Making of a Nation
John Adams Avoids War With France, Signs Alien and Sedition Acts
April 11, 2013
Making of a Nation
From VOA Learning English, welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in Special English. I’m Steve Ember.
This week in our series, we continue the story of America's second president, John Adams. He took office in 1797. He had served eight years as vice president under President George Washington. Now, state electors had chosen him to govern the new nation.
Adams was an intelligent man. He was a patriot and an able diplomat. But he did not like party politics. This dislike caused trouble during his presidency because two political parties struggled for power during his time in office. Adams was caught in the middle.
John Adams was a member of the Federalist Party. As president, he should have been party leader. But this position belonged to a man who really knew how to get and use political power, Alexander Hamilton.
Hamilton had served as treasury secretary under President Washington. Now, Hamilton was a private citizen, a lawyer in New York City. But he continued to have great influence over the national government. Federalists loyal to Hamilton controlled the Congress.
Even President Adams' top cabinet secretaries were loyal to Hamilton. In fact, they worked together against the new president.
This political situation made Adams' term in office very difficult. It also led to the end of Federalist Party power.
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