Test defund, captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2008 they decided together they would stay at home. There wasnt a precedent for a first lady and the first the second first lady, the Vice President s wife, to be living with the men. It was by choice. Martha did it. But abigail had the liberty to choose to go home and she did for the next six years. We learned the city of philadelphia was decimated at the start of the second washington term by yellow fever. Did she have any illness related to that . No. What was her illness . Its very hard to tell all these years later. She describes symptoms, but its hard to put a name on the symptoms. Rum tism. She did have rum tism. Beyond that the symptoms are hard to diagnose. There was no role model for being the second lady at the time, but jean spear asked, did the newspapers of that time mention abigail . Im not sure about that. They certainly mentioned john from time to time, although was she a National Figure at that point . No. Not at all. She was known because she had been the wife of the minister to Great Britain one of the problems that they had was that people thought that they were monarchial. They had been tainted by the time in europe. I think this is one of the interesting things about abigail. She grows up a ministers daughter and at some point shes at versailles and at the court of st. James so she is an extraordinarily sophisticated person by that time. Much more so than Martha Washington. Right. Martha washington was american elite. Right. Abigail was international. Right. And what of the relationship between Martha Washington and Abigail Adams . It was wonderful. Abigail loved martha. She met her when she was the wife of the Vice President. And whenever they had social events, they were very close. And abigail wrote whenever she wrote about martha which wasnt that much but when she did write about martha it was in the most glowing terms. One of the things she did is that just after she knew that john was going to be elected, she wrote to Martha Washington asking her about how to be the first lady. About etiquette and how she would carry on. Right. Martha wrote back and said you know inside yourself how to behave. And we know that is a tradition that continues today for new incoming first ladies reach out to the people who have served before to understand the enormity of this task. Here is a call next. It is from ron in everett, washington. Hi, ron. Caller good evening. Thanks for the program. Thanks for taking my call. Ive read and one of miss gelless books and some of the earlier works on john adams, but i still think the most comprehensive biography although technically of john adams but really of them both was one done more than half a century ago, two volumes by paige smith. I think that really still stands out an i just wanted to get your comments on that. I think no one writes about john adams today without consulting paige smith. He is the foundations for writing about and remarkable to me because the adams papers had just been opened to the public at the time when he started writing his book and yet theyre so thoroughly researched. That was the first thing i read in graduate school. That was my introduction to john adams. Thats right. Well, the caller nice to mention some of your books. I want to show some of them. Were hoping along the way people will be intrigued enough to read more. Heres Abigail Adams, a writing life. Another. Abigail and john, the portrait of a marriage. Heres one more ill put on the screen here. My dearest friends, the letters of abigail and john adams. This is one of your books here. Are these letters approachable for the every day person . I mean, can you just dive right in and get a sense of this person that oh, yes. You might need a little Historical Context to understand a few of the things theyre alluding to but the letters are personal and in some ways theyre timeless because they talk about problems people have today, concerns people have today. Not the political context but the intimacy of the letters. I would add to that, first of all, your book is excellent because of the footnoting and you take people into it. Puts also, abigails letters have been in print and shes been read since 1840. When her grandson First Published an edition of her letters which went through four editions in the 1840s. And it was she was a best seller through the 19th century. People knew her. Shes always been famous. I wont be able to find the tweet as quickly. Did the adamss ever think about their letters ever being published and do you have any sense of yeah. As early as 1776, john is telling her to put the letters up and keep them. I think at a certain point theres almost a consciousness in some of particularly his letters. They know at a certain point and i dont know when they crossed that threshold that theyre important. This is one of the reasons that the Family Savings letters. Early on its emotion with the miss adorable letter and things like that. After a while their letters extend from 1762 to 1801 almost 40 years the most important 40 years in American History. They understood they were players in it and they were writing for the ages. I believe so. This is a tweet from big john 9981, last week you mentioned martha did not like john adams, how did this affect the relationship between martha and abigail . I dont know that thats true. I think what we said was abigail and marthas friendship helped facilitate the relationship between washington and adams, when they were trying to understand what a president and Vice President might do. Can you see any evidence for that . I dont know. I think that john and George Washington got along pretty well all the time. John adams was extraordinarily supportive of washington and was personally injured when some of the press turned on washington, couldnt believe it. This is one of the things, martha and george were a hard act to follow and they knew they were going to be difficult. We will move into the years of their oneterm presidency. Before