RateItAll: The Opinion Network

He was misunderstood, the only bad thing he did was sign the aline and sedition act, but he did it to stop a war

His accomplishments go unnoticed between both his sucessor and precessor.

Best of the early bunch, since at least he wasn't hypocritical enough to own slaves while crowing about "1 Man, 1 Vote." But loses a point for disowning a family member for not being him.

Made some unpopular decisions, but at the time it was what the people wanted. Time is being kinder to this man who loved laws. Made George Washington the central figure we know of today. He was a very "behind the scenes" sort of man who hated politics (he was with Washington on the no party thing) but loved his country and the law. Always was worried about doing the right thing, not the "popular" thing. Unfortunately, when he was in office, his cabinet was more often worried about the opposite... He is wrongly judged.

He had a hard act to follow and had Jefferson stabbing him in the back at every opportunity. He really did a good job with the world at war at the time. The historians are treating him very kindly.

Adams the father was vain, pig-headed and extremist in his views while he was president; he certainly deserved to be defeated by Jefferson. The Alien & Sedition Acts, which made it a crime to speak against Adams and the government, was a dangerous forerunner of the notorious Patriot Act of our day. In fairness, he was a great patriot, built the U.S. Navy, and became much more reasonable after he left office; his letters to Jefferson are a wonder. Miraculously, they died om the same day: July 4, 1826!

Disliked my many in his time, including many in congress, Adams had a keen intellect, and is vastly underated- being a better President then Monroe or Jackson.

Any man who would have been sandwiched between George Washington and Thomas Jefferson would have failed by comparison. Such is the case of John Adams, who by this standard, ought to be deemed unfortunate and tragic for this. Yes, Adams has been ridiculed by today's historians for his support for the Alien and Sedition Acts. And yes, he had a cold and somewhat-distant personality. But his contribution to the United States can never be questioned as he stood his ground against France- and in the process was able to secure relative peace. His biggest contribution (which he later acknowledged approvingly) was appointing his brilliant Secretary of State, John Marshall, as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. For this, he may have done more to help the United States than any other in American law and jurisprudence.

Adams was one of the great heroes of the move toward American independence and revolution; of that there is no debate. But despite recent attempts by apologist historians, his presidency can only be seen as a failure. Adams was one of a then-dying breed of statesmen who had no stomach for democracy. The Sedition Act, a blatant affront to the First Amendment, was borne out of Federalist fear that the Jeffersonians, if they rose to power, would give power to the common rabble and undermine rule by the learned aristocracy, who (they felt) knew better than the average American how to govern. Federalists like Adams and Hamilton thought that Americans should leave governing up to them; they would have been just as happy setting up an aristocratic system of rule by appointed elites. Jefferson and Madison, meanwhile, believed in the wisdom of the people to govern themselves and make intelligent decisions at the polls about which leaders should represent them. Adams, quite simply, was on the wrong side of history and the wrong side of freedom.

Seems many are ranking Adams based on his entire life which is not what we are supposed to be doing here. We should be rating Adams based soley upon his presidency. And he was a poor president. When you have the Alien and Sedition Acts synonymous with your presidency, you don't qualify as a very good president, do you? If I were to rank all forty-two presidents from best to worst, Adams would probably shake out around twenty-nine or thirty.

Terribbly underated as a president. Although everyone knows who Adams is and what he did in Congress they don't what he did in the presidency. Kinda like Ulysses Grant accept in war. This was a guy, who when the nation was burning for war, which would clearly of destroyed the U.S, did the unpopular thing and made peace. If he had made war with France he would have guarantingly been relected as president, as well as been one of the most popular U.S. icons of today.

Not the best President, but better then a whole lot of others.

I respect Adams, but he signed the Alien and Sedation acts. He may have been a good peacekeeper worldwide, but not at home

If you are interested in John Adams and the amazing period of time when power was handed over to the next president for the first time ever in America (with no violence either! - amazing) check out the David McCullough biography. It is a good read.

Adams laudable personal qualities _ he never owned aslave _ must be balanced against his abuse of power during his failed presidency. Five stars and one star balance out to three.

