bayard's tie-breaking electoral vote by guaranteeing the retention of various Federalist posts in the government.Wood, 2010, pp. 284–85 Jefferson disputed the allegation, and the historical record is inconclusive. 

The transition proceeded smoothly, marking a watershed in American history. As historian Gordon S. Wood writes, "it was one of the first popular elections in modern history that resulted in the peaceful transfer of power from one 'party' to another."

Presidency (1801–1809) 

Jefferson was sworn in by Chief Justice John Marshall at the new Capitol in Washington, D.C. on March 4, 1801. In contrast to his predecessors, Jefferson exhibited a dislike of formal etiquette; he arrived alone on horseback without escort, dressed plainly  and after dismounting, retired his own horse to the nearby stable.  His inaugural address struck a note of reconciliation, declaring, "We have been called by different names brethren of the same principle. We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists."  Ideologically Jefferson stressed "equal and exact justice to all men", minority rights, freedom of speech, religion and press.Peterson (2002), p. 40 Jefferson said that a free and democratic government was "the strongest government on earth." Jefferson nominated moderate Republicans to his cabinet: James Madison as Secretary of State, Henry Dearborn as Secretary of War, Levi Lincoln as Attorney General, and Robert Smith as Secretary of Navy.

Upon assuming office, he first confronted an $83 million national debt. He began dismantling Hamilton's Federalist fiscal system with help from Secretary of Treasury Albert Gallatin.Peterson, 2002, p. 41 Jefferson's administration eliminated the whiskey excise and other taxes after closing "unnecessary offices" and cutting "useless establishments and expenses".   They attempted to disassemble the national bank and its effect of increasing national debt, but were dissuaded by Gallatin.  Jefferson shrank the Navy, deeming it unnecessary in peacetime.  Instead he incorporated a fleet of inexpensive gunboats used only for defense with the idea that they would not provoke foreign hostilities. After two terms, he had lowered the national debt from $83 million to $57 million.Meacham, 2012, p. 387

Jefferson pardoned several of those imprisoned under the Alien and Sedition Acts.  Congressional Republicans repealed the Judiciary Act of 1801, which removed nearly all of Adams' 'midnight judges' from office. A subsequent appointment battle led to the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Marbury v. Madison, asserting judicial review over executive branch actions.  Jefferson appointed three Supreme Court justices: William Johnson (1804), Henry Brockholst Livingston (1807), and Thomas Todd (1807). 

Jefferson strongly felt the need for a national military university, producing an officer engineering corps for a national defense based on the advancement of the sciences, rather than having to rely on foreign sources for top grade engineers with questionable loyalty.  He signed the Military Peace Establishment Act on March 16, 1802, thus founding the United States Military Academy at West Point. The Act documented in 29 sections a new set of laws and limits for the military. Jefferson was also hoping to bring reform to the Executive branch, replacing Federalists and active opponents throughout the officer corps to promote Republican values. 

First Barbary War 

As long as the U.S. remained a colony, its merchant ships had been protected from Barbary Coast pirates by the British navy.  After independence, however, pirates often captured U.S. merchant ships, pillaged cargoes and enslaved or held crew members for ransom. Jefferson had opposed paying tribute to the Barbary States since as far back as 1785.Fremont-Barnes, 2006, p. 36
In March 1786, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams went to London to negotiate with Tripoli's envoy, ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman (or Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja). 
In 1801, he authorized a U.S. Navy fleet under Commodore Richard Dale to make a show of force in the Mediterranean, the first American naval squadron to cross the Atlantic.  Following the fleet's first engagement, he successfully asked Congress for a declaration of war. The subsequent 'First Barbary War' was the first foreign war fought by the U.S. 

After Yusuf Karamanli, the pasha of Tripoli, captured the USS Philadelphia, Jefferson authorized William Eaton, the U.S. Consul to Tunis, to lead a force to restore the pasha's older brother to the throne.  The American navy forced Tunis and Algiers into breaking their alliance with Tripoli. Jefferson ordered five separate naval bombardments of Tripoli, leading the pasha to sign a treaty that restored peace in the Mediterranean.  Though this victory proved only temporary, according to Wood, "many Americans celebrated it as a vindication of their policy of spreading free trade around the world and as a great victory for liberty over tyranny." 

Louisiana Purchase

After Spain ceded ownership of the Louisiana territory in 1800 to the more predominant France, Jefferson was greatly concerned that Napoleon's broad interests in the vast territory would threaten the security of the continent and Mississippi River shipping. Jefferson wrote that the cession "...works most sorely on the U.S. It completely reverses all the political relations of the U.S. ..."   and subsequently in 1802, instructed James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston to negotiate with Napoleon to purchase New Orleans and adjacent coastal areas from France.  In early 1803 Jefferson offered Napoleon nearly $10 million for 40,000 square miles of tropical territory.Freehling, 2005, p. 69

Realizing that French military control of such a vast remote territory was impractical, and in dire need of funds for their wars on the home front, Napoleon, in early April 1803, unexpectedly made negotiators a counteroffer to sell 827,987 square miles of French territory for $15 million doubling the size of the United States. U.S. negotiators seized this unique opportunity and accepted the offer and signed the treaty on April 30, 1803. Word of the unexpected purchase didn't reach Jefferson until July 3, 1803. He unknowingly acquired the most fertile tract of land of its size on Earth, making the new country self-sufficient in food and other resources. The sale also significantly curtailed British and French imperial ambitions in North America, removing obstacles to U.S. westward expansion.Ellis, 2008, pp. 207–08

Most thought this was an exceptional opportunity, despite Republican reservations about the Constitutional authority of the federal government to acquire land.  Jefferson initially thought a Constitutional amendment was necessary to purchase and govern the new territory, but later changed his mind fearing this would give cause to oppose the purchase and therefore urged a speedy debate and ratification.  On October 20, 1803, the Senate ratified the purchase treaty by a vote of 24–7. 

After the purchase, Jefferson preserved the region's Spanish legal code and instituted a gradual approach for integrating settlers into American democracy; he believed a period of federal rule would be necessary while Louisianians adjusted to their new nation.  Historians have differed in their assessments regarding the constitutional implications of the sale.  Historians typically hail the Louisiana acquisition as a major accomplishment. Frederick Jackson Turner called the purchase the most formative event in American history.

Lewis and Clark expedition

Anticipating further westward settlements due to the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson arranged for the exploration and mapping of the uncharted territory. He sought to establish a U.S. claim ahead of competing European interests and find the rumored Northwest Passage.  Influenced by exploration accounts of Le Page du Pratz in Louisiana (1763) and Captain James Cook in the Pacific (1784),  Jefferson and others persuaded Congress in 1804 to fund an expedition to explore and map the newly acquired territory to the Pacific Ocean. 

Jefferson appointed Meriwether Lewis and William Clark leaders of the Corps of Discovery (1803–1806).  In the months leading up to the expedition, Jefferson tutored Lewis in the sciences of mapping, botany, natural history, mineralogy and astronomy/navigation, giving him unlimited access to his library at Monticello which included the largest collection of books in the world on the subject of the geography and natural history of the North American continent, along with an impressive collection of maps. 

The expedition, lasting from May, 1804 to September, 1806, (see Timeline) obtained a wealth of scientific and geographic knowledge, including knowledge of many Indian tribes. 
;Other expeditions

In addition to the Corps of Discovery, Jefferson organized three other western expeditions: the William Dunbar and George Hunter expedition on the Ouachita River (1804–1805), the Thomas Freeman and Peter Custis expedition (1806) on the Red River, and the Zebulon Pike expedition (1806–1807) into the Rocky Mountains and the Southwest. All three produced valuable information about the American frontier. 

Native American policies

Jefferson's experiences with the American Indian began during his boyhood in Virginia and extended through his political career and into his retirement. He refuted the contemporary notion that Indians were an inferior people and maintained that they were equal in body and mind to people of European descent. 

As governor of Virginia during the Revolutionary War, Jefferson recommended moving the Cherokee and Shawnee tribes who had allied with the British to west of the Mississippi River. But once in the White House, with American and native societies in collision and the British inciting Indian tribes from Canada, Jefferson quickly took measures to avert another major conflict. Sheehan, 1974, pp. 120–21 In Georgia, he stipulated the state would release its legal claims to lands to its west in exchange for military support for expelling the Cherokee from Georgia. This facilitated his policy of western expansion, to "advance compactly as we multiply". 

In keeping with his Enlightenment thinking, President Jefferson adopted an assimilation policy towards Native Americans known as his "civilization program" which included securing peaceful U.S. - Indian treaty alliances, encouraging agriculture. Jefferson advocated that Indian tribes should make federal purchases by credit holding their lands as collateral for repayment. Various tribes accepted Jefferson's policies including the Shawnees led by Black Hoof, the Creek, and the Cherokees. However the Shawnees who broke off from Black Hoof, led by Tecumseh, opposed Jefferson's assimilation policies. 

Historian Bernard Sheehan argues that Jefferson believed assimilation was best for Native Americans; second best was removal to the west. He felt the worst outcome of the cultural and resources conflict between European Americans and Native Americans would be their attacking the whites. Jefferson told his Secretary of War, General Henry Dearborn (Indian affairs were then under the War Department): "if we are constrained to lift the hatchet against any tribe, we will never lay it down until that tribe is exterminated or driven beyond the Mississippi."   Miller agrees that Jefferson believed that natives should assimilate to American customs and agriculture. Historians such as Peter S. Onuf and Merrill D. Peterson argue that Jefferson's actual Indian policies did little to promote assimilation and were a pretext to seize lands. 

Re-election in 1804 and second term

Jefferson's successful first term occasioned his re-nomination for president by the Republican party, with George Clinton replacing Burr as his running mate.Meacham, 2012, pp. 405–06 The Federalist party ran Charles Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, John Adams' vice-presidential candidate in the 1800 election. The Jefferson-Clinton ticket won overwhelmingly in the electoral college vote, by 162 to 14, promoting their achievement of a strong economy, lower taxes, and the Louisiana Purchase.

In March 1806 a split developed in the Republican party led by fellow Virginian and former Republican ally John Randolph who viciously accused President Jefferson on the floor of the House of moving too far in the Federalist direction and in so doing permanently set himself apart politically from Jefferson. Jefferson and Madison had backed resolutions to limit or ban British imports in retaliation for British actions against American shipping. Also, in 1808 Jefferson was the first president to propose a broad Federal plan to build roads and canals across several states asking for $20 million, further alarming Randolph and believers of limited government. 

Jefferson's popularity further suffered in his second term due to his response to wars in Europe. Positive relations with Great Britain had diminished due partly to the antipathy between Jefferson and the British diplomat Anthony Merry. And after Napoleon's decisive victory at the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805, Napoleon became more aggressive in his negotiations over trading rights, which American efforts failed to counter. Jefferson then led the enactment of the Embargo Act of 1807, directed at both France and Great Britain. This triggered economic chaos in the U.S. and was strongly criticized at the time, resulting in Jefferson having to abandon the policy a year later. 

