John Adams was born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1735. A Harvard-educated lawyer, he early became identified with the patriot cause. During the Revolutionary War he served in France and Holland in diplomatic roles, and helped negotiate the treaty of peace. In 1788, he returned from the Court of St. James to be elected Vice President under Washington. In 1796, Adams became the second president of the U.S. During his presidency, a war between the French and British was causing political difficulties for the U.S. Adams' administration focused its diplomatic efforts on France, whose government had suspended commercial relations. Adams sent three commissioners to France, but the French refused to negotiate unless the U.S. agreed to pay what amounted to a bribe. When this became public knowledge, the nation broke out in favor of war. By 1800, Adams had become significantly less popular with the public. He lost his re-election campaign with only a few less electoral votes than Thomas Jefferson. Adams died on July 4, 1826, the 50th anniversary of American independence.
Richard Norton Smith is best known as a historian and biographer. He has collaborated with Senator Bob Dole on various projects. Among other presidential institutions, Smith was the Director of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, Presidential Foundation and the Reagan Center for Public Affairs. In 2001, Smith became the director of the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, supervising the construction of the Institute's landmark home. Since 2006, Smith has been a Scholar in Residence at George Mason University in Washington, D.C. Smith frequently contributes to publications such as, Time, Life and the New York Times and can be seen on C-SPAN and PBS Newshour.