Friends and foes, Adams and Jefferson…divine intervention?

By Don Radebaugh – If there was ever an example of “divine intervention” in American history, one could arguably make the case around the deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

The two men, most responsible for the contents of the Declaration of Independence, died about five hours apart on July 4, 1826. It wasn’t just any Independence Day celebration…it was the 50th anniversary of the signing of America’s independence from Great Britain. Jefferson, 83, slipped away first, an hour past noon. Adams, 90, lingered till around 6.

While Jefferson gets credit as the author of the Declaration of Independence, it was Adams who had the courage to first speak out on independence on the floor of the First Continental Congress in 1774. Jefferson, largely silent, carefully noted the words that Adams spoke.

It’s ironic that Jefferson, who in the Declaration wrote, “All men are created equal,” owned, over his lifetime, more than 600 slaves, at least one of whom he fathered children with. Adams, on the other hand, owned no slaves. Even George Washington owned more than 300 slaves.

As “founding brothers” together in a common cause, Jefferson and Adams became close friends through the American Revolution and years afterward…that is until they found themselves on opposite sides of the political aisle and in competition for the Presidency of the United States.

Adams, the second President, and Jefferson, the third, became bitter enemies during Jefferson’s run for the White House (Executive Mansion back then). In fact, Jefferson hired a hatchet man by the name of James Callendar to smear Adams in the newspapers. Callendar convinced American voters that Adams wanted to attack France, which of course was completely false, as even Jefferson knew. To Jefferson’s advantage, Callendar published several lies regarding Adams. Voters bought into Callendar’s accusations and Jefferson won the bitter election, giving birth to the “dirty” campaigns that would follow thereafter.

Callendar ended up going to prison for the libels he committed and when he got out of jail in 1801, he broke a story that Jefferson — now the President — was having an affair with one of his slaves, Sally Hemmings, and that she had given birth to five of his children. The story haunted Jefferson over his two-term Presidency and through his remaining days.

For more than 10 years, Jefferson and Adams remained bitter enemies until Adams broke the ice with a letter he wrote Jefferson on January 1, 1812. It was the start of an amazing correspondence of letters between the former allies that carried on for 14 years, ending only when each took his final breath.

“Jefferson lives,” were Adams’ final words. On that note, he was wrong…Jefferson was already gone.

@DonRadebaugh