ADAMS patriotism and integrity, and even talents of a certain kind, I should be deficient in candor, were I to conceal the conviction, that he does not possess the talents adapted to the Administration of Government, and that there are great and intrinsic defects in his character, which unfit him for the office of Chief Magistrate. —Alexander Hamilton, Letter…Concerning the Conduct and Character of John Adams, Esq., President of the United States (1800) He [Adams] is liable to gusts of passion little short of frenzy, which drive him beyond the control of any rational reflection. I speak of what I have seen. At such moments the interests of those who support him, or the interests of the nation, would be outweighed by a single impulse or rage. —James Bayard to Alexander Hamilton, August 18, 1800 LEGEND HAS IT that John Adams spent his last night in the presidential mansion eventually known as the White House furiously signing appointment letters for Federalist friends and cronies, thereby defying the will of the electorate and the wishes of Thomas Jefferson, his former friend and successor to the presidency.
