John Adams served the United States as the first vice president and the second president. As a Massachusetts delegate to the First and Second Continental Congresses, his ideas on American liberty led the way to independence. Adams found that the best way to explore his ideas was to put pen to paper. In this rich and revealing collection, illustrated with photographs, prints, paintings, and artifacts, Carolyn Yoder has selected writings that chart the life and ideas of John Adams, from his years as a schoolteacher and lawyer to diplomat and president and to the period of his long retirement, one highlight of which was his correspondence with Thomas Jefferson. We see Adams the “Colossus of Independence," as Jefferson called him, and Adams the diplomat, maneuvering his way through France, the Netherlands, and Great Britain. We also find Adams the man, devoted husband of Abigail, and father of John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States. Entries from diaries and journals, along with excerpts from letters, pamphlets, and speeches, form an intimate portrait of one the most complex personalities among the founding fathers, a man driven by ambition and plagued by self-doubt.