The king, aware of the poignancy of the occasion,
returned Adams's compliments and hoped that the "language,
religion, and blood" shared by the two nations would "have
their natural and full effect," but the British ministry
obstructed Adams's efforts to restore equitable commerce between
the two nations.
When he returned to the United States in 1788, Adams
was greeted by his countrymen as one of the heroes of independence
and was promptly elected vice-president under the new Constitution.
This post, regarded by Adams as "the most insignificant
office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination
conceived," left him time to work out his increasingly sober
views of republican government.
In Europe he had been impressed with both the unsuitability
of self-government for masses of destitute, ignorant people,
and the usefulness, in evoking patriotism and in maintaining
order, of the pomp and ceremony of monarchy. He was thus appalled,
but not surprised, at the riotous French Revolution and emphasized
the need for dignity, ritual, and authority in a republic like
the United States. He also supported the efforts of George
Washington to give the presidency an almost regal quality
and to extend executive power, and he agreed with Alexander
Hamilton on most of the latter's fiscal plans. He never accepted,
however, the "high" Federalist biases toward commercial
growth and government by "the rich, the well-born, and the
able."
Although his own presidency (1797-1801) was a troubled
one, Adams made uniquely important contributions during his term
as chief executive. He managed orderly transitions of power at
both the beginning and the end of his administration, and he
gave the government stability by continuing most of the practices
established under Washington.
The major crisis he faced, however, arose from strained
relations with revolutionary France. When, in the so-called XYZ
Affair (1797-98), American peace commissioners returned from
Paris with lurid stories of deceit and bribery, Adams called
for an assertion of national pride, built up the armed forces,
and even accepted the Alien and Sedition Acts as emergency national
security measures. With his opponents (led by Jefferson) charging
oppression and some of his own Federalist Party (led by Hamilton)
urging war and conquest, Adams kept his nerve and, when the opportunity
arose, dispatched another peace commission to France. This defused
the crisis and led in 1800 to an agreement with France that ended
the so-called Quasi-War. Nonetheless, deserted by Hamilton and
other Federalists who disapproved of his independent course,
and attacked by the Jeffersonian Republicans as a vain monarchist,
Adams was forced out of office after one term.
When he and Abigail returned to Massachusetts, they
moved into a comfortable but unpretentious house in Quincy (it
is known today and open to visitors as the Adams National Historic
Site) they had bought 12 years before. There, tending to his
fields, visiting with neighbors, and enjoying his family, John
Adams lived for 25 years as a sage and national patriarch. Of
his numerous correspondences, the cherished 14-year (1812-26)
one with Jefferson became a literary legacy to the nation. Although
the debilitations of old age and the death of his beloved Abigail
in 1818 troubled his last years, his mind remained sharp and
his spirit buoyant until the end.
Like Jefferson, he died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary
of the Declaration of Independence.
Ninety years old at his death, Adams was revered by his countrymen
not only as one of the founding fathers but also as a plain,
honest man who personified the best of what the nation could
hope of its citizens and leaders. |
John Adams