Louisa Adams and Abigail Adams

Louisa Adams

Born:  

12 February, 1775

London, England

Marriage:

22 years old to John Quincy Adams (11 July, 1767 - 23 February, 1848), on 26 July, 1797, London, England; shortly after their wedding, the Adamses had planned to sail to Lisbon, Portugal where he was to assume a new diplomatic mission. At the time of his marriage, Adams had served as the secretary to the U.S. Minister to Russia (1781), and to the Minister to the Netherlands (1794). Instead, he was re-assigned by his father (who had at that point been President of the United States for four months) to serve as Minister to Prussia. The wedding of the President's son to a British-born subject attracted national press back in the United States, the Boston Independent Chronicle's14 September, 1797 edition noting that, "Young John Adams' Negotiations have terminated in a Marriage Treaty with an English lady…" 

Presidential Campaign and Inauguration:

Despite her frequent expressions of dislike for political life, Louisa Adams believed strongly in her own husband's ability to be President, and often seemed to do more, at least publicly, than he did in pursuing that goal. With her weekly open house reception and regular attendance at legislative sessions, Louisa Adams curried favor with Congressmen, who were to serve as the final electors in the campaign of 1824. 

First Lady:

4 March 1825 - 4 March 1829

52 years old

 

Perhaps there was no more genuinely depressing period as a political wife for Louisa Adams than her tenure as First Lady. Acrimony stemming from the bitter election results - and many charges that Adams had gained his office by immorally manipulating a backroom political deal - overshadowed the Administration. While she remained loyal to her husband, Louisa Adams was also deeply disappointed in him for the deal he had made to get the presidency. She also was discouraged by the increasing factionalism of the nation's political system, believing that voters made decisions based on emotions and not rational decisions. A diplomatic mission would have been better for her and her husband than the presidency, she concluded. 

Abigail Adams-

Born:
Place: Weymouth, Massachusetts
Date: 1744, November 11 

Marriage:
19 years old, married 1764, October 25 to John Adams, lawyer (1735-1826), in Smith family home, Weymouth, Massachusetts, wed in matrimony by her father, the Reverend Smith. After the ceremony, they drove in a horse and carriage to a cottage that stood beside the one where John Adams had been born and raised. This became their first home. They moved to Boston in a series of rented homes before buying a large farm, "Peacefield," in 1787, while John Adams was Minister to Great Britain.

Presidential Campaign and Inauguration:
As much of her political role was conducted in correspondence, so too was Abigail Adams's active interest in her husband's two presidential campaigns, in 1796 and 1800, when his primary challenger was their close friend, anti-Federalist Thomas Jefferson. Caring for her husband's dying mother; Abigail Adams was unable to attend his March 4, 1797 inaugural ceremony in Philadelphia. She was highly conscious, however, of how their lives would change that day, with "a sense of the obligations, the important trusts, and numerous duties connected with it."


 First Lady:
1797, March 4 - 1801, March 4
52 years old

Of the four years her husband served as President, Abigail Adams was actually present in the temporary capital of Philadelphia and then, finally, the permanent "Federal City," of Washington, D.C. for a total of only eighteen months. She nonetheless made a strong impression on the press and public. She was unofficially titled "Lady Adams," and encouraged such recognition by assuming a visible ceremonial role. After touring a New Jersey Army encampment, she reviewed the troops stationed there as "proxy" for the President. Often mentioned in the press, her opinions were even quoted at a New England town hall meeting. A highly partisan Federalist, Mrs. Adams helped forward the interests of the Administration by writing editorial letters to family and acquaintances, encouraging the publication of the information and viewpoint presented in them. She was sarcastically attacked in the opposition press, her influence over presidential appointments questioned and there were printed suggestions that she was too aged to understand questions of the day. One anti-Federalist derided her as "Mrs. President" for her partisanship. Indeed, Abigail Adams supported the sentiment behind her husband's Alien and Sedition Acts as a legal means of imprisoning those who criticized the President in public print. Fearful of French revolutionary influence on the fledgling United States, she was unsuccessful in her urging the President to declare war with France. She remained an adamant advocate of equal public education for women and emancipation of African-American slaves.