John Adams- Born 1735, President 1797-1801, Died July 4th, 1826, age 90

Thomas Jefferson- Born 1743, President 1801-1809, Died July 4th, 1826, age 83

 Thomas Jefferson and John Adams may have in fact been America’s original Odd Couple. Not sure if Jack Klugman and Tony Randall’s portrayal of Oscar and Felix do justice to the complexity and intrigue that would personify the Jefferson / Adams association, yet it is certainly fun to coopt the moniker. As a kid attending various history classes, it was certainly standard operating procedure to learn at least a little about two of the best-known men that would end up shaping the formation of a new country. A herculean task which must have seemed a long shot at best and an impossibility at worst to the handful of zealots who dreamed of the creation of something that had in fact rarely existed prior, and required a level of active risk on the part of the dreamers, that would certainly be viewed as treasonous by their mother country. They, as well as many others, were willing to risk their lives (not just on the battlefield as treason was a capital offense) on the long shot gamble, and somehow convince countless fellow citizens that this seemingly dubious undertaking was a good idea. A battle of Lexington veteran years later summed it up pretty well with the simple statement. “They intended to govern us, and we intended to govern ourselves.” It certainly wasn’t quite that simple, yet those words do resonate with a beautiful clarity.

England at the time of the American Revolution (1775-1783) was one of the preeminent military powers in the world. The American colonists were, more or less, a rag tag group of would be citizen-soldiers who chose to take on the biggest and baddest dude on the World block; all while coping with the fact that many of their fellow colonists would remain loyal to England and in fact actively seek to scuttle the best laid plans of the rebelling faction. Added to this major impediment, many Native American tribes chose to side with the British and were encouraged to wage a “no quarter,” guerrilla style war on the fringes of established settlement. Deciphering friend or foe proved to be a tricky and often deadly proposition for both sides. In short, the colonists had no business winning this war; it was a scattered, messy, and often tragic brawl in which defeat seemed a near certainty more often than not.

While in Massachusetts to run the infamous 2013 Boston Marathon with friends, we toured many historical sites around Boston, and I became our unofficial tour guide. I told my fellow travelers that winning that war was comparable to a high school sports team beating a professional sports team. I really do not feel as though this is an exaggeration, in fact it might be an understatement. The prospective, fledgling country had one thing that England didn’t, and that one thing was George Washington. Think Superman, Moses, and Michael Jordan of the 80’s all rolled into one, that gets you part of the way there. As I like to say, story for another day, yet trust me, without Washington’s unbelievable leadership, vision, and perseverance, The United States of America never happens. Washington understood they were fighting for something truly special and he absolutely believed that Providence was on their side both literally and figuratively.  Several years after the conclusion of the war, Washington said the following.

“The Man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf.”

 Abraham Lincoln summed it up well within the Gettysburg Address in late 1863, when he spoke about the threat to “government of, by, and for the people.” This was the great experiment which had stirred Revolution era souls and it was a novel and very unwelcome concept for status quo rulers of the day. Old-World Europe, at the time of the Revolution was a feudal society in which one’s birth dictated one’s lifelong station in society. “Those who farm, those who fight, and those who pray” did so at the behest of a noble class which set all the rules. A military loss in The Revolution and I do not believe a “hypothetical Lincoln” would have described it in quite that way, if in fact representative government happened at a later time in the defeated American colonies??? I say hypothetical with regard to Lincoln as I am altering history uncomfortably, to make an important point about the seminal nature of the profound political change being pondered in 1863. Kind of a fun thought experiment, yet it is difficult, if not impossible to consider the prospect, as thankfully the colonists did win the day and set in place a form of government which championed this new concept of a democratic republic rather than an aristocracy. Fancy words for water meets oil to a political scientist…   

As I tell this story it is important to consider that my aim is not to create a work that will necessary appeal to a student of History but rather for someone who has always thought that history is kind of boring and really stale relative to the sophistication and relevance of our own “modern” times. This is in fact, precisely the person I hope to reach. Whether I am successful or not remains to be seen yet know that there is no way in which present times can truly be understood without a decent appreciation of the metaphorical steps and numerous stumbles that got us here. The best part is that a greater understanding is not simply a matter of knowing more about your country; I would suggest that knowing more about this country, will inexorably lead to a truly unique feeling of love and admiration for the distinctive nature of this country. President John F. Kennedy hinted at this love with his iconic “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” plea.  An examination of the Jefferson / Adams saga is great way to start the process, it is truly a story for the ages.

