Napoleon would eventually declare himself "Emperor of the French." John Adams had feared just such a chaotic end: A revolution of this sort, he had argued, would lead not to democracy but despotism.

When Mary Wollstonecraft's book on recent French political events was published in 1794, John Adams already knew first-hand about revolution. He read the book for the first time in 1796 ...

John Adams was sworn in as the second President of the United States and began a four-year stretch that would be dominated by ...

John Adams was many things: lawyer ... Adams voided former financial loans and rescinded political treaties negotiated with the French. Nevertheless, he managed to avoid a retaliatory war with France ...