John Adams was miserable.
If you picture the first vice president of the United States as a man basking in the glow of a new nation, you’ve got the wrong guy. Honestly, he hated the job. He famously called it "the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived."
That’s a heavy burn from a guy who helped write the Declaration of Independence.
Most of us learn in grade school that George Washington was the first president and Adams was his second-in-command. We assume they were a powerhouse duo, sort of like a 1700s version of a modern executive team. But the reality was way messier, lonelier, and—for Adams—insultingly boring.
Who Was the First VP of the US, Really?
To understand John Adams, you have to realize he didn't even "run" for vice president in the way we think of it now. Back then, there were no "running mates." The system was a bit of a free-for-all. Every elector got two votes. Whoever got the most became president, and the runner-up became the vice president.
Washington, being the titan he was, got a vote from every single elector. Adams came in second, but it wasn't even close. He only got 34 votes out of 69.
He felt humiliated.
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He almost didn't take the job. He spent a month pacing around his farm in Braintree, Massachusetts, wondering if he should just stay home. He eventually sucked it up and headed to New York (the capital at the time), but he arrived to find a role that had no job description.
The Job Nobody Wanted
Adams was a man of action. He was the "Atlas of Independence." During the Revolution, he served on ninety different committees. He was a diplomat in France and the Netherlands. He was used to being the guy in the room making things happen.
Then he became the first VP of the US.
Suddenly, his only real duty was sitting in the Senate and keeping his mouth shut unless there was a tie. For a guy who loved the sound of his own voice and possessed one of the sharpest legal minds in history, this was literal torture.
He tried to get involved in the debates. The Senators basically told him to sit down. They even mocked him, calling him "His Rotundity" because of his waistline and his obsession with formal titles. He wanted the President to be addressed as "His Highness," which everyone else thought sounded a bit too much like the King they just kicked out.
The Power He Actually Had
Despite his whining, Adams was actually quite important. He holds the record for the third-most tie-breaking votes in Senate history. He cast 29 of them.
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These weren't just small things either. He broke ties that protected the President's power to fire cabinet members and even votes that kept the U.S. out of a premature war with Great Britain.
- 29 tie-breaking votes: A record that stood until very recently.
- Neutrality: He helped hold the line on Washington’s desire to stay out of European squabbles.
- Federalism: He was a staunch defender of a strong central government when everything was still shaky.
But he was almost never invited to cabinet meetings. Washington and Adams were cordial, sure, but they weren't best friends. Washington relied on Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson (at least until they started fighting). Adams was often left out in the cold, literally and metaphorically.
A Heartbeat Away
The weirdest part of being the first VP of the US was that no one knew what happened if the President died. The Constitution was vague. Would the VP become the actual President, or just an "Acting President"?
Adams spent eight years as a "waiting man." He lived in the shadow of a legend, knowing that his only path to real power was if something terrible happened to Washington or if he could somehow survive long enough to win the next election.
It was a weird, awkward, and lonely eight years.
He didn't even have a staff. He and his wife, Abigail, spent a lot of their time worrying about money because the vice presidential salary was barely enough to cover the cost of living in the temporary capitals of New York and Philadelphia.
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Why We Should Care Today
Adams’ struggle defined what the vice presidency became. He set the precedent that the VP is the President of the Senate. He established the "tie-breaker" as a legitimate tool of executive influence.
More importantly, he proved that a person of high intellect and ego could survive a "useless" job for the sake of the country’s stability. When he finally became President in 1797, he was the first person to prove that power could pass peacefully from one person to another in this new system.
If you want to understand the roots of American power, don't just look at the generals. Look at the guy sitting in the back of the room, bored out of his mind, waiting for a tie-vote that might never come.
Next Steps for History Buffs
To get a better grip on the chaotic birth of the U.S. executive branch, check out the original letters between John and Abigail Adams. They’re available through the Massachusetts Historical Society. Reading his raw, unfiltered complaints about his "insignificant" job gives you a human perspective that textbooks always seem to skip. You might also want to look into the 12th Amendment; it’s the reason we no longer end up with a President and Vice President who actively hate each other.