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= **John Adams** =

Born: October 30, 1735 Died: July 4, 1826 Political Party: Federalist Term: March 4, 1797- March 4, 1801 Vice President: Thomas Jefferson- 1797-1801

"By my physical constitution, I am but an ordinary man." John Adams may have thought this about himself yet he impacted the United States as its second leader, well out of ordinary status. He deserves a "B" for his time and efforts as president, because of the way he diplomatically dealt with the many situations thrown at him, for instance Fries Rebellion in 1799, and his determined but misunderstood demeanor. Although many people had looked at the president in a negative perspective, John Adams did the best he could for the country as its second president. In the first step of John Adams’ role as the president, he wanted to piece back together the relationship between the United States and France, which had crumbled in the previous years with the pro-British foreign policy of Washington. In his first attempt it failed, for the French Prime Minister wanted $250,000 that the Americans were not willing to give. Still after much convincing from other Federalists, Adams decided to still try to work out the disagreement, known as the XYZ Affair, peacefully. After a small undeclared war over the seas, Adams sent another peace mission to France which resulted in success. With the Convention of 1800, France accepted the U.S. Neutrality Rights at sea, and in return France was made an important trading partner of the U.S. Adams had two minor goals as well, ones that were not as significant or important. The first was to maintain the strong central government that had been developed by Washington in the previous terms. Though this seems like a difficult task to accomplish, Adams managed just as well as the first several presidents to do an okay job, since this was a common goal for those first presidents. The second minor goal was to build a great navy, and strengthen the military of America. While these goals weren’t carried out to the fullest, especially strengthening the military, Adams still was able to establish an American navy that would last for many future generations. Within Congress, John Adams seemed to get along well with his members. The majority of representatives happened to be Federalists, which worked out well in supporting Adams’ decisions and vice-versa. While in his presidency, John Adams had never vetoed a bill. Instead he passed a few, one of which is present today. The Naturalization Act in 1798 was designed to make the naturalization process for immigrants more demanding, but was repealed after Adams’ presidency in 1802. Also in 1798, he passed the Alien Act, Alien Enemies Act, and Sedition Act, in which the president could deport an "alien" considered to be dangerous, imprison enemy "aliens" during war, and give anyone a fine or time in prison for disagreeing with the policies of the government. These three acts came to an end in 1800 as to not affect the Federalists in the upcoming election. Meanwhile, the Logan Act in 1799, which prohibits an individual from negotiating with another country for the United States without approval, is still in effect today. Judging by the fact that John Adams never vetoed a bill and had Federalists in the majority of Congress, it is safe to say the relationship between himself and Congress had a very good connection. While not in the beginning, the XYZ Affair seemed to be the most important action of Adams and also had the most positive outcome. At first, he sent three men over to France to attempt a shot at repairing the broken relationship between them and the United States. When finding that the king refused, Adams immediately wanted to go into war. The democratic-republicans, including Thomas Jefferson, believed this was just an overreaction and an excuse to go to war. After much convincing from other Federalists, Adams sent out the documents that explained his point, substituting the three names with X, Y, and Z, which thus named the episode as the XYZ Affair. As two years passed Adams still wanted to find a diplomatic solution, and sent over three different men as a peace mission. Fortunately the king accepted this proposal and the Convention of 1800 was written, giving Adams the diplomatic solution he had been looking for. With this said, any problem that can be solved with diplomacy, especially between another country, can be considered a great positive outcome. Meanwhile the Midnight Appointments had the most negative outcome in Adams administration. Defeated in his reelection by Thomas Jefferson in 1801, Adams took the last days of his liberty as president to appoint numerous amounts of Federalists to judgeships and lesser court offices. In doing this, he hoped the incoming administration would have a hard time in receiving the opportunity to leave a lasting impression on the courts. He also thought it would act as a strong Federalist check on the Republicans, but Jefferson ended up dismissing many of Adams’ appointees anyway. This negative outcome was demonstrated by the immaturity on John Adams’ part and the fact that the Midnight Appointments had no effect on his leaving since Jefferson had most of them removed. Adams’ decision of diplomacy in handling the naval war with France saved the country from having to go to an actual war. If a war had commenced, there would have been problems in the country’s immediate and some of its lasting future. The United States was not prepared at an economic or military standpoint, and Adams was intelligent for handling the issue peacefully, since everyone around him was straining at the bit to head straight into war. Even though this issue is not looked at now as leaving a lasting impression, going into another war just twenty years after the Revolution would not have left a good mark for the country. Since history is a connected course of human events, any one situation that could have worked out differently might have completely influenced the way the United States is today. In conclusion, the United States was better off with the presidency of John Adams. In his term he diplomatically dealt with and created peace between the United States and French. He was also able to establish a navy and pass the Logan Act, both of which are still in effect today. While Adams had to put up with many of the negative criticisms from the people around him, he still followed his own intuition and managed to make the right choices for the American people. If not for the Midnight Appointments, Alien and Alien Enemy Acts, and Sedition Act, Adams would have received an "A" instead of a "B". Overall he acted as a diplomat, a dedicated but sometimes confusing man to the people around him, and a decent second president. __Bibliography:__ "American Experience | John & Abigail Adams | Timeline | PBS." //PBS//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. . "American President: John Adams." //Miller Center of Public Affairs//. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2010. . Degregorio, William A.. "John Adams." //The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Seventh Edition (Complete Book of Us Presidents)//. 7 ed. Fort Lee: Barricade Books, 2009. 19-34. Print. Kennedy, David M.. //American Pageant//. 12 ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. Print.