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Theme: Culture Born: October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826 in Massachusetts Terms of Office: 1797-1801 Vice President: Thomas Jefferson Political Party: Federalist John Adams was very good president that had the tough job of helping to develop the United State which only him, George Washington and a few presidents after had to deal with. In my book that gets him an A. The government only had a few departments and a small army and no navy. He built up the U.S. Navy, fought the Quasi War, and appointed John Marschell to the Supreme Court. He accomplished many good things and was a solid strong president. The Alien and Sedition Acts which gave them authority to deal with aliens and do things such as force them to become residents of the country. That seems like an advanced topic to deal with at the time and only a smart president would think of that. One of his overall goals was to protect the country. The relationship with France was in bad terms and they needed more man power to protect the United States. Even though the French helped America fight in the Revolution, the bribes of the XYZ Affair was taken upon America as an insult. He set out to stop the on American interest by the French and starting attacking French ships. Eventually this lead to an all out Navel battle between France and the U.S. John started the U.S. Navy since before they had none. This gave the people in the country at the time a sense of pride about their country which still last today. It also gave the French something to battle even though it was never officially a War, battles were fought. Adams knowing he could not beat the famous and powerful French Navy sent a peace treaty to Napoleon who signed it in agreement because the fighting going on was pointless. Expanding the Army was a smart decision on his part and that gave the Americans a sense of being a "power house" like we are today, meaning Americans take great pride in the military and make it a great deal and give soldiers up most respect for what they do. Going along with the goal to protect the country, meant controlling the people that came here from other countries. The Alien and Sedition act (made up of four acts) took care of this. The first the Naturalization Act said that all aliens must become citizens for 5 to 14 years to increase the time spent in the country. This also replaced the Naturalization Act of 1795. The Alien Act gave the President power to deport any aliens deemed harmful to the U.S. The third act is Alien Enemies Act gave the President power to deport any Aliens that were from a country that the U.S. was currently at war with. The fourth was Sedition Act which made it a crime to Publish false information about the government. This could have caused the Americans to feel that aliens are seen as bad and are not wanted in the country. If that was not the case then, it is sometimes the case now in todays culture. Overall I think John Adams did a great job of overcoming his goals of when he was a president. John Adams seemed to have no problems working with congress. Many bills were passed and some just to keep relations well with the Democratic-Republicans. His administration was also very well. He added the Secretary of the Navy. Benjamin Stoddert was in charge of that and was well needed for the security of the country. One of the negative parts was the country did not have enough funding for the Navy to have very many ships. A positive outcome though that it helped prevent a war with France. Although it was called the Quasi War it was never official, but would have had a better chance of becoming a major war if the Navy did not defend the cost of the country. During Adams terms of office he had two different Secretary's of war. Until 1800 James McHenry and Samuel Dexter after him. They did not have to big of an impact on the time then which could be seen as a negative since it was a time when this was needed so bad. The decision to start the Navel branch of the military was one of the most important choices John Adams made during his presidency. This effected presidents to come since they had the Navy now and it helped in any wars that happened, such as the Quasi during Adam's. It effected the peoples themselves since they now had more military power and added to the U.S. being such a gun based culture. Although fire arms are regulated they are still a big part of people's lives and formed a different culture of their own. Based on everything that happened during the years of 1797 to 1801 when Adams was president was for the better well being of the United States of America. Everything from the Navy to the XYZ affair and the Quasi war bettered the country. Nothing had a terrible effect on the people, congress or culture of the U.S. That's why he got the rating that he did. Building up the new nation and under going one of the hard terms compared to later Presidents also is going for the high rating that he received. Overall John Adams was grade A president.
 * John Adams**

Bibliography:

Erekson, Ole, Engraver, c1876, and Library of Congress. "John Adams." //ushistory.org//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2011. 

"John Adams - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Sept. 2011. .