John Adams staying up to all hours of the night in his last days in office in March 1801, commissioning Federalist party members as judges throughout the land. With the ink still fresh on the last of his “Midnight Appointments,” he rode out of town and refused to attend the ’s inauguration. The story has certain elements of truth. But the dynamics behind the scenes were far more complicated. President Adams’s time in the White House deserves a closer look. It was a time of severe personal and political trial for him. His policies had split his own party; the electorate thrust him from the presidency; and he was hurt by a family tragedy.
