John Adams was one of the most unpopular of the Founding Fathers because he was unbending about what “the American people” wanted. He even tried to silence his opposition through the Sedition Act, and ten opposition editors went to jail. He also procured the authority to deport aliens but personally deported none. He represented MA and USA in a far different epoch. Today, he would be tarred and feathered by the mobs.
O.k. so maybe he wasn’t wise, but that comment sure was.