A new Madison presidency episode is now available!
July 4, 2019

2.25 – Adams Post-Presidency

2.25 – Adams Post-Presidency

Year(s) Discussed: 1801-1826

After leaving the presidency, John Adams searched for a path ahead. In the process, he dealt with emotions that had been building for years, rebuilt some bridges that had been burned in political battles, suffered numerous personal heartaches, and bore witness to a quarter century more of the nation’s history.

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Season 2 02 - John Adams

Special thanks to Alex for providing the intro quote for this episode!

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  • Adams, Abigail. “To Thomas Jefferson, 20 May 1804,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed April 11, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-03-02-1268. [Last Accessed: 16 Jun 2019]
  • Adams, Abigail. “To Thomas Jefferson, 25 October 1804,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed April 11, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-0540. [Last Accessed: 16 Jun 2019]
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  • Adams, John. “To Thomas Jefferson, 20 October 1818,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed April 11, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-02-02-7017. [Last Accessed: 22 Jun 2019]
  • Cappon, Lester J, ed. The Adams-Jefferson Letters: The Complete Correspondence between Thomas Jefferson and Abigail and John Adams. Chapel Hill, NC and London: University of North Carolina Press, 1987 [1959].
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  • Jefferson, Thomas. “To Abigail Smith Adams, 13 June 1804,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed April 11, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Adams/99-03-02-1280. [Last Accessed: 16 Jun 2019]
  • Landry, Jerry. The Presidencies of the United States. 2018-2019. http://presidencies.blubrry.com.
  • Madison, James. “To John Quincy Adams, 16 October 1810,” Founders Online, National Archives, accessed April 11, 2019, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Madison/03-02-02-0735. [Original source: The Papers of James Madison, Presidential Series, vol. 2, 1 October 1809–2 November 1810, ed. J. C. A. Stagg, Jeanne Kerr Cross, and Susan Holbrook Perdue. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1992, pp. 582–583.] [Last Accessed: 22 Jun 2019]
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  • Withey, Lynne. Dearest Friend: A Life of Abigail Adams. New York & London: Simon & Schuster, 2002 [1981].

Featured Image: “Portrait of John Adams” by Samuel Morse [c. 1816], courtesy of Wikipedia