Daughter! Get you an honest man for a husband, and keep him honest. No matter whether he is rich, provided he be independent. Regard the honor and moral character of the man more than all other circumstances. Think of no other greatness but that of the soul, no other riches but those of the heart. An honest, sensible, humane man, above all the littleness of vanity and extravagances of imagination, laboring to do good rather than be rich, to be useful rather than make a show, living in modest simplicity clearly within his means and free from debts and obligations, is really the most respectable man in society, makes himself and all about him most happy.

In February 1799 he stunned the country by sending diplomat William Vans Murray on a peace mission to France. Judicial appointments


Supreme court

One of Adams' greatest legacies was his naming of John Marshall as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States to succeed Oliver Ellsworth who had retired due to ill health. The first modern biography was Honest John Adams a 1933 biography by the noted French specialist in American history Gilbert Chinard who came to Adams after writing his acclaimed 1929 biography of Thomas Jefferson.

Adams signed the controversial Alien and Sedition Acts and built up the army and navy especially in the face of an undeclared naval war (called the "Quasi-War") with France 1798–1800. Well educated he was an Enlightenment political theorist who promoted republicanism and wrote prolifically about his often seminal ideas both in publiJohn Adamsd works and in letters to his wife and key adviser Abigail as well as to other Founding Fathers. John Adams (October 30 1735 (O.