President Adams, our nation’s first Vice-President became president in 1797—even still he occupies a significant first in American history. After the White House was completed on November 1st, 1800, John Adams became the first president to occupy the executive mansion that his predecessor Washington had envisioned for the highest office in the land.

John Adams would have been a preacher had it not been for politics. He considered himself a “church-going animal” and communicated such sentiments in a letter to Benjamin Rush. Today we might say “If the doors were open, Adams was there,”

Adams would only serve one term as president, being defeated by his then-Vice-President and rival Thomas Jefferson. Later, in an act of redemptive charity Adams and Jefferson would put to bed their differences and become the closest of friends. They died the same day, July 4th, 1826—50 years to the day of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America.

Listen to a Podcast on Unitarianism and the American Presidency.