John Adams
 
John Adams, who became the second president of the United
States, has been accused by some historians of being the
closest thing America ever had to a dictator or monarch
(Onuf, 1993). Such strong accusations should be examined in
the context of the era in which Mr. Adams lived and served.
A closer examination of the historical events occurring
during his vice presidency and his term as president,
strongly suggests that Adams was not, in fact, a dictator.
Indeed, except for his lack of charisma and political
charm, Adams had a very successful political career before
joining the new national government. He was, moreover,
highly sought after as a public servant during the early
formation of the new federal power (Ferling, 1992). 
 
Adams was a well educated, seasoned patriot, and
experienced diplomat. He was the runner-up in the election
in which George Washington was selected the first United
States President. According to the electoral-college system
of that time, the second candidate with the most electoral
votes became the Vice President (Smelser & Gundersen,
1975). As president, Washington appointed, among others,
two influential political leaders to his original cabinet;
Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton. Jefferson, a
veteran politician became the Secretary of State and
Hamiliton, a young, outspoken New Yorker lawyer, became the
Secretary of the Treasury (Ferling, 1992). Jefferson, like
Adams, had also signed the Declaration of Independence.
Hamilton, however, was the only cabinet member relatively
unknown to Adams (Ferling, 1992). It was Hamilton,
nonetheless, who excelled during this new administration by
initiating numerous, innovative, and often controversial
programs, many of which were quite successful. Adams and
Hamilton were both Federalists. Unlike Hamiliton, Adams was
more moderate (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975). During this
first administration, Adams and Hamilton quarreled
(Washington Retires, 1995), and Adams contemptuously began
referring to Hamilton as "his puppyhood" (DeCarolis, 1995).
This created a rift in the administration, for Washington
generally favored Hamiliton (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975),
and disregarded Adams (Ferling, 1992). Hamilton also went
to great lengths to drive Jefferson out of the cabinet
(Allison, 1966). Jefferson did finally, indeed, resign from
the cabinet. The Federalists "party," of which Hamiliton
was the leader (DeCarolis, 1995) was greatly divided and
even violent, at times, under his leadership (Allison,
1966). This is significant in assessing Hamilton's and
others' arguments of Adams being a dictator after his
presidential victory in 1796 A.D. There are several traits
that were conspicuous about John Adams. First, he was known
as an honest man of integrity (Ferling, 1992; Smelser &
Gundersen, 1975). He was also often described as
"stubborn," quick-tempered, and even cantankerous at times
(Liesenfelt, 1995; Smelser & Gundersen, 1975; Wood, 1992).
He was, however, quite intelligent and apparently had a
secure self-esteem, being quite willing the challenge
tradition (Wood, 1992). Adams was an intensely
self-introspective man, though confident (Calhoon, 1976).
 By 1795, conflict was raging with France. Washington made
it clear that he was not returning to office. This, for the
first time, provided the impulse for the two differing
political philosophies to align into separate parties, even
though the Federalists never considered themselves to be a
party (Wood, 1992). Hamilton tried to by-pass Adams by
nominating Carolinian Thomas Pickney (Ferling, 1992). He
had instigated a similar conspiracy to keep Adams from
defeating Washington in the second national election, as
Adams had discovered (DeCarolis, 1995). In spite of the
divided Federalists, Adams defeated Thomas Jefferson by
three electoral votes. He became the second president and
Jefferson, having the second largest number of votes,
became vice-president. This event, too, is significant
because for the first time in office here were two men of
totally different philosophies of government, attempting to
run the country together. Adams' presidency was stressful
from the moment of his inauguration. In his address, he
sought to make it clear that he was not a monarchist
(Allison, 1966). France had decreed to seize American
ships. The country was divided over whether to be
pro-British (as was Hamilton) or pro-France (as was
Jefferson). Hamiliton eventually resigned the position of
inspector general, but continued to send Adams unsolicited
recommendations regarding foreign policy issues (DeCarolis,
1995). Adams resented Hamilton's meddling in his executive
prerogatives. He eventually expelled two other Hamiltonian
cabinet members. The height of Adam's presidency and
popularity came primarily from the victories the navy had
over French vessels, and the exposure of the scandal called
the XYZ Affair, in which Adams was applauded for revealing
the dishonesty and corruption of the French officials, and
French insistence on demanding bribes. This period,
however, was very unstable and uncertain, both at home and
abroad. Hamilton made bitter attacks on Adams' policies
(Elser, 1993). The fiscal situation was desolate. The
national debt and the threat of what appeared to be
inescapable war caused great stress, opposition, and even
occasional violence (Onuf, 1993). Matters only became
worse. The Federalist Congress created a provisional army
which, though needed, added to the financial strain.
Congress then passed three major oppressive measures all
within a two-week period: the Alien Act, the Naturalization
Act, and the Sedition Acts, all of which caused Adam's
popularity to decrease and his political direction to be
questioned (Ferling, 1992). The army, needed because of the
French conflict, was very expensive to maintain. The Alien
Act permitted the president to deport those who are
considered a threat to the government. Many immigrants did
return to Europe because of fear. The Naturalization Act
placed new stipulations on becoming a citizen and required
fourteen years of residency. The last, and most offensive
act, the Sedition Act, was purely a censorship tactic,
which did result in several anti-federalists (Republicans)
being indicted for printing criticisms against the
government (Ferling, 1992). Adams never recommended any
such measures, but he did sign the bill (Allison, 1966).
This law prohibited attacks on the government, oral or
written, and upon arrest the defendant had to prove his
innocence (Smelser & Gundersen, 1975). Due to these
congressional measures, citizens, including Jefferson,
began to fear that the provisional army would not just
fight France, but also use their military strength to
attack protesting Americans, hence beginning a civil war.
That Sedition Act had no immediate impact may be evidence
that the Federalists were acting out of paranoia in their
immediate frenzy to stop domestic opposition (Ferling,
1992). These events, along with the establishing of
political parties, as well as John Adam's non-charismatic
political style, increased tensions that lead some to
accuse the second president of being a dictator. Adams was
proactive, but he was not a dictator. According to Ferling,
"President Adams sought to control events rather than to be
controlled" (1992). At the approach of the 1800 election,
Jefferson and Burr entered the presidential race against
Adams. This eventually resulted in a tie between Jefferson
and Burr, upon which the Congress chose Jefferson.
Consequently, the election was not a landslide, nor did
Adams do poorly. He received 65 of the electoral votes, or
24 percent. The significance of this election is not
necessarily that Adams lost, but that the votes were
divided almost equally among the candidates, with no one
gaining a decisive victory. This first suggests that the
people were quite disunited, or undecided, about which
political direction the country should go. Second, Adams
received almost as many votes as his opponents, suggest
that he may not have made such a poor political
performance, as has been suggested. In this writer's
opinion, the Federalistic Congress probably did over-react,
as well as obscure their democratic aims. It was, however,
these described events, and the fact of Adams' lack of
political charisma, that proved unproductive in building
support and popularity in the latter part of his term. It
should also be pointed out that though the Sedition Act was
anti-democratic in practice, Thomas Jefferson, who defeated
Adams, used it against the Federalists in 1803 (People v.
Croswell) and indicted a publisher (DeCarolis, 1995).
Jefferson was not accused of being a dictator for such
non-democratic actions. Adams was neither dictatorial in
his conduct, or imperial in his policies. He appeared to
have had the interest of the common people at heart. The
conflict with France, the high taxes needed to keep the
army and navy operating, and the poor legislative faux pas
Congress made during period time, all cast a negative
reflection on President Adams. This provided his opponents,
like Hamilton, Burr, and even Jefferson, with political
leverage to use against him, just as politicians and
political parties do in our own modern era. If Adams were a
dictator, then one must ask would the citizens elect his
son to be the future president, twenty-four years later?
Or, how his grandson, Charles Francis Adams, became
America's minister to London. Apparently the citizenry
remembered President Adams in a positive, democratic way,
and not as a dictator. 

