John Adams (1735-1826)

The subject of this biography, John Adams, was the first vice president of the United States and its second president. Before reaching those pinnacles, Adams was a Harvard graduate, a schoolmaster, a renowned and ethical lawyer and a legal and constitutional scholar. Adams was the loving husband of one of the most remarkable women in history, Abigail Smith Adams. He fathered five children (four of whom reached adulthood and one of whom followed him into law, diplomacy and the presidency) and seventeen grandchildren, whose lives he sought to guide in worthiness. Portly but fit, frugal and fiercely independent, his loves were family, farm, books, writing, country and God. Long walks calmed his moods, which ranged from high spirits to crankiness. He angered - and forgave - quickly. He cherished friends and readily confessed his ambition to succeed in life, something he saw as dangerous in other...