Issued May 17, 2007
John Adams
Second (2nd) President of The United States(1797-1801)
The John Adams one-dollar coin features a portrait of Adams on the front. The image is almost identical to the official White House portrait of Adams by John Trumbull, but the coin designer also used other portraits in the smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery to complet the details. The coin was the second in the Presidential Dollars series since thy are issued in the order in which the Presidents served.
Adams was known as the “Atlas of Independence” for his major role in the American Revolution and the fight for independence from britain. he was also known as the “Sage of Braintree” because he was the elder statesman from Braintree, Massachusetts.
Highlights of Adams’s administration include the appointment of John Marshall as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the establishment of the Library of Congress, the creation of the Mississippi and Indiana Territories and the first meeting of Congress in the nation’s new Capitol building in Washington, D.c.. When the federal government moved to its new facilities in 1800, he became the first President to live in the Exceutive Mansion, which would later become known as the White House. Controversy over the 1798 Alien and Sedition Acts, which sought to limit the influence of political opponents, helped cost Adams a second term.
“I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy.”
John Adams was bon to a prominent farming family in Massachusetts on October 30, 1735. After graduating from Harvard College in 1755, he became a top lawyer. In 1765, he argued against British taxation without representation, and in 1770 he ensured that the soldiers invloved in the Boston Massacre received a fair trial.
Adams became active in politics in1770 when he was elected to the Massachusetts legislature. In 1774, he was a delegate to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia. There, he argued strongly for indpendence from Britain and nominated George Washington to be commander of the continental Army.
In June 1776, Adams joined Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin on a committee to draft the Declaration of Independence. He did not fight during the Revolution, but he was head of the war department that oversaw the Continental Army. Congress sent him to Europe in 1778 to secure aid for the Armerican cause and negotiate treaties. Chief among them was the Treaty of Paris, which formally ended the Revolution in 1783.
Following the adoption of the U.S. Constitution, Adams supported George Washington to become the first President. In the Electoral Collage voting in 1789, Adams was elected Vice President. He won reelection in 1792.
When Washington declined to seek aa third term as President, Adams was seen as his logical replacement. He narrowly defeated Thomas Jefferson in the election of 1796, and on March 4, 1797 he was inaugurated as Americas second President.
As President, Adams left domestic matters largely in the hands of Congress. he was more concernd with foreign affairs and managed to avoid a potentially devastating war with France.
Thomas Jefferson defeated Adams in his 1800 reelection bid. Adams retired to his hometown, where he died on July 4, 1826 – the precise 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
“Atlas of Independence”
Issued February 15, 2007
George Washington
First President of The United States
(1789-1797)
The George Washington one-dollar coin features a portrait of Washington based on a sculpture by Jean Antoine Houdon. Houdon created the bust from a plaster east that he made of Washington’s face in 1785. Lettering on the coin indicates that Washington was the first U.S. President; the coin was also the first in the Presidential Dollars series.
Due to his role in many of the major events in the founding of the Unites States, Washington was renowned as the “Father of His Country.” He was also known as the “Sword of the Revolution” for his leadership role in the fight for America’s independence.
As america’s first President. Washington set the standards for all subsequent Presidents. Among the great avhievements during his Presidency were the establishment of the District of Columbia as the fuutre site of the nation’s capital, the passage of the bill of Rights, the founding of the U.S. Mint, the admission of Kentucky and Tennessee to statehood, and the laying of the cornerstone of the White House. During his first term, the supreme Court met for the first time, the first official census was authorized and the Bank of the United States was chartered.
“Father of His Country”
Born into a farming family on February 22, 1732 in Westmoreland County, Virginia, Washington received minimal formal education. In 1752, he joined the Virginia militia, then under British control. He was sent into the Ohio River Valley in western Pennsylvania to attack a small French force in 1754, marking the start of the French and Indian War.
Being an American, Washington was unable to advance in the British army despite his bravery and military skill. Resigning his commission in late 1758, he started a political career by taking a seat in the Virginia House of Burgesses. He also began to manage his Virginia estate, Mount Vernon, and Married Martha Dandridge Custis on January 6, 1759.
For the next 15 years, Washington was content to be a gentleman farmer, but as the American Revolution gained momentum in the mid 1770’s, his attention turned to national politics. He was elected to the First Continental Congress in 1774, and on June 15, 1775, the Second Continental Congress appointed him Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. He assumed command on July 3.
In one pivotal battle, Washington led his troops across the Dalaware River on December 15, 1776 to surprise the British and turn the tide of war int he American’s favor. On October 9, 1781, he accepted the British surrender at Yorktown, Virginia, thus ending hostilities and cementing his place as one of America’s first national heroes.
A delegate to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, Washington was unanimously elected its president, and oversaw the drafting of the U.S. Constitution. When this was ratified by the states, Washington was unanimously elected first President of the new nation, inaugurated on April 30, 1789 in New York.
Among the key members of his administraton were Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson, who served as Secretaries of Treasury and State, respectively. Unanimously reelected to a second term in 1792, Washington declined to serve another in 1796, instead retiring to Mount Vernon to be with his wife. He died on December 14, 1799.
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I hope I shall possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable fo all titles, the character of an honest man.
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