
As a religious man, he taught Abigail to respect God and help others in any way she could. Her father was pastor of Weymouth's North Parish Congregational Church and one of the best educated and most prosperous citizens of the community. Throughout her seventy-four-year life, this American heroine was an invaluable contributor to the founding and strengthening of the United States.Ībigail Smith was born on November 11, 1744, in Weymouth, Massachusetts, the second child of Elizabeth Quincy Smith and the Reverend William Smith.

Despite these hardships, she found a way to use her talents to serve her nation by assisting and advising her husband, President John Adams, and teaching and guiding her son, President John Quincy Adams. Abigail Adams struggled her whole life with the limitations that society placed upon her dreams. President Harry Truman once noted that Abigail "would have been a better President than her husband." Yet she lived in an era when women were not supposed to have, or express, their opinions about government or the exciting events of the times. The mother of six, including President John Quincy Adams, she ran the family farm during her husband's long absences and served as First Lady.Abigail Adams brought more intellect and ability to the position of first lady of the United States than any other woman. He became a prolific writer upon his retirement from public office, conducting a voluminous correspondence with his friend and rival Thomas Jefferson.Ībigail Smith Adams (1744-1818) was an early advocate for women's rights, taking particular interest in access to formal education. His single-term administration was marked by turbulence in both foreign and domestic affairs. The Harvard-educated lawyer was a leader in the movement for independence, playing an active role in the Continental Congress and serving in Europe as a diplomat. "An extraordinarily personal view of our country's founding." - The New York Times.Ībout the Author John Adams (1735-1826) was America's first Vice President and its second Chief Executive.

Their exchange of more than 1,000 letters - from their 1762 courtship to the end of John's political career in 1801 - covers topics ranging from politics and military strategy to household matters and family health. Their lively correspondence offers fascinating insights into domestic and public life in colonial and post-Revolutionary America.īook Synopsis "America's first power couple," John and Abigail Adams enjoyed a relationship of mutual respect and affection. About the Book "America's first power couple" exchanged more than 1,000 letters between 17.
