JOHN ADAMS (F) - 1797-1801
The 2nd President has received a renaissance of appreciation thanks to David McCullough's best-selling book and the HBO miniseries based on it. Adams was crucial in the formation of this new country, but as an actual president, well, he didn't inspire the loyalty of George Washington nor had the political savvy of Thomas Jefferson.
Adams won the Presidency after Washington refused to run for a third term, and he constantly had to battle the divided factions of the Federalists led by Alexander Hamilton and the Democratic-Republicans led by Thomas Jefferson. Even though they were supposedly on the same side, Hamilton at times did as much to undermine Adams as Jefferson. The low point for Adams was when he signed into law the Alien & Sedition Acts, basically making it illegal to criticize the government.
Adams also had to deal with what is called the Quasi-War with France. France and England were at war with each other, and Adams didn't want to be involved while Hamilton sided with the British and Jefferson with France. He managed to keep the peace, but received little credit for it. When Washington died in 1799, the Federalist party became more fractured.
Adams was the perfect behind-the-scenes guy to get stuff done. Imagine a brilliant campaign manager trying to be president himself.
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