Thomas Jefferson was simply everything that John Adams was not in terms of appearance and countenance. Jefferson was tall and stately; Adams was short and somewhat argumentative by nature. Jefferson was almost certainly an introvert while Adams was a garrulous, loquacious, extrovert by comparison. They first met as delegates to the Continental Congress in 1775. From this point on their trajectories would take on a meteoric ascent as Adams would end up personally endorsing Jefferson as the one to write the Declaration of Independence. Jefferson was a young man of 32 at the time (Adams was seven years his senior). If you haven’t read it, I strongly suggest you do so as the diction is breathtaking, and the candor is inspiring. Reimagination on a grand scale, aided and abetted by a Divine presence that would see it through… Not just words, as the Framers, just like Washington on the fields of battle, truly saw the hand of God in this bold undertaking. And, yes this is a reoccurring theme in the unfolding drama that is difficult to comprehend in a post-Christian world. We often see Jefferson and Adams as spiritual simpletons when in fact they pondered and wrestled with this part of their being / existence in a way that was highly probing, thorough and scholarly. They genuinely believed in God and His ability to use them in an undertaking that was Providential.

The friendship would grow and blossom as both would serve diplomatic missions in Europe during the 1780’s shortly after the loss of Jefferson’s wife Martha at age 33 with whom he had six children during a ten-year period. Interestingly, Martha, on her deathbed, requested that Jefferson never remarry. Adams and his wife Abigail would ultimately console Jefferson while in Europe and view him effectively as family. After the successful prosecution of their diplomatic mission and the war, Jefferson would become the first Secretary of State and Adams would serve as the first Vice President in the administration of George Washington. It was at this point that the friendship began to suffer its first strains and fissures. What was true then, is true now. Politics is a strange business and the winds of change and the pace of events at that time led to an awkward situation by which Adams was Vice President (Vice Presidents in those days were not chosen but assigned based on a second place finish in the election) and largely ignored, and Jefferson was chosen Secretary of State (though he would resign in 1793) while becoming increasingly distrustful of any hint of a too strong central government. Adams would ultimately align himself with the Federalist Party and its adherence to a strong central government, while Jefferson would help establish the newly formed Republican Party. From there things between the two seemed to deteriorate slowly but surely. Not coincidently, the rise / birth of highly fractious political parties coincided with the departure of Washington who refused to run for a third term; there were no term limits at that time. Clearly Washington was the glue that kept the disparate parts together.   

President Number Two for the young republic would become Adams after a hotly contested battle with Jefferson in which some of their growing and evolving differences such as their respective stance on the French Revolution and its ever-growing violence (Jefferson supported it somewhat unconditionally while Adams was appalled by the violent turn) took center stage. Adams ultimately won by three electoral votes. By the rules of the day (1796), Jefferson would become vice president as the runner-up. Adams graciously asked Jefferson to join the administration in order to form a strong bipartisan representation and Jefferson flatly refused. The schism was beginning to widen, yet this was certainly the mildest phase of what would become a true enmity between the two former friends and confidants.

As early as 1793 when Jefferson abruptly resigned as secretary of state and returned to his Monticello estate in Virginia, many historians believe that Adams began to speak euphemistically of Jefferson’s now universally known sexual relationship with the slave Sally Hemmings (DNA evidence has pointed to the fact that Jefferson had at least one and perhaps as many as six offspring between 1790 and 1808). Sally Hemmings was a half-sister of his late wife and the Adams’ would have known her quite well as both Adams and Jefferson served diplomatic missions in Europe during the 1780’s and for a part of his time in Paris, his youngest daughter Polly and Sally Hemmings were a part of Jefferson’s busy household. Hemmings and Polly even stayed with the Adams’ in London after their transatlantic voyage in 1787. At this time, Jefferson and Adams were obviously quite close. Had he confided in Adams as to the nature of the relationship with the young, attractive Hemmings? History will most likely never know the answer to that question, yet we do know that many believe Adams began circulating hints and couched language as to what was going on long before it became sensationalized in the press of the day. Adams felt that Jefferson would in fact return to the presidential stage after the completion of Adams’ first term in 1801 and he was thinking political expediency in a world of numerous political parties vying for supremacy.

