We also needed a way to end the war, and he got that, too, negotiating the Treaty of Paris along with John Jay and Benjamin Franklin.

The first real line of credit we had in Europe, we needed desperately, and he got it, 'We couldn't pay for the war we were trying to fight, and he managed to get the Dutch to come in with a substantial line. He helped persuade the French to commit more of their fleet to the war, and he secured vital financial help from Holland.

When the fledgling nation needed a representative to Europe, during the Revolutionary War, Adams was dispatched. 'He spoke for two hours and, as Jefferson said, 'He moved us from our seats.' And if Jefferson was the pen of the Declaration of Independence, Adams was the voice.'Īnd he became his nation's diplomatic voice. 'He spoke for two hours,' says McCullough. In the end, it was Adams who won the day, recruiting Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence, and then driving it to passage. In the film '1776,' which features one of the few popular portrayals of Adams, he is shown trying to move a reluctant Continental Congress to break from the British. It was from that simple house that Adams journeyed to Philadelphia, to lead a revolution, in full knowledge that the British could hang him for treason. And right next door, where John and Abigail lived while they were married, is (a) second house, which is actually older than the other house.' The family home still stands, described by McCullough as 'a straightforward simple bedrock New England salt box built to last. His father was a farmer who moonlighted as a shoemaker. He sprang from humble beginnings in Quincy, Mass. Read an excerpt from 'John Adams' at the Simon & Schuster Web site. I think that's probably the main thing to know about John Adams: He had a great capacity to move people with the force of argument. 'He's quick tempered,' explains the historian.

John adams by david mccullough