John Adams’s Inauguration as the Second President
John Adams was inaugurated as the second president of the United States on March 4, 1797. Having served as George Washington’s vice-president, Adams seemed to be the logical “heir” to the presidency. The Electoral College, however, had chosen him over Thomas Jefferson—who became Adams’ vice-president—by a margin of only three votes.
Dressed in an elegant suit and arriving in a new carriage, Adams took the oath of office in Congress Hall in Philadelphia. In his brief address, the new president praised the Constitution, and, like his predecessor, made an effort to transcend party divisions. Strongly opposed to partisanship, Adams tried to please both Federalists and Republicans in his inaugural address. At the time of Adams’s election, the proto-parties were bitterly divided over foreign policy, with Hamiltonian Federalists favoring stronger relations with Great Britain, while Jeffersonian Republicans distrusted Britain and advocated closer ties with France. Although elected as the Federalist candidate, in his inaugural Adams declared his admiration and respect for France, thus reassuring many Republicans, if only for a short time.
Adams’s inaugural ceremony represented a changing of the guard. President Washington walked alone to Congress Hall, wearing a simple black suit, in contrast to Adams’s elegant and formal attire. After the ceremony he congratulated Adams, and symbolically waited to exit the hall behind the new president and vice-president. Washington and Adams both sensed the change in their roles, one returning to life as private citizen, the other stepping into the highest public office. Adams wrote to his wife the next day, “He seemed to enjoy a triumph over me. Methought I heard him say, ‘Ay, I am fairly out and you fairly in! See which of us will be happiest!” Indeed, bitter partisan divisions would come to characterize Adams’s presidency and prove Washington’s words prescient. Adams’s inauguration represented the end of an era; no longer would the American president command the respect and devotion of the entire nation.
Sources/Further Reading:
Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick. The Age of Federalism, 528-542. New York: Oxford University Press, 1993.
Robert F. Jones. George Washington: Ordinary Man, Extraordinary Leader, 176. New York: Fordham University Press, 2002.