Thomas Jefferson and John Adams had a relationship that lasted over 50 years and both men were integral to the founding of America. They met in 1775 at the Continental Congress and went on to work together on the committee to write the Declaration of Independence in 1776. When serving abroad as diplomats for the United States in the mid 1780s, their friendship will strengthen. When Adams becomes our 2nd President, with Jefferson as his Vice President, political differences will strain their relationship immensely. After Jefferson defeats Adams in the “Revolution of 1800,” to become our third President, Adams leaves Washington D.C. the night before Jefferson’s inauguration in 1801 and heads home to Massachusetts, not communicating with Jefferson until after Jefferson’s two terms.

Their relationship is restored thanks to Dr. Benjamin Rush, a singer of the Declaration of Independence from Pennsylvania, who encourages both Adams and Jefferson to write to each other. Adams breaks the ice on January 1, 1812, writing the first of many letters to Jefferson and beginning the restoration of their friendship! On July 13, 1816, John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson, “But I never know when to cease, when I begin to write to you.” In the end, they send hundreds of letters to each other, Adams writing twice as many as Jefferson. Their correspondence about the Revolutionary Era and the challenges of our young nation are a national treasure.

They both died on July 4, 1826, 50 years after the Declaration of Independence.