John Adams Part 1: Why Were the French Attacking American Ships When Adams Was Elected?

In 1801, John Adams had just lost his reelection campaign to Thomas Jefferson when he received a call from the future …

John Adams had the impossible job of being president following the beloved George Washington. In these episodes you’ll learn how he felt about this challenge.

How and why, he was preparing for war and negotiating for peace simultaneously.

And how one event would have changed the election results, but it came a few days too late.

At the peak of his intellectual career, Adams agreed to be vice president and was side-lined for the next eight years in a job with few responsibilities and no power. Once Washington was ready to step down, the world had changed significantly. Somehow the stubborn, tenacious Adams navigated these treacherous waters to move our country forward.

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