During the revolutionary era the states abolished the international slave trade, but South Carolina reopened it. Jefferson in his annual message of December 1806 denounced the "violations of human rights" attending the international slave trade, calling on the newly elected Congress to criminalize it immediately. In 1807, Congress passed the Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves, which Jefferson signed.   While the act established severe punishment against international slave trade, it did not address the issue domestically. 

In the wake of the Louisiana Purchase, Jefferson sought to annex Florida from Spain, as brokered by Napoleon.Peterson, 2002, p. 49 Congress agreed to the president's request to secretly appropriate purchase money, in the "$2,000,000 Bill". The Congressional funding drew criticism from Randolph who believed the money would wind up in the coffers of Napoleon. The bill was signed into law; however, negotiations for the project failed. Jefferson lost clout among fellow Republicans and his use of unofficial Congressional channels was sharply criticized. In Haiti, Jefferson's neutrality had allowed arms to enable the slave independence movement during its Revolution, and blocked attempts to assist Napoleon, who was defeated there in 1803.Jefferson, Haiti The Journal of Southern History 61, no. 2 (May, 1995), p. 221 But during his second term, in deference to southern complaints about the racial violence against slave-holders, he refused official recognition of the country, which was extended to Haiti in 1862.  Domestically, Jefferson's grandson James Madison Randolph in 1806 became the first child born in the White House. 

Burr conspiracy and trial

Following the 1801 electoral deadlock, Jefferson's relationship with his Vice President and former New York Senator, Aaron Burr rapidly eroded. Jefferson suspected Burr of seeking the presidency for himself, while Burr was angered by Jefferson's refusal to appoint some of his supporters to federal office. Burr was dropped from the Republican ticket in 1804.

The same year Burr was soundly defeated in his bid to be elected New York governor. During the campaign, Alexander Hamilton publicly made callous remarks regarding Burr's moral character.Chernow, 2004, p. 714 Subsequently Burr challenged Hamilton to a duel later that year, mortally wounding and killing Hamilton on July 11, 1804. Burr was indicted for Hamilton's murder in New York and New Jersey causing him to flee to Georgia, although he remained President of the Senate during Supreme Court Justice Samuel Chase's impeachment trial.  Both indictments quietly died and Burr was not prosecuted.Banner (1974), p 34 Also during the election certain misguided New England separatists desiring a New England federation approached Burr intimating he would be their leader.Banner (1974), pp 34–35 However nothing became of the plot since Burr had lost the election and his reputation was ruined after killing Hamilton. In August 1804, Burr contacted British Minister Anthony Merry offering to capture U.S. western territory in return for money and British ships.  

In April 1805, after leaving office, Burr traveled west and conspiring with Louisiana Territory governor James Wilkinson, began a large-scale recruitment for a military expedition.Peterson (2002), p. 50 Other plotters included Ohio Senator John Smith and a romantic Irishman Harmon Blennerhassett. Burr discussed a number of plots—seizing control of Mexico or Spanish Florida, or forming a secessionist state in New Orleans or the Western U.S., historians remain unclear as to his true goal.  In the fall of 1806, Burr launched a military flotilla carrying about 60 men down the Ohio River. Wilkinson for apparent self-interested motives renounced the plot and reported Burr's expedition to Jefferson, who immediately ordered Burr's arrest. Banner (1974), p 37 On February 13, 1807 Burr was captured in Louisiana's Bayou Pierre wilderness and sent to Virginia to be tried for treason. 

Burr's 1807 conspiracy trial became a national issue.  Jefferson attempted to preemptively influence the verdict by telling Congress that Burr's guilt was "beyond question", but the case came before his longtime political foe John Marshall, who dismissed the treason charge. Burr's legal team at one stage subpoenaed Jefferson, but Jefferson refused to testify, making the first argument for executive privilege. Instead Jefferson provided relevant legal documents.  After a three-month trial, the jury found Burr not guilty while Jefferson denounced his acquittal.Banner, 1974, p. 37   Jefferson subsequently removed Wilkinson as territorial governor but retained him in the U.S. military. Historian James N. Banner criticized Jefferson for continuing to trust Wilkinson, a "faithless plotter".

Chesapeake–Leopard Affair and Embargo Act

The British conducted raids on American shipping and kidnapped seamen in 1806–07; thousands of Americans were thus impressed into their service. In 1806 Jefferson issued a call for a boycott of British goods; on April 18 Congress passed the Non-Importation Acts but they were never enforced. Later that year Jefferson asked James Monroe and William Pinkney to negotiate with Great Britain to end the harassment of American shipping, though Britain showed no signs of improving relations. The Monroe–Pinkney Treaty was finalized but lacked any provisions to end impressment and was rejected by Jefferson who refused to submit it to the Senate for ratification.Hayes, 2008, pp. 504–05

The British ship HMS Leopard fired upon the USS Chesapeake off the Virginia coast in June 1807, and Jefferson prepared for war.TJF: Embargo of 1807  He issued a proclamation banning armed British ships from U.S. waters. He presumed unilateral authority to call on the states to prepare 100,000 militia and ordered the purchase of arms, ammunition, and supplies, writing, "The laws of necessity, of self-preservation, of saving our country when in danger, are of higher obligation [than strict observance of written laws]". The USS Revenge, dispatched to demand an explanation from the British government, was also fired upon. Jefferson called for a special session of Congress in October to enact an embargo or in the alternative consider war. 

In December news arrived that Napoleon had extended the Berlin Decree, globally banning British imports. In Britain, King George III ordered redoubling efforts at impressment, including American sailors. But the war fever of the summer faded–Congress had no appetite to prepare the U.S. for war. Jefferson asked for and received the Embargo Act, an alternative that allowed the U.S. more time to build up defensive works, militias and naval forces. Later historians have seen irony in Jefferson's assertion of such federal power. Meacham opines that the Embargo Act was a projection of power that surpassed the Alien and Sedition Acts, and R.B. Bernstein writes that Jefferson "was pursuing policies resembling those he had cited in 1776 as grounds for independence and revolution". 

Secretary of State James Madison supported the embargo with equal vigor to Jefferson,  while Treasury Secretary Gallatin opposed it, due to its indefinite time frame and the risk it posed to the policy of American neutrality.  The U.S. economy suffered, criticism grew, and opponents began evading the embargo. Instead of retreating, Jefferson sent federal agents to secretly track down smugglers and violators.  Three acts were passed in Congress during 1807 and 1808, called the Supplementary, the Additional, and the Enforcement acts. Though the government could not prevent American vessels from trading with the European belligerents once they had left American ports, the embargo triggered a devastating decline in exports.

Most historians consider Jefferson's embargo to have been ineffective and harmful to American interests.  Appleby describes the strategy as Jefferson's "least effective policy", and Joseph Ellis calls it "an unadulterated calamity".  Others, however, portray it as an innovative, nonviolent measure which aided France in its war with Britain while preserving American neutrality.  Jefferson believed that the failure of the embargo was due to selfish traders and merchants showing a lack of "republican virtue", and maintained that had the embargo been widely observed, it would have avoided war in 1812. 

In December 1807 Jefferson announced his intention to not to seek a third term. He turned his attention increasingly to Monticello during the last year of his presidency, giving Madison and Gallatin almost total control of affairs.  Shortly before leaving office in March 1809, Jefferson signed the repeal of the Embargo. In its place the Non-Intercourse Act was passed, but it proved no more effective. The day before Madison was inaugurated as his successor, Jefferson said that he felt like "a prisoner, released from his chains". 

Retirement and later years 

Following his retirement from the presidency, Jefferson continued his pursuit of educational interests; he sold his vast collection of books to the Library of Congress, and founded and built the University of Virginia.  As he settled into private life at Monticello, Jefferson developed a daily routine of rising early. He would spend several hours writing letters, with which he was often deluged. In the midday, he would often inspect the plantation on horseback. In the evenings, his family enjoyed leisure time in the gardens; late at night, Jefferson would retire to bed with a book.  However, his routine was often interrupted by uninvited visitors and tourists eager to see the icon in his final days, turning Monticello into "a virtual hotel". 

University of Virginia 

Jefferson envisioned a university free of church influences where students could specialize in many new areas not offered at other colleges. He believed education engendered a stable society, which should provide publicly funded schools accessible to students from all social strata, based solely on ability.  He initially proposed his University in a letter to Joseph Priestley in 1800,  and in 1819 the 76-year-old Jefferson founded the University of Virginia. He organized the state legislative campaign for its charter and with the assistance of Edmund Bacon, purchased the location. He was the principal designer of the buildings, planned the University's curriculum and served as the first rector upon its opening in 1825. 

Jefferson was a strong disciple of Greek and Roman architectural styles, which he believed to be most representative of American democracy. Each academic unit, called a pavilion, was designed with a two-story temple front, while the library 'Rotunda' was modeled on the Roman Pantheon. The layout of the university's grounds, which Jefferson called the 'Academical Village', reflected his educational ideas. The ten pavilions, which included classrooms and faculty residences, formed a quadrangle, and were connected by colonnades behind which stood the students' rows of rooms. Gardens and vegetable plots were placed behind the pavilions and were surrounded by serpentine walls, affirming the importance of the agrarian lifestyle.  The university had a library rather than a church at its center, emphasizing its secular nature—a controversial aspect at the time. 

When Jefferson died in 1826, James Madison replaced him as rector.  Jefferson bequeathed most of his library to the University. 

Reconciliation with Adams 

In the first decades of their political careers, Jefferson and John Adams had been good friends, serving together in the Continental Congress in the 1770s and in Europe in the 1780s. The Federalist/Republican split of the 1790s divided them, however, and Adams felt betrayed by Jefferson's sponsorship of partisan attacks, such as those of James Callender. Jefferson, on the other hand, was angered at Adams for his appointment of "midnight judges".Freeman, 2008, p.12 After Jefferson succeeded Adams as president, the two men did not communicate directly for more than a decade.  In an attempt of reconciliation, unknown to Adams, a brief correspondence between Abigail Adams and Jefferson took place after Jefferson's daughter "Polly" died in 1804; however, an exchange of letters resumed open hostilities between Adams and Jefferson.

As early as 1809, Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, desired that Jefferson and Adams reconcile and through correspondence began to prod the two to reestablish contact. In 1812, Adams, prompted earlier by Rush, wrote a short New Year's greeting to Jefferson, to which the latter warmly responded. Thus began what historian David McCullough calls "one of the most extraordinary correspondences in American history".  Over the next fourteen years, the former presidents exchanged 158 letters discussing their political differences, justifying their respective roles in events, and debating the revolution's import to the world.  When Adams died, his last words included an acknowledgement of his longtime friend and rival: "Thomas Jefferson survives", unaware that Jefferson had died several hours before.  

