President of the Day

What branch of the armed forces was created during Adams's presidency?

Congress passed a law in May 1798 that created the Department of the Navy. Congress and Adams wanted this branch of the armed forces to deal with the serious threat of French vessels in the seas.

What series of laws passed by Congress and signed by President Adams caused great controversy?

The Alien and Seditions Act, passed in 1798, caused great controversy. This legislation consisted of four laws: (1) the Naturalization Act, which increased the required period of residence for would-be citizens from five to fourteen years; (2) the Alien Friends Act, which gave the president the power to remove from the country outsiders he deemed "dangerous"; (3) the Alien Enemies Act, which gave the president the power to deport those aliens who were from countries at war with the United States; and (4) the Sedition Act, which made it a crime to make "false, scandalous and malicious" writings against the government. Many--including vice president Thomas Jefferson--opposed these laws as an invasion of state rights and a violation of individual freedoms. For example, many believed that the Sedition Act of 1798 violated the First Amendment rights of freedom of speech and press.

Whom did Adams defeat to win the presidency?

Adams captured the presidency by only three electoral votes, defeating Thomas Jefferson by a vote of seventy-one to sixty-eight. Because the vice president went to the person with the second most number of electoral votes, Jefferson ironically became Adams's vice president even though Jefferson was a member of a different political party. Adams ran as a Federalist, while Jefferson was a Democratic-Republican. It was the only time in American history that a president and vice president came from two different parties, because Congress changed the voting procedure in the Twelfth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Where did Adams reside as president?

Adams initially resided in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. However, in November 1800, Adams moved to the White House, becoming the first president to live in the new capital of Washington, D.C. He only lived there for four months, however, as he lost in his reelection bid to his vice president, Jefferson.

What famous cousin of John Adams was a prominent leader during the Revolutionary War period?

Adams's famous second cousin was Samuel Adams, a prominent politician in Massachusetts where he first served in the state assembly in 1765. He strongly advocated against British taxation and other policies he deemed harmful to colonial interests. Samuel Adams later became a member of the Continental Congress and signed the Declaration of Independence.

From The Handy Presidents Answer Book, Second Edition by David L. Hudson, Jr., JD., (c) Visible Ink Press(R) More than 1,600 things you never knew about our nation's leaders