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Meet John Adams – a Lively and Revolutionary Conversation with America's Second President

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Meet John Adams – a Lively and Revolutionary Conversation with America's Second President MEET JOHN ADAMS – A LIVELY AND REVOLUTIONARY CONVERSATION WITH AMERICA'S SECOND PRESIDENT CLE Credit: 1.0 Friday, May 13, 2016 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. Cascade Ballroom B Kentucky International Convention Center Louisville, Kentucky A NOTE CONCERNING THE PROGRAM MATERIALS The materials included in this Kentucky Bar Association Continuing Legal Education handbook are intended to provide current and accurate information about the subject matter covered. No representation or warranty is made concerning the application of the legal or other principles discussed by the instructors to any specific fact situation, nor is any prediction made concerning how any particular judge or jury will interpret or apply such principles. The proper interpretation or application of the principles discussed is a matter for the considered judgment of the individual legal practitioner. The faculty and staff of this Kentucky Bar Association CLE program disclaim liability therefore. Attorneys using these materials, or information otherwise conveyed during the program, in dealing with a specific legal matter have a duty to research original and current sources of authority. Printed by: Evolution Creative Solutions 7107 Shona Drive Cincinnati, Ohio 45237 Kentucky Bar Association TABLE OF CONTENTS The Presenter .................................................................................................................. i John Adams .................................................................................................................... 1 Interesting Facts .............................................................................................................. 3 John Adams .................................................................................................................... 5 THE PRESENTER George W. Baker John Adams Today 179 South Avenue #14 New Canaan, Connecticut 06840 (203) 273-5494 [email protected] GEORGE W. BAKER has portrayed the character of President John Adams in a one- man show since 2008. Dressed in the clothes Adams wore as President, 1797-1801, Mr. Baker as Adams talks about life with his wife Abigail and his views of history and society in a humorous and inspiring performance. When not on the road as President Adams, he is an attorney with Hawthorne, Ackerly & Dorrance, LLC in New Canaan and practices in the areas of employment and trial law. Mr. Baker received his B.A. from Columbia College and his J.D. from Columbia Law School. He is a member of the Connecticut Bar Association. i ii ∗ JOHN ADAMS Reprinted from https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/johnadams, last visited February 22, 2016 John Adams, a remarkable political philosopher, served as the second President of the United States (1797-1801), after serving as the first Vice President under President George Washington. Learned and thoughtful, John Adams was more remarkable as a political philosopher than as a politician. "People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity," he said, doubtless thinking of his own as well as the American experience. Adams was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1735. A Harvard-educated lawyer, he early became identified with the patriot cause; a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, he led in the movement for independence. During the Revolutionary War he served in France and Holland in diplomatic roles, and helped negotiate the treaty of peace. From 1785 to 1788 he was minister to the Court of St. James's, returning to be elected Vice President under George Washington. Adams' two terms as Vice President were frustrating experiences for a man of his vigor, intellect, and vanity. 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." When Adams became President, the war between the French and British was causing great difficulties for the United States on the high seas and intense partisanship among contending factions within the Nation. His administration focused on France, where the Directory, the ruling group, had refused to receive the American envoy and had suspended commercial relations. Adams sent three commissioners to France, but in the spring of 1798 word arrived that the French Foreign Minister Talleyrand and the Directory had refused to negotiate with them unless they would first pay a substantial bribe. Adams reported the insult to Congress, and the Senate printed the correspondence, in which the Frenchmen were referred to only as "X, Y, and Z." The Nation broke out into what Jefferson called "the X. Y. Z. fever," increased in intensity by Adams's exhortations. The populace cheered itself hoarse wherever the President appeared. Never had the Federalists been so popular. ∗ The Presidential biographies on WhiteHouse.gov are from The Presidents of the United States of America, by Frank Freidel and Hugh Sidey. Copyright 2006 by the White House Historical Association. 1 Congress appropriated money to complete three new frigates and to build additional ships, and authorized the raising of a provisional army. It also passed the Alien and Sedition Acts, intended to frighten foreign agents out of the country and to stifle the attacks of Republican editors. President Adams did not call for a declaration of war, but hostilities began at sea. At first, American shipping was almost defenseless against French privateers, but by 1800 armed merchantmen and U.S. warships were clearing the sea-lanes. Despite several brilliant naval victories, war fever subsided. Word came to Adams that France also had no stomach for war and would receive an envoy with respect. Long negotiations ended the quasi war. Sending a peace mission to France brought the full fury of the Hamiltonians against Adams. In the campaign of 1800 the Republicans were united and effective, the Federalists badly divided. Nevertheless, Adams polled only a few less electoral votes than Jefferson, who became President. On November 1, 1800, just before the election, Adams arrived in the new Capital City to take up his residence in the White House. On his second evening in its damp, unfinished rooms, he wrote his wife, "Before I end my letter, I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof." Adams retired to his farm in Quincy. Here he penned his elaborate letters to Thomas Jefferson. Here on July 4, 1826, he whispered his last words: "Thomas Jefferson survives." But Jefferson had died at Monticello a few hours earlier. 2 INTERESTING FACTS Reprinted from http://www.john-adams-heritage.com/facts/interesting-facts/, last visited February 22, 2016 Adams was the first lawyer-president. He was the only president of the first five U.S. presidents not to be a slaveholder. When John Adams became president the United States had a population of 4,900,000. He defended British soldiers that killed five Americans in the Boston Massacre. The soldiers were considered innocent. During the Continental Congresses he served on more committees than any other congressman – ninety in all, of which he chaired twenty. A letter Adams wrote to a friend expressing his discontent with the Olive Branch Petition was intersected before it reached England. King George III refused to read the petition claiming that it was insincere. He cast the tie-breaking vote at least thirty-one times during his eight years as Vice President and leader of the Senate, a record that has not been matched. During the presidential elections, when the final tabulation of votes arrived at the Senate, it was Adams who opened the envelope as President of the Senate. He won 71 votes against Jefferson’s 68. He was the first president to live in the White House; he moved in before it was finished. Adams was not a popular president. His independent mind led to political isolation, and unwilling to compromise he faced opposition from his own cabinet. He did not attend Jefferson’s inauguration. He was one of only three presidents not to attend his successor’s inauguration. His son John Quincy became the sixth President. There have been two father- son Presidents in American history: John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and George Bush and George W. Bush. Adams died on the same day as his rival Thomas Jefferson on July 4th, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. 3 4 JOHN ADAMS Reprinted from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams, last visited February 22, 2016 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),[1] and as a Founding Father was a leader of American independence from Great Britain.[2] 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
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