Not the best of Presidents, but at least he was able to stay out of the France-Britain conflict.

Overated, abused power.

John Adams kept the United States out of a dangerous and costly war against France, but the there is no excuse for the Alien & Sedition Acts.

John Adams is overlooked by many historians in large part because he served between two figures who loomed very large in Presidential History, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. It can be fairly stated that Adams had a very successful and productive Presidency. He served as Vice President under George Washington and was elected to the Presidency in 1796. Adams served in a very turbulent time, but yet he managed to maintain equanimity the entire time. He was caught in the middle of many countervailing political personalities and currents. Some members of his Federalist party were itching for war with France, who supported the British. His Presidency was by and large dominated by this conflict which manifested itself through the XYZ Affair and the Alien and Sedition Acts. The XYZ Affair was a very important diplomatic correspondance that ultimately helped prevent a major war with France. Since the Revolution, the United States had a treaty with the France; it was been partially violated by Jay's Treaty, which the United States had made with England. American ships were being captured in the high seas by French ships and eventually the relationship between both countries chilled significantly. The French refused to accept American diplomatic intervention that was needed to prevent war. The French made an offer to the United States: pay $250,000 to start negotiations. The US didn't accept the proposal; our diplomats made no progress and we went home without a deal. The US and France engaged in undeclared naval warfare, but both nations ultimately wished to avoid all out war. To the chagrin of the British partisans in the US, Adams negotiated a trade deal with the French in 1800 that effectively ended the conflict. There were domestic reprocusions to the US-Franco conflict. Pro-British Federalists in the Congress passed the Alien and Sedition Acts supposedly in response to the actions of the French but in reality it was a political move to destroy the Democratic Party. The Alien Act gave the President the power to deport or imprison foreigners suspected of subverting the national government. Adams and the Federalists made little use of this. The Sedition Acts however were much more controversial. Indeed, they directly violated peoples First Amendment Rights; it censored critism aimed at the US government. Adams never really endorsed these acts, but nonetheless the political backlash was felt harshly. Both Adams and the Federalists were defeated in the election of 1800 against Jefferson and the Democrats. Adams made a good effort to pursue a moderate course but was ultimately taken under by strong political forces which he couldn't control.

Adams is tremendously underrated and constantly overlooked by historians. He is scorned for signing the Alien and Sedition Acts, and is commonly thought to be a mediocre to terrible President. However, an objective study of Adams' Presidency proves that he responded quite well to the challenges that he faced. He took office at a time when tensions with the French were at an all time high. The French continued to harass American ships at sea. Adams first attempted to negotiate a diplomatic solution by sending three envoys to France, who were insulted and sent back to the U.S. Anti-French sentiments began to erupt throughout the country, and Adams initiated a massive naval buildup in the event of a war. Adams supported the creation of the Navy Department and the Marine Corps, and cancelled all treaties with France. With tensions at an all time high, it seemed that the United States and France were headed down a fateful road to war. Then, Adams sent an envoy to France to talk with the new French emperor, Napoleon, and peace was achieved. The French and the United States agreed to cancel their 1778 mutual defense agreement, and war had been averted. Adams bold leadership helped achieve this. Napoleon was already entangled in a major war in Europe, and feared war with the United States. Realizing that the President was building up the navy and military and preparing for war, Napoleon backed down. Adams' must be commended for his handling of the crisis. Adams's most controversial action was signing the infamous Alien and Sedition Acts. Although Adams himself never publically advocated the laws, he did sign them. The legislation was supposedly created as a means of preventing the aiding and abetting of France within the United States, and of obstructing American foreign policy. In reality, however, the laws were designed to influence politics and ensure the Federalist control of the federal government. Three of the laws were aimed at immigrants, most of whom tended to vote against Federalist candidates. The Alien Act, the only one of the four acts to pass with bipartisan support, allowed for the detention of enemy aliens in time of war without trial or counsel. Adams himself signed the legislation in the wake of the possibility of war with France, and not because of its political effects. While the laws themselves were designed to influence politics, Adams signed them to ensure U.S. domestic security in the event of a war. Contrary to popular belief, these laws only applied to alien immigrants, not U.S. citizens. So, Adams should be commended, in fact, because he DID NOT sign the laws for political gain. He signed them because he thought that they were good for the country, and at that time, when war with France was in fact a possibility, the Alien and Sedition Acts were necessary. So, although they were designed for political gain, Adams signed the acts into law for the sake of domestic security. Like his predacessor, Adams faced domestic rebellion over taxes. Farmers in eastern Pennsylvania rioted and attacked federal tax collectors in an incident later referred to as Fries's Rebellion. Several of their leaders were arrested and sentenced to death for treason. However, on the eve of the election of 1800, Adams pardoned all of the prisoners. Adams's action with regards to this rebellion was bold and justified, as the tax that the farmers were rebelling against was necessary to ensure U.S. national security in the event of a war with France. Much like Adams's signing of the Alien and Sedition Acts, his intervention in the Tax Rebellion, although unpopular, was necessary to ensure U.S. national security. Indeed, that is Adams's legacy- making unpopular choices that in the end cost him his Presidency. In my humble opinion, Adams is a five-star President who met the challenges he faced with honor and dignity. When I think of Adams' handling of the crisis with France, I am reminded of JFK's famous line: let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. Indeed, Adams did not negotiate out of fear, but he did not fear to negotiate, and peace was achieved. His unpopular choices cost him re-election, but those choices were necessary for the security and strength of the United States, and thus, Adams must be considered one of the greatest Presidents.

