Welcome to Blogging the Presidents: A Voting While Intoxicated™ Almost Original Series. We will be taking a serious look at the 42 men who have led our country and hopefully finding a few laughable details.
PART II
When the Discovery Channel did a special series determining the 100 Greatest Americans a few years back (with all the pitfalls of using popular selection) John Adams was left off. In light of the popular David McCullough and the subsequent HBO mini-series, I suspect his name has been on the rise and he would not be so snubbed if the list were redone.
Though you will get those who are skeptical ultimately to the historical payoff of the war for independence (see Matthew Yglesias), if you accept the case for independence then John Adams’ strong leadership in declaring independence and doing what was necessary to see it through is to be commended. His vigor undoubtedly was related to the particular pressure placed on his colony of Massachusetts by the British. Yet he was no radical, even defending the rule of law and those accused of the Boston Massacre.
One of the more interesting things about John Adams is he presents one of the first clear cases in American History (albeit, a very new America at the time) of a vitally important female in the form of Abigail Adams. I felt one of the great things about the HBO show Rome was the way they display real female influence in a patriarchal society that gives them no official power. Abigail Adams had a similar role in guiding John Adams in his decisions, for better or worse.
Adams certainly did some good in his term keeping us out of European warring and generally keeping the country together when still in its infancy. Yet he was too passive in the face of Alexander Hamilton, especially in signing the Alien and Sedition acts, one of the most abominable pieces of law in our nation’s history. In an era before judicial review (which I should point out was established by Adams’ appointee Chief Justice John Marshall) this allowed the persecution of political opposition, one of the upmost sins in a democratic society.
Ultimately, he has enough good to avoid being cast toward the bottom of the Presidential rankings as a result of the Alien and Sedition acts, yet the seriously mar his resume and drag him down to a middle of the pack President in my book. I do not easily forgive grave violations of civil liberties.
On a lighter note, as VP, John Adams thought the President deserved a grandiose title to earn respect abroad. George Washington and Congress (wisely) disagreed. However, he did earn the title His Rotundity in jesting reference to his short, stocky stature. He was also the first resident of the White House. Curiously, the location of the nation’s capital, and the new Presidential manor, was in part the result of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison (Virginians both) agreeing to a policy of Alexander Hamilton in exchange for his support in getting the capital located on the border of Virginia. It seems deliciously appropriate for the location of our nation’s capital to be the result of logrolling.
