John+Adams

JOHN ADAMS (1735-1826) was the candidate for the Federalist party in the election of 1800. He had already served 1 term as the President of the United States from 1797-1801 and served as Vice-President to George Washington from 1789-1797. His chief opponents in the election of 1800 were Aaron Burr, a Democratic-Republican, and Thomas Jefferson, also a Democratic-Republican, who had served as the Vice-President during the Adams presidency. Before America gained its independence from Great Britain, Adams was a prominent lawyer in Boston, and grew to even higher prominence during the early stages of the American Revolution, and served as the delegate from Massachusetts in the Continental Congress. After the war, Adams continued to act as an important figure in the government of the young United States, acting as a diplomat to in Europe, he was appointed Minister to the Netherlands and to Great Britain. When George Washington ended his last term as president, Adams was elected, as the second president of the United States. Adams lost the election to Thomas Jefferson, it was a crippling political defeat. Adams lived until until 1826, when he died at the extremely old age of 90. He married Abigail Smith, and had several children, including John Quincy Adams, who also served as President of the United States. Portrait of John Adams, by Asher Brown Durand, c.1790-1800