Autobiography 

In 1821, at the age of 77 Jefferson began writing his autobiography, in order to "state some recollections of dates and facts concerning myself."Autobiography of Thomas Jefferson, 1743–1790 He focused on the struggles and achievements he experienced until July 29, 1790, where the narrative stopped short.*  He excluded his youth, emphasizing the revolutionary era. He related that his ancestors came from Wales to America in the early 17th century and settled in the western frontier of the Virginia colony, which influenced his zeal for individual and state rights. Jefferson described his father as uneducated, but with a "strong mind and sound judgement." His enrollment in the College of William and Mary and election to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia in 1775 were included.

He also expressed opposition to the idea of a privileged aristocracy made up of large land owning families partial to the King, and instead promoted "the aristocracy of virtue and talent, which nature has wisely provided for the direction of the interests of society, & scattered with equal hand through all it's conditions, was deemed essential to a well ordered republic." 

Jefferson gave his insight about people, politics, and events. The work is primarily concerned with the Declaration and reforming the government of Virginia. He used notes, letters, and documents to tell many of the stories within the autobiography. He suggested that this history was so rich that his personal affairs were better overlooked, but he incorporated a self-analysis using the Declaration and other patriotism. 

Lafayette's visit 

In the summer of 1824, the Marquis de Lafayette accepted an invitation from President James Monroe to visit the country. Jefferson and Lafayette had not seen each other since 1789. After visits to New York, New England, and Washington, Lafayette arrived at Monticello on November 4.

Jefferson's grandson Randolph was present and recorded the reunion: "As they approached each other, their uncertain gait quickened itself into a shuffling run, and exclaiming, 'Ah Jefferson!' 'Ah Lafayette!', they burst into tears as they fell into each other's arms." Jefferson and Lafayette then retired to the house to reminisce.  The next morning Jefferson, Lafayette, and James Madison attended a tour and banquet at the University of Virginia. Jefferson had someone else read a speech he had prepared for Lafayette, as his voice was weak and could not carry. This was his last public presentation. After an 11-day visit, Lafayette bid Jefferson goodbye and departed Monticello. 

Final days, death, and burial 

Jefferson's approximately $100,000 of debt weighed heavily on his mind in his final months, as it became increasingly clear he would have little to leave to his heirs. In February 1826, he successfully applied to the General Assembly to hold a public lottery as a fundraiser.Ellis, 1996, pp. 287–88 His health began to deteriorate in July 1825, due to a combination of rheumatism from arm and wrist injuries, as well as intestinal and urinary disorders, and by June 1826 he was confined to bed. On July 3 Jefferson was overcome by fever and declined an invitation to Washington to attend an anniversary celebration of the Declaration. 

During the last hours of his life, he was accompanied by family members and friends. On July 4 at 12:50 p.m., Jefferson died at age 83 on the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and just a few hours before the death of John Adams. Bernstein, 2003, p. 189 The sitting president, Adams' son John Quincy, called the coincidence of their deaths on the nation's anniversary "visible and palpable remarks of Divine Favor". 

Shortly after Jefferson had died, attendants found a gold locket on a chain around his neck, where it had rested for more than forty years, containing a small faded blue ribbon which tied a lock of his wife Martha's brown hair. 

Jefferson's remains were buried at Monticello, under a self-written epitaph:
HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON, AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE, OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM, AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA." 

Jefferson died deeply in debt, unable to pass on his estate freely to his heirs.  Though he gave instructions for disposal of his assets in his will,  including the freeing of Sally Hemings' children,  his estate, possessions, and slaves were sold at public auctions starting in 1827.  In 1831 Monticello was sold by Martha Jefferson Randolph and the other heirs. 

Political, social and religious views

Jefferson subscribed to the political ideals expounded by John Locke, Francis Bacon, and Isaac Newton, whom he considered the three greatest men that ever lived.   He was also influenced by the writings of Gibbon, Hume, Robertson, Bolingbroke, Montesquieu, and Voltaire.  Jefferson thought the independent yeoman and agrarian life were ideals of republican virtues. He distrusted cities and financiers, favored decentralized government power, and believed that the tyranny that had plagued the common man in Europe was due to corrupt political establishments and monarchies. Having supported efforts to disestablish the Church of England,  and having authored the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, he pressed for a wall of separation between church and state.  The Republicans under Jefferson were strongly influenced by the 18th-century British Whig Party, who believed in limited government.  His Democratic-Republican Party became dominant in early American politics, and his views became known as Jeffersonian democracy primarily intended for male European Americans. Smith, 2003, p. 314

Society and government

According to Jefferson's philosophy, citizens have "certain inalienable rights" and "rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will, within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others."  A staunch advocate of the jury system to protect people's liberties, he proclaimed in 1801, "I consider [trial by jury] as the only anchor yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution."  
Jeffersonian government not only prohibited individuals in society from infringing on the liberty of others, but also restrained itself from diminishing individual liberty as a protection against tyranny from the majority.  Initially, Jefferson favored restricted voting to those who could actually have free exercise of their reason by escaping any corrupting dependence on others. He advocated enfranchising a majority of Virginians, seeking to expand suffrage to include "yeoman farmers" who owned their own land while excluding tenant farmers, city day laborers, vagrants, most Amerindians, and women.

He was convinced that individual liberties were the fruit of political equality, which were threatened by arbitrary government.  Excesses of democracy in his view were caused by institutional corruptions rather than human nature. He was less suspicious of a working democracy than many contemporaries.Wood, 2011, pp. 220–27 As president, Jefferson feared that the Federalist system enacted by Washington and Adams had encouraged corrupting patronage and dependence. He tried to restore a balance between the state and federal governments more nearly reflecting the Articles of Confederation, seeking to reinforce state prerogatives where his party was in a majority.

Jefferson was steeped in the British Whig tradition of the oppressed majority set against a repeatedly unresponsive court party in the Parliament. He justified small outbreaks of rebellion as necessary to get monarchial regimes to amend oppressive measures compromising popular liberties. In a republican regime ruled by the majority, he acknowledged "it will often be exercised when wrong".  But "the remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them."   As Jefferson saw his party triumph in two terms of his presidency and launch into a third term under James Madison, his view of the U.S. as a continental republic and an "empire of liberty" grew more upbeat. On departing the presidency in 1809, he described America as "trusted with the destines of this solitary republic of the world, the only monument of human rights, and the sole depository of the sacred fire of freedom and self-government". 

Democracy 

Jefferson considered democracy to be the expression of society, and promoted national self-determination, cultural uniformity, and education of all males of the commonwealth.  He supported public education and a free press as essential components of a democratic nation. 

After resigning as secretary of state in 1795, Jefferson focused on the electoral bases of the Republicans and Federalists. The "Republican" classification for which he advocated included "the entire body of landholders" everywhere and "the body of laborers" without land.  Republicans united behind Jefferson as vice president, with the election of 1796 expanding democracy nationwide at grassroots levels.  Jefferson promoted Republican candidates for local offices. 

Beginning with Jefferson's electioneering for the "revolution of 1800", his political efforts were based on egalitarian appeals.  In his later years, he referred to the 1800 election "as real a revolution in the principles of our government as that of '76 was in its form", one "not effected indeed by the sword … but by the … suffrage of the people."  Voter participation grew during Jefferson's presidency, increasing to "unimaginable levels" compared to the Federalist Era, with turnout of about 67,000 in 1800 rising to about 143,000 in 1804. 

At the onset of the Revolution, Jefferson accepted William Blackstone's argument that property ownership would sufficiently empower voters' independent judgement, but he sought to further expand suffrage by land distribution to the poor.  In the heat of the Revolutionary Era and afterward, several states expanded voter eligibility from landed gentry to all propertied male, tax-paying citizens with Jefferson's support.  In retirement, he gradually became critical of his home state for violating "the principle of equal political rights"—the social right of universal male suffrage.  He sought a "general suffrage" of all taxpayers and militia-men, and equal representation by population in the General Assembly to correct preferential treatment of the slave-holding regions. 

Religion 

Baptized in his youth, Jefferson became a governing member of his local Episcopal Church in Charlottesville, which he later attended with his daughters.  Influenced by Deist authors during his college years Jefferson abandoned "orthodox" Christianity after his review of New Testament teachings.   In 1803 he asserted, "I am Christian, in the only sense in which [Jesus] wished any one to be." Jefferson later defined being a Christian as one who followed the simple teachings of Jesus. Jefferson compiled Jesus' biblical teachings, omitting miraculous or supernatural references. He titled the work The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth, known today as the Jefferson Bible.  Peterson states Jefferson was a theist "whose God was the Creator of the universe … all the evidences of nature testified to His perfection; and man could rely on the harmony and beneficence of His work." 

Jefferson was firmly anticlerical, writing in "every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty … they have perverted the purest religion ever preached to man into mystery and jargon."  The full letter to Horatio Spatford can be read at the National Archives.  Jefferson once supported banning clergy from public office but later relented.  In 1777, he drafted the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom. Ratified in 1786, it made compelling attendance or contributions to any state-sanctioned religious establishment illegal and declared that men "shall be free to profess … their opinions in matters of religion."  The Statute is one of only three accomplishments he chose to have inscribed in the epitaph on his gravestone.   Early in 1802, Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Connecticut Baptist Association, "that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God." He interpreted the First Amendment as having built "a wall of separation between Church and State."  The phrase 'Separation of Church and State' has been cited several times by the Supreme Court in its interpretation of the Establishment Clause.

Jefferson donated to the American Bible Society, saying the Four Evangelists delivered a "pure and sublime system of morality" to humanity. He thought Americans would rationally create "Apiarian" religion, extracting the best traditions of every denomination.  And he contributed generously to several local denominations nearby Monticello.  Acknowledging organized religion would always be factored into political life for good or ill, he encouraged reason over supernatural revelation to make inquiries into religion. He believed in a creator god, an afterlife, and the sum of religion as loving God and neighbors. But he also controversially renounced the conventional Christian Trinity, denying Jesus' divinity as the Son of God.  

Jefferson's unorthodox religious beliefs became an important issue in the 1800 presidential election.Wood, 2010, p. 586 Federalists attacked him as an atheist. As president, Jefferson countered the accusations by praising religion in his inaugural address and attending services at the Capitol.

Banks 

Jefferson distrusted government banks and opposed public borrowing, which he thought created long-term debt, bred monopolies, and invited dangerous speculation as opposed to productive labor.  In one letter to Madison, he argued each generation should curtail all debt within 19 years, and not impose a long-term debt on subsequent generations. 

In 1791, President Washington asked Jefferson, then Secretary of State, and Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, if the Congress had the authority to create a national bank. While Hamilton believed Congress had the authority, Jefferson and Madison thought a national bank would ignore the needs of individuals and farmers, and would violate the Tenth Amendment by assuming powers not granted to the federal government by the states. 

