author
John Adams
1735–1826
A sharp-tongued lawyer turned revolutionary leader, he helped push the American colonies toward independence and then became the second president of the United States. His long public life also left behind a remarkable record of letters, especially his exchanges with Abigail Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
3 Audiobooks
State of the Union Addresses
by John Adams
Novanglus, and Massachusettensis or, Political Essays, Published in the Years 1774 and 1775, on the Principal Points of Controversy, between Great Britain and Her Colonies
by John Adams, Daniel Leonard
Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams
by John Adams, Abigail Adams
About the author
Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1735, John Adams trained as a lawyer before emerging as an important voice in the movement for American independence. He served in the Continental Congress, helped argue the case for breaking with Britain, and later represented the new nation abroad in Europe.
Adams went on to become the first vice president of the United States and then its second president, serving from 1797 to 1801. His presidency is often remembered for the intense political divisions of the era and for the difficult challenge of keeping the young country out of full-scale war with France.
He is also remembered as a writer and correspondent whose letters reveal an energetic, candid, and often deeply thoughtful personality. Adams died on July 4, 1826, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, making his life feel closely bound to the founding story of the United States.