John Adams by Aidan

John Adams by Aidan - October 2017 Scholarship Essay

The President that I would most like to have dinner with would be John Adams. In my opinion, John Adams doesn’t get the recognition he deserves for the founding of our country. In a lot of ways, he was also pretty forward thinking for his time. I would love to sit with him and hear his views about the state of our nation. I am sure he would have quite a few opinions.
John Adams was a very vocal supporter of our independence from Great Britain. He also seconded George Washington as our Commander in Chief, and helped Jefferson draft our Declaration of Independence. He was a great communicator and influenced many people to adopt the declaration.
What impressed me most though was his moral conviction. This is shown in several ways. First, in his defense of the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre. Second, in his letters with his wife, Abigail. He spoke with her as an equal, and let her keep her own money and property and even her own will, in a time when that wasn’t the norm. Lastly, Adams refused to hold slaves and was opposed to slavery.
John Adams was by his own admission argumentative and stubborn. He didn’t win friends easily. However, I believe he would have much to say about how to improve the nation that he founded. After all, he is quoted as saying: “I have come to the conclusion that one useless man is a disgrace, that two become a law firm, and that three or more become a Congress.”