Jefferson used agrarian resistance to banks and speculators as the first defining principle of an opposition party, recruiting candidates for Congress on the issue as early as 1792.  As president, Jefferson was persuaded by Secretary of Treasury Albert Gallatin to leave the bank intact, but sought to restrain its influence. 

Slavery 

Jefferson lived in a planter economy largely dependent upon slavery, and as a wealthy landholder, used slave labor for his household, plantation, and workshops. He first recorded his slaveholding in 1774, when he counted 41.  Over his lifetime he owned about 600 slaves; he inherited about 175 while most of the remainder were born on his plantations.TJF: Slavery at Monticello - Property Jefferson purchased slaves in order to unite their families, and he sold about 110 for economic reasons, primarily slaves from his outlying farms.  Many historians have described Jefferson as a benevolent slaveowner  who didn't overwork his slaves by the conventions of his time, and provided them log cabins with fireplaces, food, clothing and some household provisions, though slaves often had to make many of their own provisions. Additionally Jefferson gave his slaves financial and other incentives while also allowing them to grow gardens and raise their own chickens. The use of the whip was employed only in rare and extreme cases of fighting and stealing.TJF - Thomas Jefferson's Monticello "Slave Dwellings" 

Jefferson once said, “My first wish is that the labourers may be well treated”. Slaves were given Sundays and Christmas off and had more free time during the winter months.  Some scholars doubt Jefferson's benevolence,  however, noting cases of excessive slave whippings in his absence.  His nail factory was also only staffed by child slaves, many of those boys became tradesmen.  Burwell Colbert, who started his working life as a child in Monticello's Nailery, was later promoted to the supervisory position of butler.TJF: Thomas Jefferson's Monticello - Nailery,Wiencek, 2012, p.93

Jefferson felt slavery was harmful to both slave and master, but had reservations about releasing unprepared slaves into freedom and advocated gradual emancipation.TJF: Thomas Jefferson and Slavery   In 1779, he proposed gradual voluntary training and resettlement to the Virginia legislature, and three years later drafted legislation allowing owners to free their own slaves.  In his draft of the Declaration of Independence, he included a section, stricken by other Southern delegates, criticizing King George III's role in promoting slavery in the colonies.  In 1784, Jefferson proposed the abolition of slavery in all western U.S. territories, limiting slave importation to 15 years.Ferling 2000, p 287 Congress, however, failed to pass his proposal by one vote. In 1787, Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance, a partial victory for Jefferson that terminated slavery in the Northwest Territory. Jefferson freed his slave Robert Hemings in 1794 and he freed his cook slave James Hemings in 1796.  During his presidency Jefferson allowed the diffusion of slavery into the Louisiana Territory hoping to prevent slave uprisings in Virginia and to prevent South Carolina secession.  In 1804, in a compromise on the slavery issue, Jefferson and Congress banned domestic slave trafficking for one year into the Louisiana Territory.  In 1806 he officially called for anti-slavery legislation terminating the import or export of slaves. Congress passed the law in 1807, taking effect in 1818. Ferling 2000, p 288 In 1819, he strongly opposed a Missouri statehood application amendment that banned slave importation and freed slaves at the age of 25 on grounds it would destroy the union.Ferling 2000, pp 286, 294 Jefferson freed his runaway slave Harriet Hemings in 1822. Upon his death in 1826, Jefferson freed five male Hemings slaves in his will. 

Jefferson shared the common belief of his day that blacks were mentally and physically inferior, but argued they nonetheless had innate human rights.  In Notes on the State of Virginia, he created controversy by calling slavery a moral evil for which the nation would ultimately have to account to God.  He therefore supported colonization plans that would transport freed slaves to another country, such as Liberia or Sierra Leone, though he recognized the impracticability of such proposals. 

During his presidency Jefferson was for the most part publicly silent on the issue of slavery and emancipation, TJF:Jefferson's Antislavery Actions as the Congressional debate over slavery and its extension caused a dangerous north-south rift among the states, with talk of a northern confederacy in New England.   The violent attacks on white slave owners during the Haitian Revolution due to injustices under slavery supported Jefferson’s fears of a race war, increasing his reservations about promoting emancipation at that time.  After numerous attempts and failures to bring about emancipation,  Jefferson wrote privately in an 1805 letter to William A. Burwell, “I have long since given up the expectation of any early provision for the extinguishment of slavery among us. That same year he also related this idea to George Logan, writing, "I have most carefully avoided every public act or manifestation on that subject."  

Historical assessment

Scholars remain divided on whether Jefferson supported or condemned slavery and how he changed.   Francis D. Cogliano traces the development of competing emancipationist then revisionist and finally contextualist interpretations from the 1960s to the present. The emancipationist view, held by the various scholars at the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Douglas L. Wilson, and others maintains Jefferson was an opponent of slavery all his life, noting that he did what he could within the limited range of options available to him to undermine it, his many attempts at abolition legislation, the manner in which he provided for slaves, and his advocacy of their more humane treatment.   The revisionist view, advanced by Paul Finkelman and others criticizes Jefferson for racism, for holding slaves, and for acting contrary to his words, as Jefferson never freed most of his slaves, and he remained silent on the issue while he was President.  Contextualists such as Joseph J. Ellis emphasize a change in Jefferson’s thinking from emancipationist before 1783, noting a shift toward public passivity and procrastination on policy issues related to slavery. Jefferson seemed to yield to public opinion by 1794 as he laid the groundwork for his first presidential campaign against Adams in 1796. 

Jefferson–Hemings controversy 

Claims that Jefferson fathered Sally Hemings' children have been debated since 1802. That year James T. Callender, after being denied a position as postmaster, alleged Jefferson had taken Hemings as a concubine and fathered several children with her.  In 1998, a panel of researchers conducted a Y-DNA study of living descendants of Jefferson's uncle, Field, and of a descendant of Hemings' son, Eston Hemings. The results, published in the journal Nature, showed a match with the male Jefferson line.  According to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, since the results of the DNA tests were made public, most historians believe Jefferson had a relationship with Hemings.  In 2000, the Thomas Jefferson Foundation (TJF) assembled a team of historians whose report concluded that "the DNA study … indicates a high probability that Thomas Jefferson fathered Eston Hemings."  Other scholars maintain the evidence is insufficient to prove Jefferson's paternity conclusively.  They note the possibility that additional Jefferson males, including his brother Randolph Jefferson and Randolph's five sons, could have fathered Eston Hemings or Sally Hemings' other children.   After Thomas Jefferson's death, although not formally manumitted, Sally Hemings was allowed by Jefferson's daughter Martha to live in Charlottesville as a free woman until her death in 1835. 

Interests and activities 

Jefferson was a farmer, obsessed with new crops, soil conditions, garden designs, and scientific agricultural techniques. His main cash crop was tobacco, but its price was usually low and it was rarely profitable. He tried to achieve self-sufficiency with wheat, vegetables, flax, corn, hogs, sheep, poultry, and cattle to supply his family, slaves, and employees, but he had cash flow problems and was always in debt. 

In the field of architecture, Jefferson helped popularize the Neo-Palladian style in the United States utilizing designs for the Virginia State Capitol, the University of Virginia, Monticello, and others.  Jefferson mastered architecture through self-study, using various books and classical architectural designs of the day. His primary authority was Andrea Palladio's The Four Books of Architecture, which outlines the principles of classical design. 

He was interested in birds and wine, and was a noted gourmet; he was also a prolific writer and linguist, and spoke several languages.Hayes, 2008, pp. 135–36 As a naturalist, he was fascinated by the Natural Bridge geological formation, and in 1774 successfully acquired the Bridge by grant from George III. 

American Philosophical Society 

Jefferson was a member of the American Philosophical Society for 35 years, beginning in 1780. Through the Society he advanced the sciences and Enlightenment ideals, emphasizing that knowledge of science reinforced and extended freedom.Hayes, 2008, p. 432 His Notes on the State of Virginia was written in part as a contribution to the Society.TJF: "American Philosophical Society"He became the Society's third president on March 3, 1797, a few months after he was elected Vice President of the United States.Bernstein, 2003, pp. 118–19 In accepting, Jefferson stated: "I feel no qualification for this distinguished post but a sincere zeal for all the objects of our institution and an ardent desire to see knowledge so disseminated through the mass of mankind that it may at length reach even the extremes of society, beggars and kings."

Jefferson served as APS President for the next eighteen years, including through both terms of his presidency. He introduced Meriwether Lewis to the Society, where various scientists tutored him in preparation for the Lewis and Clark Expedition.  He resigned on January 20, 1815, but remained active through correspondence. 

Linguistics 

Jefferson had a lifelong interest in linguistics, could speak, read and write in a number of languages, including French, Greek, Italian, and German. He claimed to have taught himself Spanish during his nineteen-day journey to France, using only a grammar guide and a copy of Don Quixote.  Linguistics played a significant role in how Jefferson modeled and expressed political and philosophical ideas. He believed that the study of ancient languages was essential in understanding the roots of modern language.Hellenbrand, 1990, pp. 155–56 He collected and understood a number of American Indian vocabularies and instructed Lewis and Clark to record and collect various Indian dialects during their Expedition.  In his early years he excelled in classical language while at boarding school  where he received a classical education in Greek and Latin.  He later came to regard the Greek language as the "perfect language" as expressed in its laws.Bober, 2008, p. 16 While attending the College of William & Mary, he taught himself Italian.TJF: Italy – Language Here Jefferson first became familiar with the Anglo-Saxon language, especially as it was associated with English Common law and system of government and studied the language in a linguistic and philosophical capacity. He owned 17 volumes of Anglo-Saxon texts and grammar and later wrote an essay on the Anglo-Saxon language.

Jefferson was not a good orator and preferred to communicate through writing or remain silent if possible. Instead of delivering his State of the Union addresses himself, Jefferson wrote the annual messages and sent a representative to read them aloud in Congress. This started a tradition which continued until 1913, when President Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921) chose to deliver his own State of the Union address. 

Inventions 

Jefferson invented many small practical devices and improved contemporary inventions, including a revolving book-stand and a "Great Clock" powered by the gravitational pull on cannonballs. He improved the pedometer, the polygraph (a device for duplicating writing),  and the moldboard plow, an idea he never patented and gave to posterity.  Jefferson can also be credited as the creator of the swivel chair, the first of which he created and used to write much of the Declaration of Independence. 

As Minister to France, Jefferson was impressed by the military standardization program known as the Système Gribeauval, and initiated a program as president to develop interchangeable parts for firearms. For his inventiveness and ingenuity, he received several honorary Doctor of Law degrees. 

Historical reputation 

Jefferson is an icon of individual liberty, democracy, and republicanism, hailed as the author of the Declaration of Independence, an architect of the American Revolution, and a renaissance man who promoted science and scholarship.  The participatory democracy and expanded suffrage he championed defined his era and became a standard for later generations.  Meacham opined, he was the most influential figure of the democratic republic in its first half century, succeeded by presidential adherents James Madison, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, and Martin Van Buren.  Jefferson is recognized for having written more than 18,000 letters of political and philosophical substance during his life, which Francis D. Cogliano describes as "a documentary legacy … unprecedented in American history in its size and breadth." 