that video its a time when in one of your books you called it a splendid using abigail and adams words a splendid misery being in the white house. Explain what that phrase meant. It was splendid in that they were at the pinnacle of his political career and her career. I mean they had risen to the top. And it was nothing but trouble. Agonizing trouble from the very beginning. At very first, john was enthusiastic about becoming president and abigail said im going to stay in quincy because i have things to do. She was taking care of johns mother. She said i wont be there until october and he said thats fine. You dont have to come until october. Then once he was in the presidency, he discovered it was the loneliest place in the world and he started writing letters. Drop everything that youre doing. Come here, i need you immediately. And she did. I think one of the interesting things and she was hesitant about it is, she said i like to be outspoken, i like to speak my peace and she knew in that context she couldnt. But when she was in quincy, she could. Where she was in quincy that time was a house they built together called peace field. Lets take a looks at it. In 1787 abigail realized they had outgrown their cottage at the foot of pens hill and began to negotiate through her cousin to purchase the house were standing in front of right now. John adams enjoyed a lot of peace and tranquillity at this home, as did abigail, so he christened his home peace field. There were two rooms on the first floor, two rooms on the second and three smaller bedrooms on the third floor and a small kitchen in the back of the house. Essentially there were about seven and a half rooms to this home. This was john and abigails home base. Before becoming first lady abigail would spend nine years in this house. The first year she essentially was setting up the house after just returning from europe. She had remembered this house as one of the grand houses in quincy, but her perception of grand had changed since living in europe. She began, though, right away making plans to enlarge the house. She wanted to improve on the size and the height of the ceilings and the size of the space. She would, in fact, write to her daughter warning her not to wear any of her large feathered hats because the ceilings were too low. Adding a long hall and a long entertainment room where she would receive her guests. With sensitivity to the architecture on the outside and flow of the home she had the builder dig down so that they could lower the floors and get the high ceilings she desired without disrupting the architecture on the outside of the house. Step down two steps and youre in a whole different world. A typical day for abigail would be to rise at 5 00 a. M. She had many chores to do. Much of her time here was spent tending the farm, taking care of the orchard and taking care of the house. Shes also loved the Early Morning hours to spend by herself, preparing herself for the day, but most importantly, having a chance to indulge in one of her novels. Although this is a president ial home, it is the home of a family and abigail instead of having servants doing all the work for her, even as a first lady, she would also be contributing to the kitchen and the running of the household. This is something she continued throughout her life no matter what her position was. She was very involved. She had children and grandchildren visiting her here and it was a very active and lively household. She spent a great deal of her time writing, because their misfortune being apart was our fortune. In one letter hes asking her to come to philadelphia, abigail would write of the room she was in and the window and the view that she saw. The beauty which unfolds outside of the window at which i now write tempts me to forget the past. While abigail was back here at peace field she was on a new beginning as a first lady of the United States, as the wife of the president , and also still a mother. She would describe life here at peace field so romantically, that john adams would reply in one of his letters oh, my sweet little farm, what i would do to enjoy thee without interruption. And of the four years of the adams presidency, how much time did abigail spend at peace field versus in the capital . He became ill in 1798 and went home and had to stay there for an extended time. And john actually followed her and she stayed there for too long according to his cabinet members who finally urged him to come back to philadelphia which was then the capital. So she tried to stay there for as much time as she could. But again her health caused her to be at home and she was quite ill for close to a year. And possibly close to death during that time. How did he serve as chief executive from afar . This also happened during the vice presidency. When congress was in meeting the Vice President would go back to wherever he lived and i think the president , when especially during the summer they would leave in the spring and come back in the fall. It was like a seasonal thing although he did overdo it a little bit during this time. It was not unusual for the president to be away during this time. These were trying years for a brand new nation. Can you give us a sense of the period of what was happening during the adams administration, the key policy issues and how it was fairing on the world stage, this new country . I think the major problems were international at that time. There were internal political risks and you had during this time really the creation of Political Parties in america, the twoparty system. But we had problems with the french, we had problems with the british, we had particular problems with the french. American Political Parties were divided pro french and pro british and one with of the things john was troubled with during this time was keeping the country out of war. He was successful. I think thats probably the thing he should be most recognized for during the period. I also find it ironic that he is one president who kept us out of war, avoided war, because the revolution could have and the United States would have collapsed in a second war with britain. But the people would have gone to war in a drop of a hat at that time. They would have. They were ready to go to war and he prevented it. It subverted his career. . What way . The polltations of the time were maybe like politicians forever, enjoying the exercise of making war and they were very close to war. The population in general was outraged by the piracy that was going on, american ships were being taken on the seas and american diplomats were being badly treated in france especially. The french revolution had happened. John adams, as jim says, kept us out of war. We have a few key dates in a very historic four years of the adams administration. 