ABSTRACT
John Adams, like Washington, heartily disliked political parties. As president, he had to deal with the problem that few Federalists outside New England felt any strong allegiance to him. He was a conservative who had devoted himself to the cause of independence, working tirelessly on a host of details. Serving in the Continental Congress in the early years of the Revolution, he had worked on numerous committees. Like Jefferson he was widely read, but he lacked Jefferson's ability to turn his reading into lucid statements of principle. In years in which party allegiance and party friends were becoming increasingly important, Adams had difficulty making close friends and in inspiring loyalty. As a diplomat in Europe he had felt alienated from his colleagues, and had exhibited a profound suspicion of Benjamin Franklin. Although his instincts drew him closer to Britain than to France, he had none of the passionate one-sided commitment that Hamilton and Jefferson exhibited in their relations with those two countries. Adams would have followed Washington's advice of impartiality in dealing with the European powers, and sought only the interests of the United States, but he discovered that in trading across the Atlantic in time of war the United States could never avoid offending one side or the other. To reap the benefits of neutrality meant to endure the dangers of potential war.
