[John] Adams was the best and most colorful stylist among the Founders. Although [Tomas] Jefferson is widely regarded as the smoothest writer,… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
A mutual friend, Benjamin Rush, brought [Tomas Jefferson and John Adams] together in 1812, and they went on to exchange letters for… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
[John] Adams's perception of Europe, and especially France, was clearly different than [Tomas] Jefferson's. For Jefferson, the luxury and sophistication of Europe… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
The relationship between [John] Adams and [Tomas] Jefferson was extraordinary. They differed on every conceivable issue, except on the Revolution and the… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
[Tomas] Jefferson believed that the United States was a chosen nation with a special responsibility to spread democracy around the world. — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
After [Tomas] Jefferson's defeat of [John] Adams in the presidential election of 1800, they didn't communicate with one another for more than… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
[John Adams] is impressed with [Tomas] Jefferson's learning, but noted his silence during the debates in the Congress: "I never heard him… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
[John Adams] always felt that his contribution to bringing about independence went unappreciated, especially after the 1790s when [Tomas] Jefferson began to… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
The Declaration [of Independence] was a committee report, and [Tomas] Jefferson was simply the draftsman. [John] Adams's crucial role in bringing about… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
[John Adams and Tomas Jefferson] shared experience in 1775 - 1776 in bringing about the separation from Britain and their service in… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
I think [John's Adams] descriptions of the personalities of [Benjamin] Franklin and [Tomas] Jefferson and others were pretty accurate. It is only… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
More than any other figure in our history [Tomas] Jefferson is responsible for the idea of American exceptionalism. — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
Again and again [Tomas] Jefferson deftly sidesteps many of [John] Adams's often provocative remarks. They both felt the correspondence, which was written… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
[The Massachusetts constitution] resembles the federal Constitution of 1787 more closely than any of the other revolutionary state constitutions. It was also drawn up… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
[John] Adams identified himself with the political theories of [James] Harrington, [John] Locke, and [Charles-Louis] Montesquieu, whose ideas of constitutionalism, he believed, were applicable… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
[John] Adams was the best and most colorful stylist among the Founders. Although [Tomas] Jefferson is widely regarded as the smoothest writer, Adams is… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
This rationale, which justified the mixed constitution of Great Britain, might have made some sense in 1776, but by 1787 most American thinkers had… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
By the time [John Adams] came to write his Defence of the Constitutions of the United States in 1787 he had as dark a… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
Creating senates, the French critics said, implied that there was another social order besides the people represented in the houses of representatives. [John] Adams… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
By 1782 [John Adams] had come to feel for [Benjamin] Franklin "no other sentiments than Contempt or Abhorrence." — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
I think [John Adams] developed a much deeper suspicion of France and the other European powers than he had earlier. He lost much if… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
[John] Adams never had an optimistic view of human nature, and his experience in the Congress and abroad only deepened his suspicion that his… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
A mutual friend, Benjamin Rush, brought [Tomas Jefferson and John Adams] together in 1812, and they went on to exchange letters for the rest… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image
“Intellectual activity in a culture is not a one-way flow between the great minds and passive recipients; it is a discourse, a complex marketplace-like… — Gordon S. Wood Copy Share Image