there's a lot to admire about this guy. he wasn't born to wealth and served his country at the expense of his family and personal wealth. the aristocrats did not like him and he didn't like them which eventually led to his downfall. he made it on sheer intelligence and hard work.
sharePerhaps the same was true of Alexander Hamilton, who was illegitimate and orphaned as a child. And Benjamin Franklin, who was the son of a soap and candlemaker.
Of course neither of them made it as far as Adams! But American was a "land of opportunity" then, where people like Franklin and Hamilton could rise higher than they'd ever rise back in the class-conscious UK.