John Adams was a firm supporter of Thomas Jefferson’s draft of the Declaration of Independence in the Continental Congress of 1776. Tom then referred to Adams as the Colossus of the debates.

When George Washington declined to run for a third term as President of the United States, John Adams was elected as his replacement. Thomas Jefferson received the next highest number of electoral votes, and so became his Vice President.

John Adams revealed a bit of humorous jealousy when he wrote of what future historians would record about his time:

“The history of our Revolution will be one continued Lye from one end to the other . . .The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin’s electrical Rod smote the Earth and out sprung General Washington . . . That Franklin electrified him with his rod – and thence forward these two conducted all the Policy, Negotiations, Legislatures and War . . .Mausoleums, Statues, Monuments will never be erected for me, . . .nor flattering orations spoken to transmit me to Posterity in brilliant Colours.”

After serving as second President for four years, Adams sought another term, but history was not on his side. In the Presidential election of 1800, the tables were turned. This time Thomas Jefferson was the winner by a narrow margin. An interesting quirk in history.

Although Jefferson was declared the winner, the systems weakness became readily apparent by the voting. In 1804, Congress adopted the 12th Amendment to the Constitution. Now separate ballots were required for President and Vice President. The second vote-getter for President would no longer become the Vice President.

This also meant that the Vice President was no longer the second choice for the President. This lessened the prestige of the Vice President. Even as he served as the first Vice President, John Adams described the position as “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.”