Vice President under George Washington April 12, 1789 until March 3, 1797
<
JOHN ADAMS was born October 30,
1735 and raised on his father’s farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. John was
small in height and build, though he soon became strong from laboring on the
farm. He also was a brilliant student, graduating from Harvard when he was
twenty and teaching school for a year. Young Adams then studied law and soon
became a lawyer in Braintree. Adams prospered and at twenty-nine married Abigail
Smith, a girl from nearby Weymouth. The couple had five children. One of
them, John Quincy Adams, became the
sixth president of the United States. The marriage lasted 54 years, until
Abigail’s death in 1818.
Representing Massachusetts at the Second Continental Congress in 1775,
John Adams was a fiery patriot who advocated full independence and helped
prepare the framework for the Declaration
of Independence. Impetuous and short tempered, he fought tirelessly in
committee and on the floor of the Congress. Though sitting with Congress for as
many as seven hours a day, six days a week, John Adams managed to find time to
write touching letters to his wife about the progress of independence. His
“Dear Abby” epistles are considered masterpieces. A note written to his
beloved wife on July 3, 1776, expressed his exuberance: Yesterday, the greatest
question was decided which ever was debated in America, and a greater perhaps
never was nor will be decided among men . . .” Later that day, he wrote:
“…It ought to be solemnized with pomp, and parade, with shows, games,
sports, ells, bonfires, and illuminations fro one end of this continent to the
other, from this time forward for evermore. You will think me transported with
enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure
that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration, and support and defend these
states.”
In 1789 George Washington
was elected president, and Adams became the first vice president of the United
States. Adams took office on April 30, 1789. He served as vice president under
Washington for eight years. Adams cast tie-breaking votes in his role as
president of the Senate, the new upper house of the Congress, on a variety of
issues such as U.S. neutrality in the new war between France
and Britain, the adoption of reprisals against Britain for interfering with
American shipping, and he supported financial measures proposed by Secretary
of the TreasuryAlexander
Hamilton. Adams stressed the necessity of a balanced government with
"an independent executive authority, an independent
senate, and an independent
judiciary power, as well as an independent house
of representatives."
In 1796 Washington, who had been elected president twice, declined to run
for a third term. The main candidates for the office were Thomas
Jefferson and John Adams. Adams won the presidency with Thomas Jefferson as
his vice president. It was the only time the nation has had a president and vice
president from different political parties.
John Adams was inaugurated as president at Federal Hall, Philadelphia,
which was then the capital, on March 4, 1797. Adams spent only the last few
months of his presidency at the new capital, Washington, D.C.
John Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration
of Independence. At the age of ninety, he had the longest life of all the
Presidents of the United States. Moreover, he was able to see his son, John
Quincy Adams become our nation’s sixth President.
ADAMS
CERTIFIES RECEIPT OF CONNECTICUT ELECTORAL VOTES
FOR PRESIDENT WASHINGTON AND VICE PRESIDENT ADAMS
An
official acknowledgement that Adams himself, a candidate for Vice President, has
received a tally of Connecticut's votes in the second Presidential elections
held under the Constitution: a vote which resulted in the re-election of Washington
and Adams. Washington's popularity had diminished little since 1789: Adams, on
the other hand, had alienated many of the Jeffersonians and there was a
concerted behind-the-scenes campaign to replace him with George
Clinton of New York. Even Adams good friend Benjamin
Rush "had so seem under the influence of Jefferson and his adherents
that he joined the movement to replace Adams"-2 (P. Smith, John
Adams.2:830)
Unaware
that the sealed envelope containing the electoral votes from Connecticut were
unanimous in supporting his re-election Adams writes in his own hand:
Philadelphia
- Dec. 14, 1792
Received
from the hand of Enoch Parsons, Esq. a Packet certified by the Electors of Connecticut
to contain a List of their Votes for President and Vice President of the United
States.
John Adams President
of the Senate of the United States
In
early November 1792, electors were chosen from the fifteen states; some
appointed by their state legislatures, others elected by popular vote. On 5
December the electors cast their ballots, which were formally transmitted to the
President of the US Senate. In February of the following year the electoral vote
was tabulated by Congress and Washington and Adams were officially declared reelected.
President Washington received 152 of the 264 electoral votes possible (each
elector cast two votes). Adams received 77 votes from 10 of the 15 states,
including all Connecticut's ballots. No more than fifteen receipts would have
been written by Adams (one per state). The only other example offered for sale
in recent years is his receipt for North
Carolina's tally of the same date, from the Philip Neufeld Collection.
We invite you to read a transcription
of the complete text of the Declaration as presented by the National Archives.
&
The article "The
Declaration of Independence: A History,"
which provides a detailed account of the Declaration, from its drafting through
its preservation today at the National Archives.
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Center for Legislative Archives (NWL), National Archives
Building, 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20408 PHONE:
202-501-5350 FAX: 202-219-2176
ADAMS, John, (father of John
Quincy Adams and grandfather of Charles Francis Adams), a Delegate from
Massachusetts and a Vice President and 2d President of the United States; born
in Braintree, Mass., October 19, 1735; was graduated from Harvard College in
1755; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1758 and commenced practice in
Suffolk County; joined the Sons of Liberty and argued against the Stamp Act; was
elected to represent Boston in the general court in 1768; Member of the
Continental Congress 1774-1777; signed the Declaration of Independence and
proposed George Washington, of Virginia, for General of the American Army;
became a member of the Board of War, but resigned to accept appointment as
commissioner to the Court of France; Minister Plenipotentiary to Holland 1782;
first Minister to England 1785-1788; elected in 1788 as the first Vice President
of the United States with George Washington as President; reelected in 1792 and
served from April 21, 1789, to March 3, 1797; elected President of the United
States and served from March 4, 1797, to March 3, 1801; delegate to the
constitutional convention of Massachusetts 1820; died in Quincy, Mass., July 4,
1826; interment under the old First Congregational Church, now called the United
First Parish Church.- -Biographical
Data courtesy of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
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