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1. **John Adams** Born: October 30, 1735 Died: July 4, 1826

2. Political Party: Federalist

3. March 4, 1797 to March 3, 1801 He only served one term

4. Thomas Jefferson

John Adams throughout the revolution was an important person. He was only one of two presidents to sign the declaration of independence. John Adams deserves a C+ for his role as president. John Adams did many great things under George Washington’s administration. While during his term as president did not go as well as he expected. He could nothing right to please the republicans and at the end the federalists. He made one good decision which was not to go to war with France and try and keep the peace between the two countries. The Alien and Sedition Acts was what ultimately caused him not to be reelected. One of the goals that John Adams had was to keep America and France from going to war with each other. Adams went so far as to send three diplomats over to France to meet with the French foreign minister. The three men tried their best to come to an agreement with the French. The war that was fought with the French was confined too the sea though. America could not spare anymore bloodshed within the colonies. The French soon decided that they did not want to engage in war anymore because they did not any more foes. John Adams only won the presidency because of his ties with George Washington’s administration. His relationship with the democratic-republicans really only existed because they were supporting Thomas Jefferson. Thomas Jefferson was running for president and lost to John Adams because of two electoral ballads from states that were supposedly voting for Jefferson. The Republicans also were angry over him signing the Alien and Sedition Acts. The Federalists backed John Adams in the beginning. Alexander Hamilton started a conflict within the Federalist party over the undeclared naval war with France. The Federalists strongly backed Alexander Hamilton. John Adams argued that war should be the last resort with Hamilton. John Adams was politically isolated. One positive thing that John Adams did during his presidency was to seek a peaceful solution to the disagreements with the French. John Adams appointed a diplomatic commission of three men to France to try and settle the differences between America and France. Adams tried as hard as he could not to start a war with France while he was in office. A negative decision that John Adams made was the signing of the Alien and Sedition Acts. The alien act authorized the president to deport aliens “dangerous to the peace and safety of the united states” during peacetime. The sedition act declared that ant treasonable activity, including the publication of any false, scandalous, and malicious writing was a misdemeanor punishable by fine and imprisonment. The republicans believed that these acts were passed to punish them for speaking out against him. Many of the colonists were upset that Adams passed these acts. This decision ultimately caused John Adams to lose the reelection to Thomas Jefferson. John Adams appointed the federalist John Marshall as chief Justice of the Supreme court. Marshall made the judicial branch equal to the legislative and executive branches of government. The idea of checks and balances has worked well throughout history. This system of checks and balances has helped to avoid major conflicts between the three branches of government. Judicial review which is the ability of the Supreme court to judge laws unconstitutional came about during the case of Marbury vs. Madison. The country was better off at the end of John Adams term than at the beginning. John Adams left his term being politically isolated. Many colonists were upset by the Alien and Sedition Acts. John Adams left his term accomplishing his goal of not engaging in war with France. He also had appointed Marshall as chief Justice which helped create a checks and balances system between the three branches of government.

"John Adams and the Judicial Branch - John Adams and the Judiciary." //American History From About//. Web. 04 Feb. 2010. .

"The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 | Early America's Milestone Historic Documents." //Archiving Early America: Primary Source Material from 18th Century America//. Web. 04 Feb. 2010. <http://www.earlyamerica.com/earlyamerica/milestones/sedition