Posted on 07/02/2011 6:59:08 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
When President Obama ponders tough decisions at the White House, he may join the cadre of presidents who have sought inspiration in the Truman Balcony’s stunning vista, gazing at the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial, which commemorate our first and third commanders in chief. But there’s a man missing from this presidential panorama.
Where is John Adams, our feisty second president and lifelong American patriot? If George Washington was the sword of the revolution and Thomas Jefferson the pen, why have we neglected the voice of our nation’s independence?
Adams himself predicted this omission. “Monuments will never be erected to me . Romances will never be written, nor flattering orations spoken, to transmit me to posterity in brilliant colors,” he wrote in 1819, nearly two decades after his single term in office. At his farm in Quincy, Mass., Adams worried that he would be forgotten by history, and for good reason: The temperamental Yankee could never outshine Washington and Jefferson, Virginia’s two-term presidential all-stars — one a brilliant general unanimously chosen to lead the nation, the other the eloquent author of the Declaration of Independence.
SNIP
What’s the case for Adams? Before the revolution, he was the nation’s first attendant to the American legal tradition of due process, defending British soldiers who fired on colonists during the Boston Massacre. One of Massachusetts’s representatives to the First and Second Continental Congresses, Adams was a champion of separation from England and the fiercest advocate of Jefferson’s declaration. Without his persuasive speeches in the Philadelphia chamber, the document wouldn’t have been signed. While Jefferson was silent during what he considered the convention’s editorial debasement of his work, Adams defended every clause, including an excised call for the abolition of slavery. Jefferson called Adams “a colossus on the floor” of the Congress.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
He wasn’t a Democrat.
My oversight, sorry.
RE: He wasn’t a Democrat.
Neither was Abe Lincoln... but he has his memorial.
Teddy Roosevelt was Republican, he is in Mount Rushmore.
RE: My oversight, sorry.
LOL, Not too late to correct that you know :)
Adams was indispensable during the buildup to the revolution. He was an awful President. He has arguably done more to weaken the Republic through his appointment of Marshall as Chief Justice and the likes of Marbury during his 11th hour packing of the courts after his loss to Jefferson. His Alien and Sedition Acts also demonstrate his disdain for the Constitution. He and Abigale were tunnel visionaries who destroyed the lives of most of their children, John Quincy included.
That is true... But those were built when the GOP dominated government. Now the Dems dominate.
RE: But those were built when the GOP dominated government.
Looks like BOTH the GOP and the Dems ignored the man as he himself predicted.
He was our first liberal (today’s usage) President. He favored a larger, more powerful government.
He has several million ancestors and a number of them have been American Presidents.
We know who he is if nobody else does, and it doesn't matter!
Honestly, I would consider the HBO miniseries one hell of a memorial, not only of Adams, but of all the Founding Fathers.
Film may not be marble, but it can last just as long and have a far greater impact on future generations.
I think you could argue that Washington was the first. He and Adams were together on their support for a strong federal government. But it’s a little more complicated. You could make the argument that the federalists were in favor of “strong federal government,” but what they were really fighting against was the idea that the federal government should be abolished altogether. Jefferson and Madison leaned in that direction, until they became President.
TSubsequent Presidents have failed to pick up on that customary right of the President to fire judges at will.
That's a shame too.
John Adams was the heart of the revolution and the declaration of Independence was pushed by this man, a dynamo and a brilliant leader and a godly Christian who wanted freedom for Americans. His history is quite amazing, it is obvious to me that God used this man greatly in helping to create the once free republic of America.
The godless hate filled socialists are destroying what is left however. The Lord Jesus Christ will put an end to all evil nations during the 7 year tribulation when God the Father will pour out 21 seperate devastaing judgements on the unbeliving heathen of the world.
The mini-series was absolutely incredible!
Nonsense. John Adams and all the other Founders would be horrified at what has become of the country they founded. While Jefferson was fascinated by the horrible French Revolution, Adams and the other Federalists were not fooled. Adams and his allies built up the navy which the foolish Jeffersonians opposed, and Jefferson’s ally Madison eventually used it in the nation’s defense.
There was that little issue of the “Alien and Sedition Acts” that got people rather grumpy with him. Jefferson didn’t like that at all.
Then his son cut a deal with with Henry Clay to get elected President, over Jackson.
Jackson was the kind of fellow who never forgave a slight.
adams deserves better than he is getting. the last of the high federalists, his biggest shortcoming was coming after an icon like george washington. and it didn’t help that a francophile like jefferson — my least favorite founding father — followed him.
david mccullough has done much to dispel the myths surrounding the adams presidency. he deserves infinitely more credit than he has received, and it’s a pity.
bingo.
An Adams memorial would be OK - but what we really need....
We have a Statue of Liberty
To go with it, we need a Statue of RESPONSIBILITY
I am not joking.
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