It is February 15th. Welcome to Episode 46 of History in a Year. Today, we profile the man who had the impossible job of following George Washington. John Adams takes the oath of office as the second President of the United States, but he is immediately mocked by his enemies as “His Rotundity.” We explore the brilliant, insecure, and often paranoid mind of John Adams—the “Colossus of Independence” who became a President without a party, hated by Alexander Hamilton and betrayed by Thomas Jefferson.
STEPHEN:
Welcome to History in a Year: America’s First 250 Years.
LEAH:
Join us every single day as we journey from the Revolution of 1776 to the 250th anniversary of the United States.
STEPHEN:
You can find every episode and join the discussion at PointedWords.com. I’m Stephen.
LEAH:
And I’m Leah.
STEPHEN:
It is February 15th. Welcome to Episode 46. Yesterday, we watched John Adams win the Election of 1796 by the skin of his teeth.
LEAH:
He beat Thomas Jefferson by just three votes. And on March 4, 1797, he was sworn in as the second President of the United States.
STEPHEN:
But before we get into his presidency, we have to talk about the man himself. Because John Adams is, without a doubt, the most complicated, frustrating, and human of all the Founding Fathers.
LEAH:
First, let’s address the nickname: “His Rotundity.”
STEPHEN:
This nickname actually started back when he was Vice President. Adams was obsessed with titles. He thought “President” sounded too plain. He wanted Washington to be called “His Highness, the President of the United States and Protector of their Liberties.”
LEAH:
The Senate thought this was ridiculous. They mocked him behind his back. And since Adams was short, stout, and a little bit pompous, they started calling him “His Rotundity.”
STEPHEN:
It hurt his feelings. And that is the key to understanding John Adams: He was incredibly thin-skinned.
LEAH:
He was brilliant. Thomas Jefferson called him “The Colossus of Independence.” No one worked harder for the Revolution. He nominated Washington to lead the army. He wrote the Massachusetts Constitution (which is the oldest functioning constitution in the world!).
STEPHEN:
But he never felt appreciated. He looked at Washington—who was tall, silent, and loved by everyone—and he felt jealous. He looked at Franklin—who was charming and famous—and he felt annoyed.
LEAH:
Adams wrote in his diary: “The history of our Revolution will be one continued lie… The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin’s electrical rod smote the earth and out sprang General Washington.”
STEPHEN:
He felt like he did all the work, and everyone else got the credit.
LEAH:
And now that he was President, his insecurity went into overdrive. Because he realized very quickly that he was a man without a party.
STEPHEN:
Technically, he was a Federalist. But the leader of the Federalist Party wasn’t John Adams. It was Alexander Hamilton.
LEAH:
And Hamilton despised Adams. He thought Adams was crazy. He called him “Mr. Adams,” never “President Adams.”
STEPHEN:
And on the other side, you had the Republicans, led by his own Vice President, Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson was actively undermining him, leaking secrets to the press, and hiring writers to attack him.
LEAH:
So Adams was completely isolated. He sat in the President’s House in Philadelphia (the White House wasn’t finished yet), surrounded by enemies.
STEPHEN:
And he made one huge mistake on Day One. He decided to keep George Washington’s cabinet.
LEAH:
He thought he was creating stability. But actually, he was keeping a nest of vipers.
STEPHEN:
Timothy Pickering (Secretary of State) and James McHenry (Secretary of War) were loyal to Hamilton, not Adams. They would literally write letters to Hamilton asking for orders, then come into the Oval Office and tell Adams what to do.
LEAH:
Adams didn’t realize this for years. He thought they were just giving him bad advice. In reality, they were sabotage agents.
STEPHEN:
But despite all this—the mockery, the isolation, the betrayal—John Adams had one superpower: Integrity.
LEAH:
He was stubborn. If he thought something was right, he would do it, even if it made everyone hate him.
STEPHEN:
He famously said, “I have always been afraid of myself.” He meant he was afraid of his own vanity. So he constantly checked himself to make sure he was doing what was best for the country, not what was best for his popularity.
LEAH:
And he needed that integrity. Because almost immediately, he faced a crisis that Washington had managed to avoid. War with France.
STEPHEN:
The French were furious about the Jay Treaty. They started seizing American ships. They refused to receive the American ambassador.
LEAH:
Hamilton and the Federalists were screaming for war. “Build an army! Attack Florida! Attack Louisiana!”
STEPHEN:
But Adams hesitated. He knew the US wasn’t ready. He wanted to try diplomacy one last time.
LEAH:
But he couldn’t do it alone. He needed a partner. And since his Vice President (Jefferson) wouldn’t talk to him, he turned to the only person he truly trusted.
STEPHEN:
His wife. Abigail Adams.
LEAH:
Abigail wasn’t just a First Lady. She was his chief political advisor. She was his “Portia.”
STEPHEN:
Join us tomorrow for Episode 47. Abigail. We profile the most politically active woman of her generation. We read her famous “Remember the Ladies” letter, and we see how she helped John Adams navigate the shark-infested waters of the presidency.
LEAH:
I’m Leah.
STEPHEN:
And I’m Stephen.
STEPHEN:
You can find every episode at PointedWords.com. And this… is our story.