2.  In retirement, Adams and Jefferson sent dozens of letters to each other. The contents of these letters are staggering

         John Adams withdrew from public life and found solace spending his final years on his farm in Monticello near Boston. The aftermath of his presidency left a bitter taste in his mouth regarding Thomas Jefferson. It seemed the 2 former friends would never reconcile. Jefferson’s 2nd presidential term ended, and he too retired to his Virginia homestead in 1809.  The years passed, Adams aged, and one-by-one death took the men who wrote their names on the Declaration. In 1812, there were few signatories still breathing. One of them, Benjamin Rush, a close friend of John felt it would do the country wonders if he could convince the lawyer to repair his damaged relationship with the Declaration’s author. He convinced John to write Jefferson. Adams, who was not known for forgiving old grudges, enthusiastically agreed. Some correspondence began. Letters were delivered between the revolutionaries. Adams, the Voice and Jefferson, the Pen.

         Adams and Jefferson delivered more than 50 letters to each other over the next 15 years. The contents of these letters are astounding. David McCullough called it one of the greatest works of the English language poured into writing. The Founding Fathers discussed everything from daily life to personal and familial challenges, books, memories, religion, philosophy. Most importantly, they tried making sense of the monumental events that shaped their lives. Their place in history. Each man wondered how posterity would judge them in the centuries to follow.

         Adams – “Who shall write the history of the American Revolution? Who can write it? Who will ever be able to write it?”

         Jefferson – “Nobody except perhaps its external facts.”

         Jefferson – “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.”

         Adams – “Whether you or I were right posterity must judge”

         Adams – “My friend! You and I have passed our lives in serious times.”

         Jefferson – “Everyone takes his side in favor of the many, or of the few, according to his constitution and the circumstances in which he is placed… nothing new can be added by you or me to what has been said by others, and will be said in every age”

         The below is in reference to the death of Benjamin Rush in 1813, leaving Adams and Jefferson among a handful of signatories still breathing.

         Jefferson – “Another of our friends of ’76 is gone, my dear sir, another of the co-signers of the Independence of our country”

         Adams – “I know of no character living or dead who has done more real good for his country”

         Regarding religion, John wrote to Jefferson…

         Adams – “I believe in God and in his wisdom and benevolence and I cannot conceive that such a Being could make such a species as the human merely to live and die on this earth.”

         The correspondence between the two slowed during their final years. 15 months before John passed, he wrote Jefferson…

         Adams – “The little strength of mind and the considerable strength of body that I once possessed appear to be all gone, but while I breathe I shall be your friend.”

2.a John Adams gives pays a heartwarming tribute to George Washington

         One morning hundreds of cadets paraded through New England. Their route took them directly to John Adams, who at this time was well into his 80’s and 20 years removed from public life. Colors flew, the band played. John made breakfast for the cadets and the citizens who came by to watch. Each cadet shook hands with the former President. John Adams told them to not follow him as an example, but to embody the spirit of George Washington. It’s a beautiful tribute from a man who spent most of his life criticized for stubbornness, self-absorption, jealousy, and petty ambition. This gesture of humility unfortunately rarely made itself known to the public.

1. John Adams died on July 4th, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

         It’s a mind-boggling occurrence that has led many to believe divine intervention played a hand. In 1826, Adams and Jefferson were the only signatories still living. According to David McCullough, they agreed in letters to stay alive until July 4th. They knew it would be special to bear witness to the young nation’s bicentennial.

         True to their word, both men opened their eyes on July 4th, 1826. John was 92 and Thomas 86. The end was coming for both men and they knew it. Neither man left his bedside, but they could hear the fireworks ringing in the distance. Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration died around 11 a.m. that morning. This made John Adams, the voice of the Declaration, the sole surviving founding father. However, it was short-lived. A few hours later death came for John Adams. His son, John Quincy, wasn’t there because he was serving as the United States 6th President. According to his family, John’s dying words were, “Thomas Jefferson Survives.” He couldn’t have known that Thomas died before him.  

         “If the empire of superstition and hypocrisy should be overthrown, happy indeed will it be for the world; but if all religion and all morality should be over-thrown with it, what advantage will be gained? The doctrine of human equality is founded entirely in the Christian doctrine that we are all children of the same Father, all accountable to Him for our conduct to one another, all equally bound to respect each other’s self love.”          – John Adams