The American revolutionary John Adams sometimes seems eclipsed by his brilliant contemporary Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson’s face is carved in a sixty-foot section of granite on Mt. Rushmore, after all, not Adam’s. But how remarkable was the character of Adams, a man for whom being second president of the United States was just one more vocation in a string of opportunities to serve the public, one step in the journey of a lifetime.
He sacrificed the comforts of home for months and years on end by laboring in Philadelphia to frame a new nation and by sojourning as an ambassador in the very alien country of the French. He longed to make a truly important contribution to society, but was not allured by the vanities of public attention. He endured ostracism. He persevered in debating–word-by-word–the important documents of the revolution. Months of work were not too much to make sure the work was done precisely. Any accolades and gains in reputation, had to be the natural outworking of honorable work.
At the end of a long life Adams was able to reflect more on God, and was filled with awe and appreciation even as the loved ones in his life passed away. Incredibly, he died on the fourth of July, the exact day of the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of which he was the driving force. And his dying words were not about himself, but “Jefferson still lives,” not knowing that hours earlier, that same day, Thomas Jefferson had died many miles away.