Contrast of John Adams to Thomas Jefferson - Essay Example

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson John Adams (1735-1826) was the first Vice President and the second President of the United s of America. While his tenure as President was clouded with crisis and conflict, he is still remembered as a remarkable political philosopher. He played a key role in the negotiations during the drafting of the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776, and is regarded as one of the most influential Founder Fathers of the United States of America. After serving two terms as the Vice President, Adams again contested for the Presidency in 1796 as the official Presidential candidate of the Federalist Party. The Federalists elected Adams in order to contest Thomas Jefferson in spite of the popular sentiment against him within the party. Quite interestingly, Adams stayed in his hometown while his party campaigned for him. In the end, John Adams won the election by a narrow margin of three electoral votes, thus becoming the second President of the United States of America. When he took over the Presidency of the United States of America, the country was facing grave problems due to the war between France and the British. The George Washington administration had earlier proclaimed American neutrality, a policy that was initially followed by Adams. He also sent three commissioners to Paris to negotiate a peace settlement, but the Prime Minister of France refused to entertain them until they paid him a personal bribe. The United States government took this as a huge insult and Adams appealed to the Congress to appropriate defensive funds. This whole episode known as the XYZ affair ultimately led to the formation of a formidable naval force. But this issue, coupled with Adam’s decision to send peace envoys to Paris led to the formation of deep barriers within the Federalist Party. It resulted in the emergence of another fraction headed by Alexander Hamilton, and the rift between the two only grew wider with time. (Brown) On the domestic front, Adams proposed the Alien and Sedition Acts, which were intended to empower the government against foreign forces and public criticism. These acts were also essentially reactions to the XYZ episode. But these acts later became extremely controversial as several high profile newspaper editors were prosecuted under them. The acts were seen as being antagonistic to the essence of democracy and free thought. It also embittered the relations between the Federalists and the Republicans, a hostility that was felt in the next general elections. John Adams was generally unpopular among the masses. He was seen as being honestly stubborn, opinionated and politically aloof. He believed that the executive branch should stand above politics, and thus exercised abstinence from major political matters. There has been a lot of ambiguity regarding John Adams among the historians. The building of a strong naval force and avoiding a full on war with France are considered two of his major accomplishments.(The White House) But on the other hands, many of his decisions created fractions within the party. As a result the Federalist Party was extremely divided in the 1800 general elections, as opposed to the united Republican Party. These divisions cost the party and John Adams a second term as President. Though John Adams might not be the people’s President, he did leave behind a remarkable legacy. He introduced to America the art of avoiding war and settling disputes through diplomacy. Even when he was faced with populist defiance, he chose not to go to war with France. Another war, immediately after the War of Independence could have proved fatal for the still juvenile country. Thus, his legacy was one of coherent vision, peace, moral leadership and meticulous planning. (Ellis) Just like John Adams, Thomas Jefferson is also considered as one of the most influential Founder Fathers of the USA. He was the principle author of the Declaration of Independence, and is remembered for his political philosophy. Thomas Jefferson defeated John Adams in the 1800 general elections, thus becoming the third President of the United States of America. The general elections of 1800 were marked by a number of tumultuous events. They exposed a flaw in the Constitution of the USA which resulted in a tied electoral vote between Jefferson and Aaron Burr. The deadlock lasted for nearly a week but was later resolved by the outgoing House of Representatives, who chose Jefferson over Burr. (Ferling, 2004). This election also led to the eventual downfall of the Federalist Party. While John Adams retired from public life, Alexander Hamilton was killed, thus leaving the Federalist Party without any effective leadership. Jefferson firmly believed in the establishment of a "wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another", and wanted a government that would restrict both bureaucracy and national debts. (Bernstein)When Jefferson ascended the office of the President, the relations with France were relatively peaceful. This allowed him to reduce military expenditures and cut taxes. These twin moves considerably reduced the governmental debt. Jefferson is credited with nearly doubling the geographical extent of USA, which is, in all probability, his biggest achievement ever. He bought most of the land extending from Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, known as Louisiana. He then ordered the Lewis and Clarke expedition to survey the new territory, a search that is still regarded as one of the most prolific searches in human history. His first brush with foreign policy came in the form of the Barbary pirates. The Barbary nations or the present day Morocco, Algeria, Tunis, and Tripolitania were paid a sum of money by the Western nations to prevent them from harassing their ships. But Jefferson refused to give into their demands and sent warships to the Mediterranean, thus beginning a violent and unsuccessful war, which failed to achieve any semblance of peace or settlement. As a matter of fact, Jefferson was forced to pay a hefty tribute to Tripolitania. He then had to face a lot of opposition back home for reducing the size of the army. Another foreign policy which did not quite succeed was the Embargo Act. Jefferson ordered all trade practices to be abandoned with France and England, thus giving way to a major economic meltdown. This act also acted as the stimulant for what would result into full fledged war during the term of his successor. Thus, one can see that the foreign affairs were one of the weak points of Jefferson’s presidency. Nevertheless, he took his party- the Republicans to great heights, and party members were often known as Jeffersonian Republicans. He was idolised as an icon of democracy and publicly proclaimed in his first Inaugural Address that United States had "the strongest Government on earth”. He envisioned a true democracy "where every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law, and would meet invasions of the public order as his own personal concern.” Thus he laid down the foundation of present day democratic governments. His legacy includes the University of Virginia, which he founded. (The White House) In spite of these glorious achievements, Jefferson has been strongly condemned for being a hypocritical slave owner. He faced immense criticism as he failed to free his own slaves, thus acting against the very ideals of equality. He often struggled to make peace between his ideals of nation development and human equality. Both John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were hot headed and passionate Presidents. They were also political rivals who reconciled later in their lives. Also, both of them are known to be sharply opinionated and self obsessed. But if one were to o put in simple words, Jefferson was the lesser of the two devils. He laid down some very fundamental ideals of democracy and dreamt of an exceptionally governed country. But again, their own short comings are responsible for their current public image. One can find a bizarre pattern of similarity in their personal traits. Perhaps it is no coincidence then that both of them died on the same day within a few hours of each other. Works Cited Bernstein, R. B. Thomas Jefferson: The Revolution of Ideas. Oxford University Press, 2004 Brown, Ralph A. The Presidency of John Adams. University Press of Kansas, 1975 Ellis, Joseph J. Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001. Ferling, John . Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 180.New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. WhiteHouse.gov. Biography of John Adams http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/johnadams/ WhiteHouse.gov. Biography of Thomas Jefferson. http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/thomasjefferson/ Read More