Jefferson's reputation declined during the Civil War due to his support of states' rights. In the late 19th century, his legacy was widely criticized; conservatives felt his democratic philosophy had led to that era's populist movement, while Progressives sought a more activist federal government than Jefferson's philosophy allowed. Both groups saw Hamilton as vindicated by history, rather than Jefferson, and President Woodrow Wilson even described Jefferson as "though a great man, not a great American". 

In the 1930s, Jefferson was held in higher esteem; President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–45) and New Deal Democrats celebrated his struggles for "the common man" and reclaimed him as their party's founder. Jefferson became a symbol of American democracy in the incipient Cold War, and the 1940s and '50s saw the zenith of his popular reputation.  Following the African-American Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and '60s, Jefferson's slaveholding came under new scrutiny, particularly after a DNA test supported allegations he had a relationship with Sally Hemings. 

Noting the huge output of scholarly books on Jefferson in recent years, historian Gordon Wood summarizes the raging debates about Jefferson's stature:
Although many historians and others are embarrassed about his contradictions and have sought to knock him off the democratic pedestal...his position, though shaky, still seems secure." 

The Siena Research Institute poll of presidential scholars, begun in 1982, has consistently ranked Jefferson as one of the five best U.S. presidents,  and a 2015 Brookings Institution poll of American Political Science Association members ranked him as the fifth greatest president. 

Memorials and honors 

Jefferson has been memorialized with buildings, sculptures, postage, and currency. In the 1920s, Jefferson, together with George Washington, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, was chosen by sculptor Gutzon Borglum and approved by President Calvin Coolidge to be depicted in stone at the Mount Rushmore Memorial. 

The Jefferson Memorial was dedicated in Washington, D.C. in 1943, on the 200th anniversary of Jefferson's birth. The interior of the memorial includes a 19 ft statue of Jefferson and engravings of passages from his writings. Most prominent are the words inscribed around the monument near the roof: "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man." 

Writings 

* A Summary View of the Rights of British America (1774)
* Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms (1775)
*  [http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html Declaration of Independence (1776)]
* Memorandums taken on a journey from Paris into the southern parts of France and Northern Italy, in the year 1787
* Notes on the State of Virginia (1781)
* Plan for Establishing Uniformity in the Coinage, Weights, and Measures of the United States A report submitted to Congress (1790)
* "[https://archive.org/stream/anessaytowardsf00jeffgoog#page/n6/mode/2up An Essay Towards Facilitating Instruction in the Anglo-Saxon and Modern Dialects of the English Language]" (1796)
* Manual of Parliamentary Practice for the Use of the Senate of the United States (1801)
* Autobiography (1821)
* Jefferson Bible, or The Life and Morals of Jesus of Nazareth John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman who served as the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829. He also served as a diplomat, a Senator and member of the House of Representatives. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties.

In his biography, Samuel Flagg Bemis argues that Adams was able to "gather together, formulate, and practice the fundamentals of American foreign-policy – self-determination, independence, noncolonization, nonintervention, nonentanglement in European politics, Freedom of the Seas, [and] freedom of commerce." 

John Quincy Adams was the son of President John Adams and Abigail Adams. As a diplomat, Adams played an important role in negotiating key treaties, most notably the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. As Secretary of State, he negotiated with Britain over the United States' northern border with Canada, negotiated with Spain the annexation of Florida, and drafted the Monroe Doctrine. Historians agree he was one of the greatest diplomats and secretaries of state in American history.  

Adams was elected president in a close and controversial four-way contest in 1824. As president he sought to modernize the American economy and promote education. Adams enacted a part of his agenda and paid off much of the national debt.  However he was stymied time and again by a Congress controlled by his enemies, and his lack of patronage networks helped politicians eager to undercut him. He lost his 1828 bid for re-election to Andrew Jackson.

Adams is best known as a diplomat who shaped U.S. foreign policy in line with his ardently nationalist commitment to U.S. republican values. More recently, he has been portrayed as the exemplar and moral leader in an era of modernization. During Adams' lifetime, technological innovations and new means of communication spread messages of religious revival, social reform, and party politics. Goods, money, and people traveled more rapidly and efficiently than ever before. 

Adams was elected as U.S. Representative from Massachusetts after leaving office, serving for the last 17 years of his life with far greater acclaim than he had achieved as president. Animated by his growing revulsion against slavery,  Adams became a leading opponent of the Slave Power. He predicted that if a civil war were to break out, the president could abolish slavery by using his war powers. Adams also predicted the Union's dissolution over the slavery issue, but said that if the South became independent there would be a series of bloody slave revolts. 

Early life, education, and early career

John Quincy Adams was born on July 11, 1767, to John Adams and his wife Abigail Adams (née Smith) in a part of Braintree, Massachusetts that is now Quincy.  John Quincy Adams did not attend school, but was tutored by his cousin James Thax and his father's law clerk, Nathan Rice.  He was named for his mother's maternal grandfather, Colonel John Quincy, after whom Quincy, Massachusetts, is named.  His namesake great-grandfather died only two days after he was born.

Adams first learned of the Declaration of Independence from the letters his father wrote his mother from the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia. In 1779, Adams began a diary that he kept until just before he died in 1848.  The massive fifty volumes are one of the most extensive collections of first-hand information from the period of the early republic and are widely cited by modern historians.

Much of Adams' youth was spent accompanying his father overseas. John Adams served as an American envoy to France from 1778 until 1779 and to the Netherlands from 1780 until 1782, and the younger Adams accompanied his father on these diplomatic missions. Adams acquired an education at institutions such as Leiden University. He matriculated in Leiden January 10, 1781.   For nearly three years, beginning at the age of 14, he accompanied Francis Dana as a secretary on a mission to Saint Petersburg, Russia, to obtain recognition of the new United States. He spent time in Finland, Sweden, and Denmark and, in 1804, published a travel report of Silesia.  During these years overseas, Adams became fluent in French and Dutch and became familiar with German and other European languages. Adams, mainly through the influence of his father, had also excelled in classical studies and reached high fluency of Latin and Greek. Upon entering Harvard he had already translated Virgil, Horace, Plutarch, and Aristotle  and within six months memorized his Greek grammar and translated the New Testament.  He entered Harvard College and graduated in 1787 with a Bachelor of Arts degree, Phi Beta Kappa.  He studied law with Theophilus Parsons in Newburyport, Massachusetts from 1787 to 1789,  and earned a Master of Arts from Harvard in 1790.   He was admitted to the bar in 1791 and began practicing in Boston.

Early political career (1796–1817)

Washington administration

Adams first won national recognition when he published a series of widely read articles supporting Washington's decision to keep America out of the growing hostilities surrounding the French Revolution. Soon after, George Washington appointed Adams minister to the Netherlands (at the age of 26) in 1793. He did not want the position, preferring to maintain his quiet life of reading in Massachusetts, and probably would have rejected it if his father had not persuaded him to take it. On his way to the Netherlands, he was to deliver a set of documents to John Jay, who was negotiating the Jay Treaty. After spending some time with Jay, Adams wrote home to his father, in support of the emerging treaty because he thought America should stay out of European affairs. Historian Paul Nagel has noted that this letter reached Washington, and that parts of it were used by Washington when drafting his farewell address. 
While going back and forth between The Hague and London, he met and proposed to his future wife, Louisa Catherine Johnson. Though he wanted to return to private life at the end of his appointment, Washington appointed him minister to Portugal in 1796, where he was soon appointed to the Berlin Legation. Though his talents were far greater than his desire to serve, he was finally convinced to remain in public service when he learned how highly Washington thought of his abilities.  Washington called Adams "the most valuable of America's officials abroad," and Nagel believes that it was at this time that Adams first came to terms with a lifetime of public service.

He became a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1797.  When the elder Adams became president, he appointed his son in 1797 as Minister to Prussia at Washington's urging. There Adams signed the renewal of the very liberal Prussian-American Treaty of Amity and Commerce after negotiations with Prussian Foreign Minister Count Karl-Wilhelm Finck von Finckenstein. He served at that post until 1801.

While serving abroad, in 1797 Adams also married Louisa Catherine Johnson, the daughter of a poor American merchant, in a ceremony at the church of All Hallows-by-the-Tower, London. Adams remains the only president to have married a First Lady born outside of the United States.

Massachusetts politics

On his return to the United States, Adams was appointed a Commissioner of Monetary Affairs in Boston by a Federal District Judge; however, Thomas Jefferson rescinded this appointment. He again tried his hand as an attorney, but shortly afterward entered politics. John Quincy Adams was elected a member of the Massachusetts State Senate in April 1802. In November 1802 he ran as a Federalist for the United States House of Representatives and lost. 

The Massachusetts General Court elected Adams as a Federalist to the U.S. Senate soon after, and he served from March 4, 1803, until 1808, when he broke with the Federalist Party. Adams, as a senator, had supported the Louisiana Purchase and Jefferson's Embargo Act, actions which made him very unpopular with Massachusetts Federalists. The Federalist-controlled Massachusetts Legislature chose a replacement for Adams on June 3, 1808, several months early. On June 8, Adams broke with the Federalists, resigned his Senate seat, and became a Republican. 

Harvard professor

While a member of the Senate, Adams also served as a professor of logic at Brown University.  Disowned by the Federalists and not fully accepted by the Republicans, Adams used his Boylston Professorship of Rhetoric and Oratory at Harvard as a new base.  Adams' devotion to classical rhetoric shaped his response to public issues. He remained inspired by classical rhetorical ideals long after the neo-classicalism and deferential politics of the founding generation had been eclipsed by the commercial ethos and mass democracy of the Jacksonian Era. Many of Adams' idiosyncratic positions were rooted in his abiding devotion to the Ciceronian ideal of the citizen-orator "speaking well" to promote the welfare of the polis. 
Adams was influenced by the classical republican ideal of civic eloquence espoused by British philosopher David Hume.  Adams adapted these classical republican ideals of public oratory to America, viewing the multilevel political structure as ripe for "the renaissance of Demosthenic eloquence." Adams' Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory (1810) looks at the fate of ancient oratory, the necessity of liberty for it to flourish, and its importance as a unifying element for a new nation of diverse cultures and beliefs. Just as civic eloquence failed to gain popularity in Britain, in the United States interest faded in the second decade of the 19th century as the "public spheres of heated oratory" disappeared in favor of the private sphere. 