The election of 1801 pitted Adams and Jefferson against one another once again and it turned out to be one of the most mean-spirited elections in the history of the country. The aforementioned insinuations about Jefferson’s relations with Sally Hemmings certainly made an appearance as did Jefferson’s supporter’s wild assertions that Adams desired a war with France and descriptions such as having “a hideous hermaphroditical character.” Much of the character assassination was done through surrogates yet it degraded to a shocking degree in light of the fact that the two men had once been so close. After Jefferson’s victory, Adams rushed out of town and headed back to Quincy Massachusetts and his devoted wife Abigail. Shockingly, he did not attend Jefferson’s inauguration (honoring the spirit of peaceful, loyal transition). They would have no correspondence with each other for twelve years (Jefferson served two terms as President, so he wasn’t hard to find). Really stunning even by the poor communication standards of the day… The rift was so bad that even a covert, heartfelt correspondence by Abigail after the death of Jefferson’s daughter Polly in 1804 only served to intensify their estrangement.  It now looked as though their former special relationship would become a sad footnote to American history and an unfortunate, terrible casualty of partisan politics.  

Enter Benjamin Rush, another giant of the American political scene and a fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence. Rush was a prominent physician and has been referred to as the father of American psychiatry. Fortunately, he was a good friend of both men and was ostensibly inspired by a vivid dream to attempt a reconciliation. As early as 1809, he became infatuated with the idea of mediating and ending the acrimonious feud. He stayed in contact with both men and began a duel correspondence in which he suggested to each that the other was anxious to reestablish and in fact resume the friendship. History can certainly forgive Rush for his little subterfuge. It was with Adams that he had shared the dream story about a reconsolidation in which the two men would discuss their shared past (good, bad, ugly) and go on to muse about the current state of affairs, and their thoughts on the future. And, for good measure he added that the two men “sunk into the grave nearly at the same time, full of years and rich in gratitude and praises for their country.” Astonishing, in that this is essentially, exactly what happened. Mere coincidence? Maybe, but then again maybe not.

The opening salvo came in the form of a short New Year’s greeting from Adams to Jefferson in 1812. Over the course of the next 14 years the floodgates would open and the two would exchange 158 letters which are among the most special American artifacts of the post-Revolutionary period. These letters broached a wide variety of topics and in fact allowed the two men to purge the demons of the past, celebrate the accomplishments of the age, and tie it all together in a way that speaks of something greater than themselves and the their fellow conspirators. Adams initial note seemed to defrost the chill of cold relations for Jefferson who in beautiful language speaks of the essence of the events that changed the course of human history.

“A letter from you calls up recollections very dear to my mind. It carries me back to the times when beset with difficulties and dangers, we were fellow laborers in the same cause, struggling for what is most valuable to man, his right of self-government. Laboring always at the same oar, with some wave ever ahead threatening to overwhelm us and yet passing harmless under our bark, we knew not how, we rode through the storm with heart and hand and made a happy port.”    January 21, 1812

More beautiful words have rarely been written. As an old man Jefferson clearly understood the truly miraculous quality of what had been accomplished. They had helped achieve something that defied human logic and after all of the many years, and all of the deep wounds, Jefferson is celebrating the moment with an old friend. And yet “friend” is an inadequate description. I feel it is very interesting that Jefferson chooses the term “laborer.” I believe that Jefferson just as easily could have chosen the term “servant.” I would suggest that he saw them as laboring instruments in the hands of God.

And though they spoke on many topics, and in ways that are at times a bit difficult to understand, they often return to the concept of a type of governance as God intended and in fact aided. In June of 1815, Adams sums it up pretty well with the following statement.