1797 to 1801 and a small point for those of you who dont follow early American History, president s then were inaugurated in march, the dates in january familiar to us, march to march was the time frame. And you can see things such as the washington, d. C. , selected as the capital in 1800. 1801 chief Justice John Marshal selected. I want to go to this date in 1798 with the passage of the acts. What were they and what is the significance and what is the viewpoint of both adams on this act . The acts were a reaction to some of the International Problems at that time. There was a belief on the part of some people that we were about to be overrun by french revolutionaries and that they were influencing people in america. There were rumors about cities were going to be burned and that it was terrorism they were anticipating. So americans were afraid of the french at that point . Of some of the french. There were people who, for example, the opposition party, the democratic republican party, was very enthusiastic about the french and some of the ideals of the french revolution. Jefferson in particular. Jefferson in particular. This is where they begin to go different directions. Also, some of the press was very vehement in their criticisms of the administration. So one of the things they muzzled the press and i think this is the thing probably that john adams is most criticized for, abigail, i believe, supported john well, actually it wasnt john that came out of congress and signed the legislation, but abigail was even more vehement this is where i say shes even more conservative than john is during that time. The upshot of this for people who would be breaking the law if you were thought of breaking the acts what happened . You could be jailed. To recall paige smith mentioned earlier as the biographer, paige smith said that press wrote that the press at this time was the most scurrilous in American History. They made things up. They didnt have standards. The press was it was not only that they were supporting the french, they made up stories that were not true and adams was seriously worried about this. It should be said jefferson supported the acts, except that he believed that states should be passing laws, not the National Government because he was in favor of states rights and that was part of what separated them. It was something that at that time people didnt have the same horror about about suppressing the press that we have today. Right. It was in the heat of the moment. Right. Next question comes from steven watching us in chicago, hi, steven. Caller hi there. Im i was just wondering they say history repeats itself and i was wondering if there are any president s and first lady, first couple that most resemble or are analogous of the adams of adams. People talk about george and barbara bush because of the oneterm presidency and the son that went on to be president. Is there a better relationship or is that sort of the relationship standard . I hope youll take that question. Theres no one else like abigail and john. We dont have the insight into anyone elses lives. They dont leaves us letters telling us. Letters recently revealed, Lyndon Johnsons love letters were revealed. Theres nothing like abigail and john exchange. Not that the two of you are biased having spent your no. Really. Right. True. I think the length its when theyre situated in such an important period of time and they were players on so many stages and thats the thing that sets them apart. Heres a question about peace field from twitter. Many president s used their holes as neutral space for meetings. Did john and abigail host dignitaries at peace field . People came by, not so much during the presidency, much later in retirement. I remember when john is really quite ancient, and its a little while after abigail has passed, cadets from west point came and they had a band and they played and marched and then they were served punch and the officers, john adams gave a talk to the patriotic talk to the troops and occasionally people would come by. They didnt entertain in the sense of politically entertaining. It was family for the most part. Which is a contrast from mount vernon and the washingtons which seemed to be constantly welcoming people into their house throughout their i think they did. I think there was a lot of traffic through their houses. People wanted to be close to the president and they were accessible. I think social standards were different then. And standards of hospitality were different. If someone came to your door you just didnt turn them away. Although they might like to have done so. So during the period of the white house years she continued to write letters in the time that they were separated. Right. Yeah. She did. I think another important point when she is with john it isnt theres writing letters, shes writing letters to other people while he is president , two of their children are in europe in a diplomatic mission. Theres a lot of letters back and forth between thomas boilston and John Quincy Adams to their parents and she writes to her sister, wonderful letters to her sisters, who are back in massachusetts for a while in New Hampshire. We have another example of a letter to john adams from abigail. Lets wat