Deserves great respect for being one of the founders of the US. As President he also stood up to some extent against the extreme Federalist tendencies of the times (despite being one himself), although not nearly enough. The Alien and Sedition acts were inexcusable, but he didn't personally iniate them, just failed to fight them enough. And he failed to enact the key reforms on tariffs, slavery, native American rights, and the right to property that would have led to a genuinely free country and prevented the future problems that blighted 19th century US history. I give him 3 stars as president (1 knocked off for the Alien/Sedition acts, another for no real reforms to ensure universal liberty), and an extra star for being a founding father.

When it comes to rating Presidents, I rate them strictly on what they did in office, no before or after about it. Adams did lead a very interesting life, and accomplished a whole slew of great things before and after his Pres. term, but as President he left a lot to be desired. He rather ruthlessly stomped all over the Constitution with his Sedition acts, and his sour attitude at the time didn't help much.

A great American and, until David McCullough wrote his book, an underated President.

The Alien and Sedition acts are possibly the most totalitarianistic laws I've ever heard of that passed in the U.S.

I'm embarrassed that I gave Adams a pretty low mark before reading Ellis's book, Founding Brothers. My earlier comment was right about the Sedition Act being a huge failing on Adams' part, but now that I've done more reading about Adams, I'm struck by how prescient he was on so many topics. His "foil" Jefferson was naive on several subjects (e.g., the promise of the French revolutionaries) where Adams obviously was doing more clear-headed thinking. I'm looking forward to reading the new biography by David McCulloch, and it sounds like there may be a new national monument for Adams and his incredible wife Abigail (and perhaps for his son JQ and his cousin Sam). What a family! One more thing, I heard a speech not long ago about how Adams basically handed Jefferson what would become his ticket to immortality, the assignment of writing the Declaration of Independence. In fact, it was Adams who had been the prime mover in getting the various colonies' representatives to come around to the idea of independence -- and his (unprepared) remarks that led to a decision in favor of drafting the declaration were described by witnesses as incredibly eloquent and persuasive. But Adams had that extra bit of wisdom and humility that led him to give deference when it came to drafting the document; he thought Jefferson was a better writer, and he thought it was important that it be seen as coming from a Virginian (since Boston folk like himself were -- rightly -- seen as hot-headed). Pretty cool that he took one for the team like that... strange that Jefferson would become his biggest political rival two decades later.

John Adams has an extremly interesting life, and he has a great background. He seems like he was a very caring, nice man. He seems like he spent a lot of time trying to keep the world in one piece, and he was the first president to live in the white house, so he started something special there. Maybe that's why George Washington's life was such a bore.

Not so great.

Adams Family. Very scarry.