Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were two of the key figures of the American revolution. Jefferson composed The Declaration of Independence. Adams was a special force in leading the colonies toward independence.
Adams was first VP and 2nd president. Jefferson was the 2nd VP & 3rd president. Jefferson defeated Adams in 1800 in a very nasty election that fractured their friendship.
After losing to Jefferson, Adams went home to Massachusetts and the two men never spoke again. It was a very sad ending to a partnership that mattered so much from independence to the formation of the new nation.
Jefferson left the presidency after two terms and retired in Virginia.
Jefferson finally broke the ice and wrote Adams a letter in 1813:
"Following 12 years of bitter silence caused by their disagreement over
the role of the new federal government, the two old friends managed to
reestablish the discourse of their younger years spent in Philadelphia,
where they both served in the Continental Congress,
and Paris, where they served together as ambassadors to France.
In
1812, Benjamin Rush, a Patriot and physician from Philadelphia,
initiated a renewed correspondence and reconciliation between his two
friends and ex-presidents.
The correspondence continued until Adams and
Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence that all three friends had signed in 1776."
The letters are now a big part of our history.
We spoke about this on the Tuesday show:
Listen to internet radio with Silvio Canto Jr on Blog Talk Radio
Tags: May 1813: Remembering the first of the Jefferson-Adams letters
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