John Adams

By: Louis Fisher

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

In testing the scope of the president’s power in the field of foreign affairs under the Constitution, John Adams quickly learned that an aggressive approach to exercising executive power could backfire. He found himself caught in a political tug-of-war between the Federalists and the Jeffer­sonian Republicans over foreign affairs. Adams became involved in the Quasi-War against France, signed the repressive Alien and Sedition Acts, and was ousted from office after one term. Although some believed that the president was the exclusive voice of government in the sphere of foreign relations under the Constitution, John Adams’s presidency would prove such a belief to be a misconception.

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