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Full Name: John Adams Born: October 30, 1735 Died: July 4, 1826 Political Party: Federalist Dates of the term: 1797-1801 Vice President: Thomas Jefferson (1797-1801)

I think that John Adams deserves the grade of a B+ for his term as president. Adams did many things to help the severely divided colonies. He made the wise decision of not starting a war with France, even though Adams was known for having an intense and vehement personality. But, what brings Adams grade down is his decision to pass the Alien and Sedition Acts, which brought extreme discredit among the Federalist party.

During Adams term as president his main point of focus was directed towards France. The ruling group in France had refused to recieve the American envoy and had suspended all commercial relations. Adams did not give up so easily, he sent three commissioners over to France to negotiate with the French government. As a result hostilities started to begin at sea, with the French attacking American ships. Adams made the decision to not call for a declaration of war, knowing that the country, at the time, was not financially stable enought to fight another war, especially after the war that was just ended. His goals as president were to establish a stable relationship with France and to end the hostile feelings between America and France, after quite a bit of fighting Adams accomplished peace with France by making a very unpopular decision to sign a peace treaty with France, although he reached his goal achieving this goal is what ended his presidency in 1801.

Congress supported Adams in the decisions that he made, providing money for his efforts to build new ships to defend America in the hostilities taking place at sea. They also passed the Alien and Sedition Acts which were intended to scare foreign agents out of the country and to stop the attacks against Republican editors. The only decision that Congress did not agree with was Adams decision to make peace with France, without the approval of Congress. The Convention of Paris is what subsided the "war fever" felt on both sides and ended the hostilities taking place between the two countries. Adams relationship with Congress was not at all what it used to be, making his popularity with Congress and Federalists to go down and the popularity of Thomas Jefferson to sky rocket, ending John Adams term as president in 1801.

Adams administration made a wise decision by passing the Alien and Sedition Acts during America's conflit with France. These acts were intended to scare scare foreign agents out of the country. Although these acts seemed unconstitutional they were necessary to the saftey of our country. After just fighting a long and drawn out war, Adams and his administration knew that our country was not stable enought to fight another war so soon. By passing these laws they drove war-hungry foreigners out of the country to lower the chances of more conflict breaking out. The decision to pass these acts eventually led to the peace treaty signed with France in 1800. Adams administration, however, did not agree with Adams decision to sign this treaty. Even though Adams when behind his administrations back to make peace with France, it was still a wise decision, for the sake of the country. Adams administration turned against him and did not reelect him for a second term simply because of this decision. The decision that Adams made to make peace with France was very wise but his administrations decision to turn against him was not at all a good decision.

Although Adams and his administrations decision to pass the Alien and Sedition Acts were in best interest for the country, the colonists did not agree with the decision that they made. The decision to pass these acts contributed to Thomas Jefferson's election in 1800 and led to the bad reputation for the Federalist Party. These decisions influenced people in future generations because the Federalist Party became very unpopular after Adams term as president, and the unpopularity of Adams and the Federalist Party was taught and felt by future generations, leading to the election of many Republican presidents.

The country, after Adams term as president, was better off at the end of his term, even though he was not favored by his citizens. The country was better off after his term as president because the country had now established peace with France, which was not done before his term, and his decision to not declare war saved the country a great amount of money. The citizens who did not at all favor Adams by the end of his term as president did not realize that the country was better off after his term, financially and in terms of global relations. This is why I give John Adams the grade of a B+ as president, because he decided to make decisions that were not favored by the citizens but were in the best interest of the country.


 * Bibliography**

Hromatko, Wesley. "John Adams". Unitarian Universialist Historical Society. February 3, 2010 .

"John Adams". The White House. February 3, 2010 .

"John Adams Biography". History Empire. February 3, 2010 .

"The Presidency of John Adams". Digital History. February 3, 2010 .