First U.S. minister to Russia

President James Madison appointed Adams as the first ever United States Minister to Russia in 1809 (though Francis Dana and William Short had previously been nominated to the post, neither presented his credentials at Saint Petersburg). After resigning his post at Harvard, Adams and his wife Louisa boarded a merchant ship in Boston on Aug. 5, 1809. Their youngest son was with them during the long and tedious voyage to St. Petersburg. Their voyage was temporarily interrupted outside the southern coast of Norway  due to the Gunboat War. They were at first boarded by a British officer who examined their papers and then, later that day, by a Norwegian officer who ordered the ship to Christiansand. In Christiansand, Adams discovered thirty-eight U.S. vessels which had been detained by the Norwegians and decided to take whatever action necessary to gain the release of both ships and crew as soon as possible. The voyage to St. Petersburg resumed but was once again stopped by a British squadron. Adams showed his commission to Admiral Albermarle Bertie, the commander of the Squadron who recognized the usage of nations and Adams as an ambassador. The usage of nations is common laws of nations founded on custom. Because of the many delays, the Adamses did not arrive in St. Petersburg until October 23, 1809.

Diplomatic relations

Count Nikolay Rumyantsev, Chancellor of the empire, formally received Adams, and requested a copy of his credential letter. Romanzoff assured Adams that his appointment pleased him personally. Adams presentation to the emperor was postponed however because of the temporary indisposition of Alexander I. Rumyantsev immediately invited Adams to a diplomatic dinner which included the French ambassador, Armand Augustin Louis de Caulaincourt, Duke of Vicenza, numerous foreign ministers then at the Russian Court, and many of the nobility. This was the same mansion Adams had dined in 1781, as secretary of Francis Dana.

Tsar Alexander I received Adams alone in his cabinet where he expressed his pleasure at Adams' appointment. Adams told Alexander that "the President of the United States had desired him to express the hope that his mission would be considered as a proof of respect for the person and character of his majesty, as an acknowledgment of the many testimonies of good-will he had already given to the United States, and of a desire to strengthen commercial relations between them and his provinces." Alexander replied, that, "in everything depending on him, he should be happy to contribute to the increase of their friendly relations; that it was his wish to establish a just system of maritime rights, and that he should adhere invariably to those he had declared."  After these official diplomatic greetings, Alexander and Adams discussed several other issues such as the policies of the different European powers, trade and commerce, and other mutually beneficial prospects, and that Russia and U.S. could be very useful to each other.

Adams was also given private audiences with the empress and the dowager empress, who also received Louisa Adams. While not officially a diplomat, Louisa Adams did serve an invaluable role as wife-of-diplomat, becoming a favorite of the czar and making up for her husband's utter lack of charm. She was an indispensable part of the American mission. 

Adams requested Rumyantsev to ask Alexander to act on behalf of the United States in securing the release of the American sailors and ships being held by the Danish. The Tsar ordered the Chancellor to request the release of the American property as soon as possible, which the Danish government complied with. Adams spent a great deal of time securing the release of American vessels and seamen from various "seizures and sequestrations."

In 1811, Adams received a commission from the Secretary of State as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Adams immediately declined and remained in St. Petersburg. In 1812, Adams reported the news of Napoleon's invasion of Russia and Napoleon's disastrous retreat. Also in 1812, Rumyantsev asked if he should request Alexander to mediate a pacification of hostilities between the United States and Great Britain. The U.S. accepted the offer and in July 1813, two associates of Adams, Albert Gallatin and James A. Bayard arrived in St. Petersburg to begin negotiations under mediation by Alexander. Gallatin was at that time Secretary of Treasury and the Senate rejected his appointment to the diplomatic mission as incompatible under the Constitution. However, this rejection did not occur until after Gallatin and Bayard had already left for St. Petersburg. In September, Lord William Cathcart delivered a British memoir to Alexander explaining their reasons for declining the mediation. Thus ended President Madison's hope that Alexander could end the war. 

Adams in Russian society

Adams was well liked by the Russian Court and often would be met on walks by Alexander. The Tsar asked Adams if he would be taking a house in the country over the summer. When Adams hesitated, the emperor stated with good humor that perhaps it was a financial consideration and Adams was able to respond in kind that it was in large part. Adams was a man who endeavored to live within the means provided by the American government. 

The Adamses were also provided with several invitations to various entertainments. "The formalities of these court presentations," Mr. Adams remarked, "are so trifling and insignificant in themselves, and so important in the eyes of princes and courtiers, that they are much more embarrassing to an American than business of greater importance. It is not safe or prudent to despise them, nor practicable for a person of rational understanding to value them."  Adams was concerned that the various balls and parties given by the Tsar and the foreign ministers, took too much time away from his official duties. Often these events would last until 4 a.m., so Adams stopped attending those he was able to avoid. The numerous diplomatic visits also annoyed Adams who wrote "I have been engaged the whole forenoon; and though I rise at six o'clock, I am sometimes unable to find time to write only part of a private letter in the course of the day. These visits take up so much of my time, that I sometimes think of taking a resolution not to receive them; but, on the other hand, so much information important to be possessed, and particularly relative to current political events, is to be collected from them, that they are rather to be encouraged than discountenanced."

In 1814, Adams was recalled from Russia to serve as chief negotiator of the U.S. commission for the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812 between the United States and United Kingdom.

Minister to the Court of St. James's

Finally, he was sent to be minister to the Court of St. James's (Britain) from 1815 until 1817, a post that was first held by his father. The name is derived from its location at St. James's Palace. In London, Adams was part of a U.S. Legation consisting of himself, two young secretaries and a small office in Craven Street, London WC2.  Since they were not particularly well paid, Adams and his wife Louisa lived in Ealing, at that time a village in the countryside, in order to maintain the expensive carriages and liveries which social appearance demanded.

U.S. Secretary of State (1817–1825)

Adams served as Secretary of State in the Cabinet of President James Monroe from 1817 until 1825. Typically, his views concurred with those espoused by Monroe. As Secretary of State, he negotiated the Adams–Onís Treaty (which acquired Florida for the United States), the Treaty of 1818, and wrote the Monroe Doctrine. Many historians regard him as one of the greatest Secretaries of State in American history.

The Floridas, still a Spanish territory but with no Spanish presence to speak of, became a refuge for runaway slaves and Native Americans. Monroe sent in General Andrew Jackson who pushed the Seminole south, executed two British merchants who were supplying weapons, deposed one governor and named another, and left an American garrison in occupation.  President Monroe and all his cabinet, except Adams, believed Jackson had exceeded his instructions. Adams argued that since Spain had proved incapable of policing her territories, the United States was obliged to act in self-defense. Adams so ably justified Jackson's conduct that he silenced protests from either Spain or Britain; Congress refused to punish Jackson. Adams used the events that had unfolded in Florida to negotiate the Florida Treaty with Spain in 1819 that turned Florida over to the U.S. and resolved border issues regarding the Louisiana Purchase.

With the ongoing Oregon boundary dispute, Adams sought to negotiate a settlement with England to decide the border between the western United States and Canada. This would become the Treaty of 1818. Along with the Rush–Bagot Treaty of 1817, this marked the beginning of improved relations between the British Empire and its former colonies, and paved the way for better relations between the U.S. and Canada. The treaty had several provisions, but in particular it set the boundary between British North America and the United States along the 49th parallel through the Rocky Mountains. This settled a boundary dispute caused by ignorance of actual geography in the boundary agreed to in the 1783 Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolutionary War. That earlier treaty had used the Mississippi River to determine the border, but assumed that the river extended further north than it did, and so that earlier settlement was unworkable.

By the time Monroe became president, several European powers, in particular Spain, were attempting to re-establish control over South America. On Independence Day 1821, in response to those who advocated American support for independence movements in many South American countries,  Adams gave a speech in which he said that American policy was moral support for independence movements but not armed intervention. Adams foresaw what would befall the United States if it sacrificed its republican spirit on the altar of empire. He stated that America "goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy" lest she "involve herself beyond power of extrication, in all wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force." The United States, Adams warned, might "become the dictatress of the world [but] she would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit." From this, Adams authored what came to be known as the Monroe Doctrine, which was introduced on December 2, 1823. It stated that further efforts by European countries to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed as acts of aggression requiring U.S. intervention.  The United States, reflecting concerns raised by the United Kingdom, ultimately hoped to avoid having any European power take over Spain's colonies.  It became a defining moment in the foreign policy of the United States and one of its longest-standing tenets, and would be invoked by many U.S. statesmen and several U.S. presidents, including Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and others.

1824 presidential election

As the 1824 election drew near people began looking for candidates. New England voters admired Adams' patriotism and political skills and it was mainly due to their support that he entered the race. The old caucus system of the Democratic-Republican Party had collapsed; indeed the entire First Party System had collapsed and the election was a fight based on regional support. Adams had a strong base in New England. His opponents included John C. Calhoun, William H. Crawford, Henry Clay, and the hero of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson. During the campaign Calhoun dropped out, and Crawford fell ill giving further support to the other candidates. When Election Day arrived, Andrew Jackson won, although narrowly, pluralities of the popular and electoral votes, but not the necessary majority of electoral votes.   With just over one-fourth voter turnout for the election, combined with Adams receiving less than one-third of the popular vote, Adams scored only 113,142 votes.

Under the terms of the Twelfth Amendment, the presidential election fell to the House of Representatives, which was to choose from the top three candidates: Jackson, Adams, and Crawford. Clay had come in fourth place and thus was not on the ballot, but he retained considerable power and influence as Speaker of the House.

Clay's personal dislike for Jackson and the similarity of his American System to Adams' position on tariffs and internal improvements caused him to throw his support to Adams, who was elected by the House on February 9, 1825, on the first ballot. Adams' victory shocked Jackson, who had won the most electoral and popular votes and fully expected to be elected president. When Adams appointed Clay as Secretary of State—the position that Adams and his three predecessors had held before becoming president—Jacksonian Democrats were outraged, and claimed that Adams and Clay had struck a "corrupt bargain". This contention overshadowed Adams' term and greatly contributed to Adams' loss to Jackson four years later, in the 1828 election.

Presidency (1825–1829)

Adams served as the sixth President of the United States from March 4, 1825, to March 4, 1829. He took the oath of office on a book of constitutional law, instead of the more traditional Bible . Adams proposed an elaborate program of internal improvements (roads, ports and canals), a national university, and federal support for the arts and sciences. He favored a high tariff to encourage the building of factories, and restricted land sales to slow the movement west. Opposition from the states' rights faction of a hostile congress killed many of his proposals.  He also reduced the national debt from $16 million to $5 million, the remainder of which was paid off by his immediate successor, Andrew Jackson.

Paul Nagel argues that his political acumen was not any less developed than others were in his day, and notes that Henry Clay, one of the era's most astute politicians, was a principal adviser to Adams and supporter throughout his presidency. Nagel argues that Adams' political problems were the result of an unusually hostile Jacksonian faction, and Adams' own dislike of the office. Although a product of the political culture of his day, he refused to play politics according to the usual rules and was not as aggressive in courting political support as he could have been. He was attacked by the followers of Jackson, who accused him of being a partner to a "corrupt bargain" to obtain Clay's support in the election and then appoint him Secretary of State.  Jackson defeated Adams in 1828, and created the modern Democratic party thus inaugurating the Second Party System. 

