Compare 2 Historical Figures

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson were the second and third presidents of the United States, and both played major roles in both the American Revolution and both are considered among the Founding Fathers. John Adams, born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1735, was a learned and thoughtful man, and is considered more a philosopher than a politician (John pp). He once said that "People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity" (John pp).

A Harvard educated lawyer, Adams was a delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, and led in the movement for independence from Britain (John pp). Writing in his journal of the Boston Massacre in February 1771, shortly after the trial of the British soldiers, he wrote, "Never in more misery my whole life" (Biography pp). During the Revolutionary War, he served as a diplomat in France and Holland and was instrumental in the negotiating the treaty of peace (John pp). Adams was minister to the Court of St.

James's from 1785 to 1788, and upon returning to America, was elected Vice President under the country's first president, George Washington (John pp). He served as President from 1797 to 1801, and on his second evening in the White House, he wrote 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" (John pp).

Thomas Jefferson had run against Adams and lost by three votes (Thomas pp). Although an opponent of Adams, through a flaw in the Constitution, Jefferson became Vice President under Adams (Thomas pp). In the 1800 election, the defect caused a more serious problem, and Republican electors, attempting to name both a President and a Vice President from their own party, cast a tie vote between Jefferson and Aaron Burr (Thomas pp).

Jefferson, born in 1743 in Albermarle County, Virginia, once wrote in a private letter during the 1800 conflict, "I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man" (Thomas pp). Jefferson studied at the College of William and Mary, and then read law (Thomas pp).

He was a powerful advocate of liberty, and an eloquent correspondent, but was not a public speaker, thus, in the Virginia House of Burgesses and the Continental Congress, he contributed to the patriot cause with his pen rather than his voice (Thomas pp). Jefferson was only 33 years old when he drafted the Declaration of Independence, and spent years laboring to make its words a reality, most notably by writing a bill establishing religious freedom that was enacted in 1786 (Thomas pp).

Throughout history, Southern secessionists loved him, Northern abolitionists worshiped him, and Gilded Age moguls echoed his warnings about federal power (Jefferson pp). Jefferson was more a Renaissance man, while Adams, although a passionate patriot was more rational in comparison. Both of these men were instrumental in the creating a new nation that would become to be regarded as the greatest nation on earth. Although at times opponents, they shared the same dream and lived to see the efforts come to fruition. Jefferson, however will always be best.