John Adams Born: Founding Father and Second President

John Adams defended the British soldiers responsible for the Boston Massacre of 1770 because he believed the rule of law required it. Six of the eight soldiers were acquitted. Two were convicted of manslaughter and branded on the thumb. His clients were the political enemies of his cause, armed agents of a colonial power that he wanted to overthrow. He defended them anyway, and later called it "one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country." Born in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts on October 30, 1735, Adams was the son of a farmer and shoemaker. He attended Harvard, studied law, and built a practice in Boston. His defense of the British soldiers made him unpopular with the radical faction but earned him a reputation for integrity that served him for the rest of his career. He became one of the leading advocates for American independence, pushing the Continental Congress toward the Declaration of Independence in 1776. He drafted the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780, which became a model for the U.S. Constitution and remains the oldest functioning written constitution in the world. He served as the first American minister to the Netherlands and to Britain, negotiating crucial loans and recognition. He served as Washington's vice president for eight years, a position he described as "the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived." He won the presidency in 1796 and spent his single term trying to keep the United States out of a war with France during the Quasi-War crisis. He succeeded, though the political cost was high: his own party split over the issue, and Alexander Hamilton worked against him. He signed the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798, which criminalized criticism of the government, the darkest mark on his political record. He lost the 1800 election to Thomas Jefferson and left Washington without attending the inauguration, the only president to do so until Andrew Johnson. He and Jefferson reconciled in old age, corresponding for fourteen years on philosophy, politics, and their shared history. They died on the same day, July 4, 1826, exactly fifty years after the Declaration of Independence. Adams's last words, reportedly, were: "Thomas Jefferson survives." Jefferson had died five hours earlier.