Domestic policies

During his term, Adams worked on transforming America into a world power through "internal improvements," as a part of the "American System". It consisted of a high tariff to fund internal improvements such as road-building, and a national bank to encourage productive enterprise and form a national currency. In his first annual message to Congress, Adams presented an ambitious program for modernization that included roads, canals, a national university, an astronomical observatory, and other initiatives. The support for his proposals was mixed, mainly due to opposition from Jackson's followers. 

Some of his proposals were adopted, specifically the extension of the Cumberland Road into Ohio with surveys for its continuation west to St. Louis; the beginning of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, the construction of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal and the Louisville and Portland Canal around the falls of the Ohio; the connection of the Great Lakes to the Ohio River system in Ohio and Indiana; and the enlargement and rebuilding of the Dismal Swamp Canal in North Carolina.  One of the issues which divided the administration was protective tariffs, of which Henry Clay was a leading advocate. After Adams lost control of Congress in 1827, the situation became more complicated. By signing into law the Tariff of 1828, quite unpopular in parts of the south, he further antagonized the Jacksonians. 

Adams' generous policy toward Native Americans caused him trouble. Settlers on the frontier, who were constantly seeking to move westward, cried for a more expansionist policy. When the federal government tried to assert authority on behalf of the Cherokees, the governor of Georgia took up arms. Adams defended his domestic agenda as continuing Monroe's policies. In contrast, Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren instigated the policy of Indian removal to the west (i.e. the Trail of Tears). 

Foreign policies

Adams is regarded as one of the greatest diplomats in American history, and during his tenure as Secretary of State, he was the chief designer of the Monroe Doctrine.  He had witnessed the First Barbary War and the Second Barbary War against the Arab pirates of North Africa, and the Greek War of Independence from the Ottoman Turks. Public opinion in the U.S. strongly favored the Greek cause and such leaders as Henry Clay called for intervention. Adams strongly opposed any entanglement in European affairs.  According to Charles Edel, Adams believed that, "Intervention would accomplish little, retard the cause of republicanism, and distract the country from its primary goal of continental expansion". Moreover, fearful that U.S. intentions would outstrip its capabilities, Adams thought that projecting U.S. power abroad would weaken its gravitational force on the North American continent. 

On July 4, 1821, he gave an address to Congress:
... But she [the United States of America] goes not abroad, in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to the freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. 

During his term as president, however, Adams achieved little of long-term consequence in foreign affairs. A reason for this was the opposition he faced in Congress, where his rivals prevented him from succeeding. Among his diplomatic achievements were treaties of reciprocity with a number of nations, including Denmark, Mexico, the Hanseatic League, the Scandinavian countries, Prussia and Austria. However, thanks to the successes of Adams' diplomacy during his previous eight years as secretary of state, most of the foreign policy issues he would have faced had been resolved by the time he became president. 

Administration and cabinet

Appointments

Supreme Court

* Robert Trimble – June 16, 1826 – August 25, 1828

States admitted to the Union

* None

Departure

John Quincy Adams left office on March 4, 1829, after losing the election of 1828 to Andrew Jackson. Adams did not attend the inauguration of his successor, Andrew Jackson, who had openly snubbed him by refusing to pay the traditional "courtesy call" to the outgoing president during the weeks before his own inauguration. He was one of only four presidents who chose not to attend their respective successor's inauguration; the others were his father, Andrew Johnson, and Richard Nixon.

1828 presidential election

After the inauguration of Adams in 1825, Jackson resigned from his senate seat. For four years he worked hard, with help from his supporters in Congress, to defeat Adams in the presidential election of 1828. The campaign was very much a personal one. As was the tradition of the day and age in American presidential politics, neither candidate personally campaigned, but their political followers organized many campaign events. Both candidates were rhetorically attacked in the press. This reached a low point when the press accused Jackson's wife Rachel of bigamy. She died a few weeks after the elections. Jackson said he would forgive those who insulted him, but he would never forgive the ones who had attacked his wife.

Adams lost the election by a decisive margin. He won all the same states that his father had won in the election of 1800: the New England states, New Jersey, and Delaware, as well as parts of New York and a majority of Maryland. Jackson won the rest of the states, picking up 178 electoral votes to Adams' 83 votes, and succeeded him. Adams and his father were the only U.S. presidents to serve a single term during the first 48 years of the Presidency (1789–1837). Historian Thomas Bailey observed, "Seldom has the public mind been so successfully poisoned against an honest and high-minded man." 

Later congressional career (1830–1848)

Adams did not retire after leaving office. Instead he ran for and won a seat in the United States House of Representatives in the 1830 elections. This went against the generally held opinion that former Presidents should not run for public office. He was the first President to serve in Congress after his term of office, and one of only two former presidents to do so (Andrew Johnson later served in the Senate). He was elected to nine terms, serving as a Representative for 17 years, from 1831 until his death.

Adams ran for Governor of Massachusetts in 1833 on the Anti-Masonic ticket.  Incumbent National Republican Governor Levi Lincoln, Jr. was retiring and Adams faced National Republican John Davis, Democrat Marcus Morton and Samuel L. Allen of the Working Men's Party. Davis won a plurality, 40%, and Adams took 29% with Morton taking 25% and Allen 6%. Because no candidate had won a majority, the election was sent to the state legislature to decide. Adams withdrew and endorsed Davis, preferring him over Morton, and Davis was chosen by the legislature in January 1834.

In authoring a change to the Tariff of 1828, he was instrumental to the compromise that ended the Nullification Crisis. When James Smithson died and left his estate to the U.S. government to build an institution of learning, many in Congress wanted to use the money for other purposes. Adams was key to ensuring that the money was instead used to build the Smithsonian Institution.  In 1839, he was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society. 

Committee assignments

In Congress, he was chair of the Committee on Commerce and Manufactures, the Committee on Indian Affairs and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. 

Slavery

A longtime opponent of slavery, Adams used his new role in Congress to fight it. In 1836, Southern Representatives voted in a "gag rule" that immediately tabled any petitions about slavery, thus preventing any discussion or debate of the slavery issue. He became a forceful opponent of this rule and conceived a way around it, attacking slavery in the House for two weeks.

The gag rule prevented him from bringing slavery petitions to the floor, but he brought one anyway. It was a petition from a Georgia citizen urging disunion due to the continuation of slavery in the South. Though he certainly did not support it and made that clear at the time, his intent was to antagonize the pro-slavery faction of Congress into an open fight on the matter. The plan worked.

The petition infuriated his Congressional enemies, many of whom were agitating for disunion themselves. They moved for his censure over the matter, enabling Adams to  discuss slavery openly during his subsequent defense. Taking advantage of his right to defend himself, Adams delivered prepared and impromptu remarks against slavery and in favor of abolition. Knowing that he would probably be acquitted, he changed the focus from his own actions to those of the slaveholders, speaking against the slave trade and the ownership of slaves.  He decided that if he were censured, he would merely resign, run for the office again, and probably win easily. When his opponents realized that they played into his political strategy, they tried to bury the censure. Adams made sure this did not happen, and the debate continued. He attacked slavery and slaveholders as immoral and condemned the institution while calling for it to end. After two weeks, a vote was held, and he was not censured. He delighted in the misery he was inflicting on the slaveholders he so hated, and prided himself on being "obnoxious to the slave faction."

Although the censure of Adams over the slavery petition was ultimately abandoned, the House did address the issue of petitions from enslaved persons at a later time. Adams again argued that the right to petition was a universal right, granted by God, so that those in the weakest positions might always have recourse to those in the most powerful. Adams also called into question the actions of a House that would limit its own ability to debate and resolve questions internally. After this debate, the gag rule was ultimately retained. 

The discussion ignited by his actions and the attempts of others to quiet him raised questions of the right to petition, the right to legislative debate, and the morality of slavery. During the censure debate, Adams said that he took delight in the fact that southerners would forever remember him as "the acutest, the astutest, the archest enemy of southern slavery that ever existed".

In 1844, he chaired a committee for reform of the rules of Congress, and he used this opportunity to try once again to repeal the gag rule. He spent two months building support for this move, but due to northern opposition, the rule narrowly survived. He fiercely criticized northern Representatives and Senators, in particular Stephen A. Douglas, who seemed to cater to the slave faction in exchange for southern support. His opposition to slavery made him, along with Henry Clay, one of the leading opponents of Texas annexation and the Mexican–American War. He correctly predicted that both would contribute to civil war. After one of his reelection victories, he said that he must "bring about a day prophesied when slavery and war shall be banished from the face of the earth." He wrote in his private journal in 1820: 

In 1841, at the request of Lewis Tappan and Ellis Gray, Adams joined the case of United States v. The Amistad. Adams went before the Supreme Court on behalf of African slaves who had revolted and seized the Spanish ship Amistad. Adams appeared on 24 February 1841, and spoke for four hours. His argument succeeded; the Court ruled in favor of the Africans, who were declared free and returned to their homes.  Among his opponents was US President Martin Van Buren who had carried the fight over the Amistad slaves to the US Supreme Court}. In the following years, the Spanish government continued to press the US for compensation for the ship, cargo and slaves. Several southern lawmakers introduced resolutions into the United States Congress to appropriate money for such payment but failed to gain passage, although supported by Democratic presidents James K. Polk and James Buchanan.

Photography

In 1843, Adams sat for the earliest confirmed photograph still in existence of a U.S. president, although other sources contend that William Henry Harrison had posed even earlier for his portrait, in 1841.  The original daguerreotype is in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery of the Smithsonian Institution. 

Living Bridge between American Revolution and Civil War

Although there is no indication that the two were close, Adams met Abraham Lincoln during the latter's sole term as a member of the House of Representatives, from 1847 until Adams' death. Thus, it has been suggested that Adams is the only major figure in American history who knew both the Founding Fathers and Abraham Lincoln; however, this is not so as Martin Van Buren met Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, knew Founder Aaron Burr (Van Buren's mentor), and met the young Lincoln while on a campaign trip through Illinois.

Nullification crisis

Besides his opposition to slavery and the gag rule (discussed above), his congressional career is remembered for several other key accomplishments. Shortly after Adams entered Congress, the Nullification Crisis threatened civil war over the Tariff of 1828. Adams authored an alteration to the tariff, which weakened it and diffused the crisis. Congress also passed the Force Bill which authorized President Andrew Jackson to use military force if Adams' compromise bill did not force the belligerent states to capitulate. There was no need, however, because Adams' compromise defused the issue. The compromise actually did not alter the tariff as much as the southern states had hoped, though they agreed not to continue pursuing the issue for fear of civil war.

