John Adams (4 marzo 1797 anni – 4 marzo 1801 anni)
Descrizione:
(1735-1826)
VP: Thomas Jefferson
Franklin summed up what many thought of Adams when he said, "He means well for his country, is always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes, and in some things, absolutely out of his senses." Adams came to be seen as someone with a long, distinguished, and honorable career in public service, and a man of great patriotism and integrity, but whose vanity, stubbornness, and cantankerousness often got him into unnecessary trouble. Adams strongly felt that he would be forgotten and underappreciated by history. These feelings often manifested themselves through envy and verbal attacks on other Founders.
Historian George Herring argues that Adams was the most independent-minded of the Founders. Though he formally aligned with the Federalists, he was somewhat a party unto himself, at times disagreeing with the Federalists as much as he did the Republicans. He was often described as "prickly", but his tenacity was fed by decisions made in the face of universal opposition. Adams was often combative, which diminished presidential decorum, as he admitted in his old age: "[As President] I refused to suffer in silence. I sighed, sobbed, and groaned, and sometimes screeched and screamed. And I must confess to my shame and sorrow that I sometimes swore." Stubbornness was seen as one of his defining traits, a fact for which Adams made no apology.
In the 21st century, Adams remains less well known than many of America's other Founding Fathers. McCullough argued that "[t]he problem with Adams is that most Americans know nothing about him." Todd Leopold of CNN wrote in 2001 that Adams is "remembered as that guy who served a single term as president between Washington and Jefferson, and as a short, vain, somewhat rotund man whose stature seems to have been dwarfed by his lanky colleagues." He has always been seen, Ferling says, as "honest and dedicated", but despite his lengthy career in public service, Adams is still overshadowed by the dramatic military and political achievements and strong personalities of his contemporaries. Gilbert Chinard, in his 1933 biography of Adams, described the man as "staunch, honest, stubborn and somewhat narrow." In his two-volume 1962 biography, Page Smith lauds Adams for his fight against radicals such as Thomas Paine, whose promised reforms portended anarchy and misery. Ferling, in his 1992 biography, writes that "Adams was his own worst enemy." He criticizes him for his "pettiness ... jealousy, and vanity", and faults him for his frequent separations from his wife and children. He praises Adams for his willingness to acknowledge his deficiencies and for striving to overcome them. In 1995, Peter Shaw published The Character of John Adams. Ferling believes that the man who emerges is one "perpetually at war with himself", whose desire for fame and recognition leads to charges of vanity.
Aggiunto al nastro di tempo:
History of Leadership In The States
Data:
