When the personal attachments of the Cabinet chiefs are considered, it is easy to imagine the dismay and consternation produced by the dealings of Adams with Jefferson.  By the time Adams consulted the members of his Cabinet, they had become suspicious of his motives and distrustful of his character.  Before long they were writing to Washington and Hamilton for advice, and were endeavoring to manage Adams by concerted action.  In this course they had the cordial approval of leading Federalists, who would write privately to members of the Cabinet and give counsel as to procedure.  Wolcott, a Federalist leader in Connecticut, warned his son, the Secretary of the Treasury, that Adams was “a man of great vanity, pretty capricious, of a very moderate share of prudence, and of far less real abilities than he believes himself to possess,” so that “it will require a deal of address to render him the service which it will be essential for him to receive.”

The policy to be pursued was still unsettled when news came of the insulting rejection of Pinckney and the domineering attitude assumed by France.  On March 25, Adams issued a call for the meeting of Congress on May 15, and then set about getting the advice of his Cabinet.  He presented a schedule of interrogatories to which he asked written answers.  The attitude of the Cabinet was at first hostile to Adams’s favorite notion of a special mission, but as Hamilton counseled deference to the President’s views, the Cabinet finally approved the project.  Adams appointed John Marshall of Virginia and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts to serve in conjunction with Pinckney, who had taken refuge in Holland.

Strong support for the Government in taking a firm stand against France was manifested in both Houses of Congress.  Hamilton aided Secretary Wolcott in preparing a scheme of taxation by which the revenue could be increased to provide for national defense.  With the singular fatality that characterized Federalist party behavior throughout Adams’s Administration, however, all the items proposed were abandoned except one for stamp taxes.  What had been offered as a scheme whose particulars were justifiable by their relation to the whole was converted into a measure which was traditionally obnoxious in itself, and was now made freshly odious by an appearance of discrimination and partiality.  The Federalists did improve their opportunity in the way of general legislation:  much needed laws were passed to stop privateering, to protect the ports, and to increase the naval armament; and Adams was placed in a much better position to maintain neutrality than Washington had been.  Fear of another outbreak of yellow fever accelerated the work of Congress, and the extra session lasted only a little over three weeks.