John Adams (1735-1826) was a leader of the American Revolution and served as the second U.S. president from 1797 to 1801.

He moved into the nearly completed President's Mansion (later known as the White House) on November 1, 1800. Upon arriving, he wrote to his wife: "Before I end my letter, I pray Heaven to bestow the best of Blessings on this House and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise Men ever rule under this roof."

Adams' two terms as vice president were frustrating experiences for a man of his vigor, intellect, and vanity. He complained to his wife Abigail, "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived."

He was the first, and only, president elected under the banner of the Federalist Party, which called for a strong national government that promoted economic growth and fostered friendly relationships with Great Britain in opposition to Revolutionary France.

In 1759, he met 15-year-old Abigail Smith, his third cousin. In time, he grew close to Abigail and they were married on October 25, 1764, despite the opposition of Abigail's mother.

Adams was born on the Adams family farm in Braintree, Massachusetts. Of the first five U.S. presidents, he was the only non-Virginian.

A Harvard-educated lawyer, he early became identified with the patriot cause and served as a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, where he led in the movement for independence.

In his later writings, he would admit: "That my Confessions may be complete, I must tell you that I wrote a very foolish unmeaning thing in Fleets Paper in 1762 or 1763 under the signature of Humphrey Ploughjogger. In this there was neither good nor Evil, yet it excited more merriment than all my other writings together."

He defied anti-British sentiment and successfully defended British soldiers against murder charges arising from the Boston Massacre. Looking back, Adams would later say that he considered it "one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country."

In the presidential campaign of 1796, there was no such thing as a "running mate". Adams was elected president with 71 electoral votes. Jefferson received 68 electoral votes and was elected vice president.