When John Adams ran for President in 1797, the United States was still very young and the elections very different from today. Instead of having a running mate, John Adams ran alone against Thomas Jefferson who came in second, thus placing him as the Vice President of the United States. Here are more interesting facts about John Adams, the second President of the United States.

Fact 1: John Adams was the first President who was also a lawyer.

Fact 2: He defended British soldiers in the Boston Massacre trial.

Fact 3: He served on the Continental Congress in 1774 and 1775.

Fact 4: John Adams was a Federalist. He believed in constrained democracy in favor of a strong central government defended and protected by the Constitution.

Fact 5: He believed democracy was ‘œmob rule’ that would strip a nation of its wealth.

Fact 6: In 1782, along with Benjamin Franklin, John Adams helped create the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolution.

Fact 7: John Adams was the first President to live in the White House. He even moved in before it was finished.

Fact 8: Of the first five Presidents of the United States, John Adams was the only one who did not own slaves.

Fact 9: He did not attend Thomas Jefferson’s inauguration. They were rivals. The former was a federalist while the latter was a staunch defender of state’s rights.

Fact 10: John Adams’ son, John Quincy Adams, became the sixth President of the United States. Other than this pair, the only other father-son President pair was George Bush Sr. and George Bush Jr.

Fact 11: John Adams died on July 4, 1826, fifty years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Thomas Jefferson died on the exact same day.