A Magnificent Castastrophe
For some reason I haven't mentioned Thomas Jefferson much in this blog. I'm not sure why, since he's such an amazing man. Of Jefferson, President John F. Kennedy once said, to an assembled group of Nobel Prize winners and scientists in 1962, that the occasion was "probably the greatest concentration of talent and genius in this house except for perhaps those times when Thomas Jefferson ate alone."
Jefferson is remembered for many things: writing the Declaration of Independence, possibly fathering a child out of wedlock with Sally Hemmings whom he owned as a slave, and the fact that he and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826, the nation's 50th birthday.
Towards the end of their lives, Jefferson and Adams forged a close friendship through correspondence, but for much of their lives the two were bitter enemies, largely because of the events of the election of 1800. In that election, Adams was the incumbent President and Jefferson was his Vice-President. It was a rematch of the election of 1796, when Adams defeated Jefferson to be come the first president who wasn't George Washington. The campaign got quite nasty, with plenty of mud-slinging, slander and vicious personal attacks on the part of both sides.
For example, the Federalists (Adams' party)spread rumors that the Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson's team) were radicals who would murder their opponents, burn churches, and destroy the country. They tried to convince the nation of this because Jefferson's supporters preferred France over Britain at a time when the violent French Revolution was in full swing.
Meanwhile, the Democratic-Republicans accused Federalists of getting political support from immigrants, and of favoring Britain in order to promote snobby aristocratic, anti-republican values.
Adams was attacked by both the opposition who said that his foreign policy was too favorable toward Britain and who attacked his Alien and Sedition Acts as violations of states' rights and the Constitution. Some in his own camp considered Adams too moderate.
Jefferson got 61.4% of the popular vote and 73 electoral college votes , to 38.6% and 65 for Adams. Following his 1800 defeat, Adams retired into private life. Depressed when he left office, he did not attend Jefferson's inauguration. In 1812, Adams reconciled with Jefferson. Their mutual friend Benjamin Rush, a fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, encouraged each man to reach out to the other. On New Year's Day 1812, Adams sent a brief, friendly note to Jefferson to accompany the delivery of "two pieces of homespun," a two-volume collection of lectures on rhetoric by John Quincy Adams. Jefferson replied immediately with a warm, friendly letter, and the two men revived their friendship, which they conducted by mail. The correspondence that they resumed in 1812 lasted the rest of their lives.
A good read on this subject is Edward Larson's book A Magnificent Catastrophe.
Jefferson is remembered for many things: writing the Declaration of Independence, possibly fathering a child out of wedlock with Sally Hemmings whom he owned as a slave, and the fact that he and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826, the nation's 50th birthday.
Towards the end of their lives, Jefferson and Adams forged a close friendship through correspondence, but for much of their lives the two were bitter enemies, largely because of the events of the election of 1800. In that election, Adams was the incumbent President and Jefferson was his Vice-President. It was a rematch of the election of 1796, when Adams defeated Jefferson to be come the first president who wasn't George Washington. The campaign got quite nasty, with plenty of mud-slinging, slander and vicious personal attacks on the part of both sides.
For example, the Federalists (Adams' party)spread rumors that the Democratic-Republicans (Jefferson's team) were radicals who would murder their opponents, burn churches, and destroy the country. They tried to convince the nation of this because Jefferson's supporters preferred France over Britain at a time when the violent French Revolution was in full swing.
Meanwhile, the Democratic-Republicans accused Federalists of getting political support from immigrants, and of favoring Britain in order to promote snobby aristocratic, anti-republican values.
Adams was attacked by both the opposition who said that his foreign policy was too favorable toward Britain and who attacked his Alien and Sedition Acts as violations of states' rights and the Constitution. Some in his own camp considered Adams too moderate.
Jefferson got 61.4% of the popular vote and 73 electoral college votes , to 38.6% and 65 for Adams. Following his 1800 defeat, Adams retired into private life. Depressed when he left office, he did not attend Jefferson's inauguration. In 1812, Adams reconciled with Jefferson. Their mutual friend Benjamin Rush, a fellow signer of the Declaration of Independence, encouraged each man to reach out to the other. On New Year's Day 1812, Adams sent a brief, friendly note to Jefferson to accompany the delivery of "two pieces of homespun," a two-volume collection of lectures on rhetoric by John Quincy Adams. Jefferson replied immediately with a warm, friendly letter, and the two men revived their friendship, which they conducted by mail. The correspondence that they resumed in 1812 lasted the rest of their lives.
A good read on this subject is Edward Larson's book A Magnificent Catastrophe.