References
 
Allison, J. M. (1966). Adams and Jefferson: The story of a
friendship. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. 
 
Calhoon, R. M. (1976). John Adams and the psychology of
power. Review of American History, December 1976, 520-525.
 
DeCarolis, L. M. (1995). The precipice of power: The quasi
war with Adams, 1789-1800. [On-line], Available:
http://grid.let.rug.nl/~welling/usa/hamilton/hamil36.htm.
 
Esler, L. A.. (1993). Presidents of our United States.
Chicago: Rand McNally. 
 
Ferling, J. E. (1992). John Adams: A Life. Knoxville, TN:
The University of Tennessee Press.
 
Liesenfelt, J. (1995). John Adams (1735-1826): Childhood. A
biography of John Adams. [On-line], Available:
http://grid.let.rug.nl/~welling/usa/adams/ad_ch1.html
 
Onuf, P. S. (1993). Thomas Jefferson: Federalist. Essays in
History, 35, n.p. [On-line], Available:
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/journals/EH/EH35/onuf1.html#26
 
Smelser, M. & J. R. Gundersen. (1978). American history at
a glance. (4th ed.). New York: Barnes and Noble Books. 
 
Washington Retires. (1995). [On-line], Available:
http://grid.let.rug.nl/~weling/usa/ch3_p8.html
 
Wood, G. S. (1992). The radicalism of the American
revolution. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.