约翰·亚当斯是美国的第二任总统。他1735年出生于马萨诸塞州。他在哈佛大学学习法律，因参加独立运动而出名。他在独立战争期间，作为外交官服务于法国和荷兰，并协助与法国谈判和平条约。从欧洲归来后，他被选为副总统，辅助总统乔治·华盛顿。
Adams served two terms as Vice President. The White House describes them as being "frustrating experiences for a man of his vigor, intellect, and vanity". He complained to his wife Abigail about his frustrations with his sense of a lack of power in his position. He said: "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived."
亚当斯连任了两届副总统。白宫将他的这两次总统经历描述为：“对一个男人来说，这是一个令人沮丧的经历，它消磨了一个人的活力、智慧以及虚荣。” 亚当斯曾向他的妻子阿碧格尔抱怨他所遇到的挫折，因为他觉得自己手中的权力实在太少了。他说：“我们的国家自作聪明，拿那个最不起眼的职位给我，那个职位简直就像某个人的即兴作品或其凭空捏造出来的东西。”
When Adams first became President, the war between the French and British was causing great difficulties for the United States. It disrupted trade and shipping to the USA and caused fierce rivalries between Americans loyal to each of the European powers. His decision to send a peace mission to France badly divided American politics and he lost the 1801 election to Thomas Jefferson.
亚当斯初任总统时，英法战争给美国带来了许多困扰。该战争阻碍了美国的船舶贸易，导致追随不同欧洲势力的美国人之间的激烈对抗。他决定与法国进行和平谈判，而这严重分裂了美国政坛。在1801年的美国总统大选中，亚当斯输给了托马斯·杰斐逊。
Adams retired from political life and returned to his farm. He will be remembered as being one of the key Founding Fathers of the United States and for the first U.S. politician to start apolitical dynasty – his son John Quincy became America's sixth President. Adams died on July 4, 1826. His most memorable words are: "People and nations are forged in the fires of adversity."
亚当斯退出政坛后回到了他的农场。他将作为美国最重要的开国元勋之一、开启美国政治王朝的第一人而被人们铭记——他的儿子约翰·昆西·亚当斯当选为美国第6任总统。1826年7月4日，亚当斯逝世。他最著名的话是：“人民与国家都是在烈火中涅槃重生的。”
