Adams, John

A political leader of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries; one of the Founding Fathers . Adams was a signer of the Declaration of Independence . He was the second president, from 1797 to 1801, after George Washington . Washington and Adams were the only presidents from the Federalist party . Adams's presidency was marked by diplomatic challenges, in which he avoided war with France . The Alien and Sedition Acts were passed while he was president.