The second president of the United States was a man of short stature, who came from the New England state of Massachusetts. John Adams was the son of John and Susanna Boylston Adams. He married his wife Abigail Smith in 1764 and they had four children: Abigail "Nabby" Adams, John Quincy Adams (who went on to become our sixth president), Charles Adams, and Thomas Boylston Adams.
John Adams was educated at Joseph Cleverly's Latin School. He went on to study at Harvard College. And after graduation he studied law under James Putnam. As a lawyer, he defended the British during the trial for the Boston Massacre. Although some felt that he was a traitor, he did what he felt was right and was able to get most of the British soldiers off and the ones who ended up being found guilty were only found guilty of manslaughter.
In 1770, he was in the Massachusetts legislature. By 1774, he was a member of the Continental Congress. He served as a diplomat to France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. He was Vice President under our first President, George Washington.
As a presidential nominee, he ran against our third president, Thomas Jefferson. It was a tedious election, but it was determined that Adams had won. His cabinet consisted of: Secretary of State (1) Timothy Pickering (2) John Marshall; Secretary of the Treasury (1) Oliver Wolcott (2) Samuel Dexter; Secretary of War (1) James McHenry (2) Samuel Dexter; Attorney General Charles Lee; and Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Stoddard.
During his service as President, his administration had to deal with the XYZ Affair, the Logan Act, the Alien and Sedition Acts, Fries Rebellion, and his midnight appointments.
With a twist of fate, John Adams passed away on the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826. But he wasn't alone on that date, Thomas Jefferson also passed away that day.
John Adams was a very good president and probably would be rated much higher than he gets rated, but he stood in the shadows of our first president. No one believed that he was anywhere near as good as Washington and because of that, he lost his bid for a second term. But if we stop and look at what Adams did during his administration, away from Washington, one would see a very determined man, who took his job seriously and wanted nothing more than to improve this nation.
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Just a quick note about one of the men in the past that I consider my greatest hero. I'm not going to say too much about his military career, but focus a bit on the personal life of Winfield Scott Hancock.
He was born in Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania on February 14, 1824. He has an identical twin brother by the name of Hilary Baker Hancock. When the boys were four years old, they left their home in Montgomery Square and moved to the larger city of Norristown, Pennsylvania. Their father, Benjamin, was a teacher who was studying to become a lawyer and Norristown proved to be a better area for him to learn his trade.
When Winfield was 16 years old, he was accepted at West Point Military Academy in New York and moved there to learn how to be a military man, which would prove to be his vocation for the remainder of his life. In 1844, he was graduated from West Point. Throughout his career, he would find himself stationed in several locations throughout the United States. Probably the most important location that he found himself stationed was right outside of St. Louis, Missouri. It was during his time that he met and married Almira Russell. They went on to have two children: Russell and Ada. Unfortunately, neither child outlived their parents. Ada passed away when she was 18 from a fever and Russell lived to be 30.
Hancock fought in two wars during his lifetime. First, although he did very little fighting if any, was the Mexican War (1846-1848) and then again during the Civil War (1861-1865). During the Civil War, he was severely wounded at Gettysburg, although he did recover enough to resume command of his 2nd Corps and finished out the war.
In 1880, because he had become such a well known military leader, he ran against James A. Garfield for the presidency of the United States. Although there was a small difference in the number of popular votes between Garfield and himself, the electoral college chose Garfield as the president. Hancock was not too terribly upset about losing and continued his life as a military man.
In his final years, he was stationed at Governor's Island, New York, just south of Battery Park in Manhattan. He was bothered repeatedly by a boil on the back of his neck which just would not heal. He eventually fell into a coma and his doctor decided to do a test on his urine to see if he was diabetic. Not only was he diabetic, but he was dangerously diabetic and it was too late to do anything about it. On February 9, 1886, Winfield Scott Hancock passed away.
He was buried in his beloved Norristown, Pennsylvania, were he remains still. He has a mausoleum at Montgomery Cemetery and he and his daughter Ada are buried together in the mausoleum. Today, it is still possible to go visit the final resting place of this beloved national hero.
He was born in Montgomery Square, Pennsylvania on February 14, 1824. He has an identical twin brother by the name of Hilary Baker Hancock. When the boys were four years old, they left their home in Montgomery Square and moved to the larger city of Norristown, Pennsylvania. Their father, Benjamin, was a teacher who was studying to become a lawyer and Norristown proved to be a better area for him to learn his trade.
When Winfield was 16 years old, he was accepted at West Point Military Academy in New York and moved there to learn how to be a military man, which would prove to be his vocation for the remainder of his life. In 1844, he was graduated from West Point. Throughout his career, he would find himself stationed in several locations throughout the United States. Probably the most important location that he found himself stationed was right outside of St. Louis, Missouri. It was during his time that he met and married Almira Russell. They went on to have two children: Russell and Ada. Unfortunately, neither child outlived their parents. Ada passed away when she was 18 from a fever and Russell lived to be 30.
Hancock fought in two wars during his lifetime. First, although he did very little fighting if any, was the Mexican War (1846-1848) and then again during the Civil War (1861-1865). During the Civil War, he was severely wounded at Gettysburg, although he did recover enough to resume command of his 2nd Corps and finished out the war.
In 1880, because he had become such a well known military leader, he ran against James A. Garfield for the presidency of the United States. Although there was a small difference in the number of popular votes between Garfield and himself, the electoral college chose Garfield as the president. Hancock was not too terribly upset about losing and continued his life as a military man.
In his final years, he was stationed at Governor's Island, New York, just south of Battery Park in Manhattan. He was bothered repeatedly by a boil on the back of his neck which just would not heal. He eventually fell into a coma and his doctor decided to do a test on his urine to see if he was diabetic. Not only was he diabetic, but he was dangerously diabetic and it was too late to do anything about it. On February 9, 1886, Winfield Scott Hancock passed away.
He was buried in his beloved Norristown, Pennsylvania, were he remains still. He has a mausoleum at Montgomery Cemetery and he and his daughter Ada are buried together in the mausoleum. Today, it is still possible to go visit the final resting place of this beloved national hero.
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