Category Archives: John Adams

JQA: The First Trip to Russia

John Quincy Adams was fourteen years old and incredibly bright. First…Naming Rights It has been fashionable lately to name one’s offspring as if it came out of a Scrabble box. But for centuries many people considered it a time-honored tradition … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Nifty History People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Abigail Adams: The Shining Moment

AA: Revolutionary Patriot With her husband some 400 miles away in Philadelphia trying to create an independent nation from 13 disassociated colonies with all their inherent problems, needs, quibbles, and disparate personalities (including his own), Abigail Adams voraciously consumed the … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, John Adams, Nifty History People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

John Adams Goes to Congress

Lawyer Adams John Adams was never a wealthy man, and never would be – at least compared to his fellow Founding Fathers like Washington or Jefferson. Or John Hancock or Benjamin Franklin. When he married at 29, he had become … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, John Adams, Nifty History People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Abigail Smith: Becoming Mrs. Adams

Abigail: Third Generation Abigail Smith Adams, born in 1744, was already the third generation born in Massachusetts Bay. If her forebears didn’t come on the Mayflower, they surely followed along on some later “midsummer flower.” They were all Englishmen (and … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, John Adams, Nifty History People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Abigail Adams: Tea With the General

Mrs. A. The Outspoken Most historians concur that Abigail Smith Adams (1744-1818) was a woman far ahead of her time. Born to a Congregationalist minister and his better-pedigreed wife, the Smiths were well regarded and middle class; certainly not wealthy … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, George Washington, John Adams, Nifty History People | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The Great White Jail

“The White House is the finest prison in the world.” Harry S Truman. The White House Paradox The White House, or the Executive Mansion, is undoubtedly the finest residence the country has to offer the President of the United States, … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, Abraham Lincoln, Calvin Coolidge, Chester Arthur, George Washington, Grover Cleveland, Harry S Truman, James Buchanan, James K. Polk, James Monroe, John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Nifty History People, Thomas Jefferson, Ulysses S. Grant, William Howard Taft | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Martha and Abigail: Habits of Friendship…

Martha Washington and Abigail Adams are arguably the most prominent women of the last quarter of the 18th century. An Unlikely Friendship The likelihood that Martha Washington (1731-1802) would even meet Abigail Adams (1744-1818) would have been considered remote in … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, George Washington, John Adams | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Four Presidents and the Fourth of July

July 4 has been celebrated as our national birthday since 1776. The Declaration During a brutally hot summer in 1776, representatives from all thirteen American colonies gathered in Philadelphia to bemoan the critical impasse between their individual colonies and the … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, Calvin Coolidge, James Monroe, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

John Adams: Four Months in the White House

On November 1, 1800, 65-year-old President John Adams took up residence in the unfinished Executive Mansion in Washington, DC, only a few days before the quadrennial election. The White House…  …was neither “white” (it was sandstone), nor would it be … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, George Washington, John Adams, Nifty History People, Thomas Jefferson | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

George Washington Revered and Reviled

Harry Truman probably said it best. “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” The Thick Hide It is a part of human nature to be sensitive to criticism. Those who achieve celebrity, whether it be political … Continue reading

Posted in A POTUS-FLOTUS Blog, George Washington, John Adams | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment