Diplomacy of John Adams

This article is part of a series about John Adams
Early life Family Diplomacy Electoral history Legacy Memorials Bibliography 1st Vice President of the United States Vice Presidency 2nd President of the United States Inauguration Presidency Cabinet appointments Judicial appointments XYZ Affair Alien and Sedition Acts Fries's Rebellion Treaty of Tellico Treaty of Tripoli State of the Union Address 1797 1798 1799 1800 Publications Thoughts on Government Defense of Constitutions Vice Presidential and Presidential elections 1789 election 1792 election 1796 election 1800 election Post-presidency Correspondence with Jefferson Death
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John Adams (1735–1826) was an American Founding Father who served as one of the most important diplomats on behalf of the new United States during the American Revolution. He served as minister to the Kingdom of France and the Dutch Republic and then helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris to end the American Revolutionary War.

Adams served as the first minister to the Court of St James's (Great Britain). Relations with France dominated diplomacy during his presidency (1797–1801). American anger at French insults in the XYZ Affair of 1797–1798 escalated into an undeclared naval war, called the Quasi-War. One wing of his Federalist Party that was led by his rival, Alexander Hamilton, demanded an all-out war. He rejected it and secured peace with France in 1800.