“The question before the human race is, Whether the God of nature shall govern the world by his own laws, or Whether Priests and Kings shall rule it by fictitious Miracles?” Or in other Words, whether Authority is originally in the People?”

Interestingly, Adams clearly did not see priests as the agents of God’s law as he in fact saw them as corrupted by the same abuse of power enjoyed by kings. In a letter of 1817, Adams goes on to say this…

“Without Religion this World would be Something not fit to be mentioned in Polite Company, I mean Hell. So far from believing in the total and universal depravity of human Nature; I believe there is no individual totally depraved. The most abandoned Scoundrel that ever existed, never Yet Wholly extinguished his Conscience, and while Conscience remains there is some Religion… How is it possible that Mankind should submit to be governed as they have been is an inscrutable Mystery.”

I believe that Adams is trying to say that human nature cries out for freedom and choice, and without self-government and a foundational belief in God BOTH are compromised and in fact incomplete. In other words, the little voice inside calls out for the Divine right to be governed by consent rather than decree. For Adams and Jefferson, they were inextricably linked. And, importantly they saw the hypocrisy of a system of faith which could not “bear examination.” (Adams)

Jefferson, in response to Adam’s comments (above) answered in part with the following thought.

“But if the moral precepts, innate in man, and made a part of his physical constitution, as necessary for being a social being, if the sublime doctrines of philanthropism, and deism taught us by Jesus of Nazareth in which all agree, constitute true religion, then, without it, this would be as you say again, ‘something not fit be named, even indeed a Hell’

True religion versus the perversion of what it had become in many cases. Adams and Jefferson were attuned to this in a way that few among their contemporaries fully understood. These were thinkers of the highest order, and I believe that they were cryptically stating what Lord Acton would state in 1887 when he spoke of “power corrupting and absolute power corrupting absolutely.” They were interested in a celebration of true religion and true government which they saw as bound together delicately yet surely. Very difficult to have one without the other and perhaps this is a lesson for modern times… Optimally a separation of church and state was never meant to be a complete decoupling. I truly feel that they envisioned a delicate, symbiotic relationship and never intended a complete polarization. Luckily, we have these letters and are free to judge for ourselves.

And, I would suggest that we are ultimately presented with something even better that works to cement the legacy of these two titans. In summary, they went from being great friends and allies to political foes and bitter enemies, and then back to old (literally and figuratively) friends again. They produced a series of 158 letters that manage to assuage the enmity of the past, eloquently discuss what they accomplished and why they accomplished it, while going into some intellectual nooks and crannies that would have been impossible to understand if not for the letters. Letters, by the way, that would never have been possible without the perseverance of Abigail Adams and one man who saw the importance of a reunion for posterity I would suggest. Benjamin Rush, revealed in a dream (real or imagined matters little) that the two Founders would in fact rekindle a long lost affection, articulate and expand on deep philosophical / theological thoughts, and finally urge each other on to live WELL beyond the life expectancy of the time in order to see the 50th anniversary of the celebration of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. They died within hours of one another on July 4th, 1826. Jefferson was 83 and Adams was 90.

Coincidence again??? Maybe but then again maybe not… Interpretation is a private affair as there is no empirical way to prove my suspicion one way or the other. Albert Einstein perhaps said it best with the following thought.

“Coincidence is God’s way of remaining anonymous”

Interestingly, I feel that even God looks for a little insurance at times. Five years later, Founding Father and 5th President James Monroe died on the same day.

 The remarkable formation of this country and the equally remarkable journey to the exact point of history where we are today are full of odd little occurrences that have helped propel this country in times of need. Though far from perfect in its actions, the IDEAL of America is and always will be something to be admired, and from which we should draw great pride. Adams and Jefferson, as well as an amazing collection of people envisioned something that seemed utterly unimaginable at the time and has been preserved in the form of our Constitution. We celebrate them for reasons that are good and proper. Not because they were perfect, but because they were sufficiently imperfect, we are able a see a little of ourselves in their struggles, triumphs, and vision for the future.   

TMC    March 16 2020