MY INTEREST IN JOHN ADAMS • I remember seeing my high school drama club perform the musical 1776, and was surprised that the hero of the story was not George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, or Benjamin Franklin, but John Adams. I thought, wasn’t this John Adams merely the second president of the United States? 

Much later in 2003, I read Joseph J. Ellis’ book Founding Brothers, which described the six revolutionary “brothers” most responsible for the American Revolution, and then read his earlier biography, Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams. I simply fell in love with John Adams. He is so underappreciated, but I guess I like underdogs. I realized that John Adams was the one Founding Father who was most responsible for leading the Second Continental Congress to declare independence from England. He was the most prescient about where history for the American colonies was headed. 

I was transformed. Because I felt drawn to John Adam and his candidness and transparency, I could relate to him as a person – and my love for, and appreciation of, the American Revolution grew. Soon, I would watch the movie version of the 1776 musical every year, and Mr. Adams would tug on my heart and mind every time. I felt indignant when that Congress would sing “Sit down, John!”. But I was most moved when William Daniels, the actor who played the John Adams character, would sing the signature, climactic song of the musical, “Is anybody there? Does anybody care? Does anybody see what I see?” Somehow, the real John Adams seemed to clearly see what lay in the future — which allowed him to be right about so many things. He was right about the war for independence from England, the world’s greatest power at the time. He was right about creating a government of laws, not men, and striking a balance of power between three branches of government. He was right about the French Revolution. He was right about America needing a navy. He was right to be above party. He was right to stay out of a war with France, even if it did cost him his second term. He was right to not ever own any African slaves, unlike the rest of the first five Presidents of the United States. And most of all, he was right to see his wife Abigail as his equal partner and most trusted advisor in the revolutionary business, and his dearest friend to whom he wrote so many intimate letters.

I stand amazed to think about what John Adams saw, and about his great passion for his country, his wife, and his times.