Advancement of science

Adams also became a leading force for the advancement of science. As president, he had proposed a national observatory, which did not win much support. In 1829 British scientist James Smithson died, and left his fortune for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge." In Smithson's will, he stated that should his nephew, Henry James Hungerford, die without heirs, the Smithson estate would go to the government of the United States to create an "Establishment for the increase & diffusion of Knowledge among men." After the nephew died without heirs in 1835, President Andrew Jackson informed Congress of the bequest, which amounted to about US$500,000 ($75,000,000 in 2008 U.S. dollars after inflation). Adams realized that this might allow the United States to realize his dream of building a national institution of science and learning. Adams thus became Congress' primary supporter of what would become the Smithsonian Institution. He also relentlessly pursued support for astronomical efforts and observatories, seeking a national observatory for the United States.  In 1825 Adams signed a bill for the creation of a national observatory just before leaving presidential office. His efforts led to the founding in 1830 of what is now the oldest, still-operational scientific institution of the United States, the United States Naval Observatory.  Adams in fact spent many nights at the Observatory, with celebrated national astronomer and oceanographer Matthew Fontaine Maury, watching and charting the stars, which had always been one of Adams' avocations.

As for efforts to found the Smithsonian Institution, the money was invested in shaky state bonds, which quickly defaulted. After heated debate in Congress, Adams successfully argued to restore the lost funds with interest.  Though Congress wanted to use the money for other purposes, Adams successfully persuaded Congress to preserve the money for an institution of science and learning. Congress also debated whether the federal government had the authority to accept the gift, though with Adams leading the initiative, Congress decided to accept the legacy bequeathed to the nation and pledged the faith of the United States to the charitable trust on July 1, 1836. 

Likewise, Adams' project on a national University would not be realized in his lifetime; the American University would be chartered in 1893.

Death

In 1846, the 78-year-old former president suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. After a few months of rest, he made a full recovery and resumed his duties in Congress. When Adams entered the House chamber, everyone "stood up and applauded."  On February 21, 1848, the House of Representatives was discussing the matter of honoring U.S. Army officers who served in the Mexican–American War. Adams had been a vehement critic of the war, and as Congressmen rose up to say, "Aye!" in favor of the measure, he instead yelled, "No!"  He rose to answer a question put forth by the Speaker of the House.  Immediately thereafter, Adams collapsed, having suffered a massive cerebral hemorrhage.  Two days later, on February 23, he died with his wife and youngest son at his side in the Speaker's Room inside the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. His last words were "This is the last of earth. I am content." He died at 7:20 p.m. An obscure one-term congressman named Abraham Lincoln was assigned to the committee making the funeral arrangements. Pohl, Robert S., [https://books.google.com/books?id2yl_AgAAQBAJ&pg
PA20&dqLincoln+Adams+Funeral&hl
en&saX&ved
0ahUKEwiotNqv7ffLAhVF5yYKHQhVBAYQ6AEIIjAB#vonepage&q
Lincoln%20Adams%20Funeral&f=false Abraham Lincoln on Capitol Hill] published in Abraham Lincoln and the End of Slavery in the District of Columbia (edited by Robert S. Pohl and John R. Wennersten), Eastern Branch Press, Washington, D.C. (2009). ISBN 978-0-578-01688-7.

His original interment was temporary, in the public vault at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. Later, he was interred in the family burial ground in Quincy, Massachusetts, across from the First Parish Church, called Hancock Cemetery. After Louisa's death in 1852, his son Charles Francis Adams had his parents reinterred in the expanded family crypt in the United First Parish Church across the street, next to John and Abigail. Both tombs are viewable by the public. Adams' original tomb at Hancock Cemetery is still there and marked simply "J.Q. Adams". 

Personal life

John Quincy Adams and Louisa Catherine Adams had three sons and a daughter. Their daughter, Louisa, was born in 1811 but died in 1812 while the family was in Russia. They named their first son George Washington Adams (1801–1829) after the first president. Both George and their second son, John (1803–1834), led troubled lives and died in early adulthood.   (George committed suicide and John was expelled from Harvard before his 1823 graduation.)

File:George Washington Adams.jpg|center|George Washington Adams by Charles King
File:John Adams II.jpg|center|John Adams II
File:Charles Francis Adams.jpg|Center|Charles Francis Adams

Adams' youngest son, Charles Francis Adams (who named his own son John Quincy), also pursued a career in diplomacy and politics. In 1870 Charles Francis built the first memorial presidential library in the United States, to honor his father. The Stone Library includes over 14,000 books written in twelve languages. The library is located in the "Old House" at Adams National Historical Park in Quincy, Massachusetts.

John Adams and John Quincy Adams were the only father and son to serve as presidents until George H. W. Bush (1989–1993) and George W. Bush (2001–2009).

Adams has been determined to have the highest I.Q. of any U.S. President.  

Legacy

John Quincy Adams Birthplace is now part of Adams National Historical Park and open to the public. The name Quincy has been used for at least nineteen other places in the United States. Those places were either directly or indirectly named for John Quincy Adams (for example, Quincy, Illinois, was named in honor of Adams while Quincy, California, was named for Quincy, Illinois).

Adams House, one of twelve undergraduate residential Houses at Harvard University, is named in honor of John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and other members of the Adams family who were associated with Harvard. 

Adams was the first president to have his photograph taken.  He also became the first president to adopt a short haircut instead of long hair tied in a queue and to regularly wear long trousers instead of knee breeches. He is probably best known as a diplomat who shaped America's foreign policy in accordance with his ardently nationalist views, and is widely considered by historians to have been one of the greatest diplomats in American history. He was key to the negotiation of several important treaties, such as the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812, and the Florida Treaty, which resulted in the annexation of Florida. He also formulated the Monroe Doctrine, which is invoked to the present day. He is viewed by many as the exemplar and moral leader in an era of modernization. During this era, new technologies and networks of infrastructure and communication brought to the people messages of religious revival, social reform, and party politics, as well as moving goods, money, and people ever more rapidly and efficiently.

Though he was always quite hostile to slavery, nearly to be point of being an abolitionist (although he doubted the abolitionists could successfully end slavery), he grew even more hostile to it later in life. Adams became a leading opponent of slave power and articulated a theory whereby the president could abolish slavery by using his war powers, a correct prediction of Abraham Lincoln's use of the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. Adams predicted the likelihood of the Union's dissolution over the slavery issue, and was a key opponent of the Mexican–American War for this reason. Though he later described his presidency as the unhappiest time of his life, scholars rate John Quincy Adams in the second quartile in the majority of historical presidential rankings.

Historians have often included Adams among the leading conservatives of his day.     Russell Kirk, however, sees Adams as a flawed conservative who was imprudent in opposing slavery.

Diaries

One of Adams' most important legacies is his massive diary, which he began in 1779 at age 12 with the simple entry "A journal, by me, J.Q.A." The Diary, housed at the Massachusetts Historical Society, covers, in extraordinary detail, Adams' life and experiences up to his death in 1848. The massive fifty volumes are one of the most extensive collections of first-hand information from that period of the early American republic, and are cited by historians in a wide range of matters pertaining to that period.

Personality

Adams' personality was much like that of his father, as were his political beliefs. Throughout his life, he always preferred reading in seclusion to attending social engagements, and several times had to be pressured by others to remain in public service. Historian Paul Nagel argues that, like Abraham Lincoln after him, Adams suffered from depression for much of his life. Early in his life he sought some form of treatment. Adams thought his depression was due to the high expectations demanded of him by his father and mother. Throughout his life he felt inadequate and socially awkward because of his depression, and was constantly bothered by his physical appearance. He was closer to his father, whom he spent much of his early life with abroad, than he was to his mother. When he was younger and the American Revolution was going on, his mother told her children what their father was doing, and what he was risking, and because of this Adams grew to greatly respect his father. His relationship with his mother was rocky; she had high expectations of him and was afraid her children might end up a dead alcoholic like her brother. As Abigail Adams had feared, John Quincy's brother, Charles, would eventually follow this fate.

John Quincy fell in love shortly after he finished school, but his mother did not approve of his considering marriage when he was still dependent on his parents for support, and the relationship ended. When he fell in love with his future wife, Louisa Johnson, his mother disapproved of this relationship as well. His biographer, Nagel, concludes that this disapproval motivated him to marry Johnson in 1797, despite Adams' reservations that Johnson, like his mother, had a strong personality.

Marquis de Lafayette once gave Adams an alligator as a gift, which he lodged for months in the unfinished East Room of the White House, before building it its own lodge. Reports indicate he enjoyed showing it to visitors.  

Antislavery advocacy

Before 1820, Adams was best known as an exponent of American nationalism. Later in life, especially after his election to the House, he was famous as the most prominent national leader opposing slavery. He was not an abolitionist, say biographers Nagel and Parsons.  Remini notes that Adams thought the end of slavery would come by either civil war or the consent of the slave South, but definitely not through the work of abolitionists. 

The turning point came with the debate on the Missouri Compromise in 1820 when he broke with his friend John C. Calhoun, who became the most outspoken national leader in favor of slavery. They became bitter enemies. Adams vilified slavery as a terrible evil and preached total abolition, while Calhoun countered that the right to own slaves had to be protected from interference from the federal government to keep the nation alive. Adams said slavery contradicted the principles of republicanism, while Calhoun said that slavery was essential to American democracy, for it made all white men equal. Both men pulled away from nationalism, and started to consider dissolution of the Union as a way of resolving the slavery predicament. Adams predicted that if the South formed a new nation, it would be torn apart by an extremely violent slave insurrection. If the two nations went to war, Adams predicted the president of the United States would use his war powers to abolish slavery. The two men became ideological leaders of the North and the South.  In the House Adams became a champion of free speech, demanding that petitions against slavery be heard despite a "gag rule" that said they could not be heard. 

          
In 1841, Adams had the case of a lifetime, representing the defendants in United States v. The Amistad Africans in the Supreme Court of the United States. He successfully argued that the Africans, who had seized control of a Spanish ship on which they were being transported illegally as slaves, should not be extradited or deported to Cuba (a Spanish colony where slavery was legal) but should be considered free. Under President Martin Van Buren, the government argued the Africans should be deported for having mutinied and killed officers on the ship. Adams won their freedom, with the chance to stay in the United States or return to Africa. Adams made the argument because the U.S. had prohibited the international slave trade, although it allowed internal slavery. He never billed for his services in the Amistad case.  The speech was directed not only at the justices of this Supreme Court hearing the case, but also to the broad national audience he instructed in the evils of slavery. 

Adams repeatedly spoke out against the "Slave Power", that is the organized political power of the slave owners who dominated all the southern states and their representation in Congress.  He vehemently attacked the annexation of Texas (1845) and the Mexican War (1846–48) as part of a "conspiracy" to extend slavery. 

Film and television

Adams occasionally is featured in the mass media. In the PBS miniseries The Adams Chronicles (1976), he was portrayed by David Birney, William Daniels, Marcel Trenchard, Steven Grover and Mark Winkworth. He was also portrayed by Anthony Hopkins in the 1997 film Amistad, and again by Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Steven Hinkle in the 2008 HBO television miniseries John Adams; the HBO series received criticism for needless  historical and temporal distortions in its portrayal.
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