Ridiculous Boyfriend Spotlight On . . .

John Adams!

But first, some explanation about the Ridiculous Boyfriend Spotlight. Each week, I will bring information to you about someone ludicrous that I have a crush on. It will be ludicrous because said person and I are in different places, different times, or different planes of reality. There are three basic categories:

1. Celebrities

2. Fictional characters

3. Historical figures

As you may have noticed, the very first Ridiculous Boyfriend hails from category 3, subcategory: American presidents. Now, John Adams--let's be real, here--didn't really do that much earth-shattering while he was president. I'll admit that. I'll also cop to his responsibility for the Alien and Sedition Acts. (In his defense, though . . . Abigail wasn't there to tell him what a dumb idea that was.) Once you get past that, though, and especially if you look at his pre-presidentin' (and pre-vice-presidentin') record, John Adams was totally awesome!

Short version: wrote the Massachusetts constitution, the oldest still-used written constitution in the world and the blueprint for much of the US Constitution; was on the Declaration of Independence committee (and, according to his version of the story, got Jefferson to write it); nominated George Washington to lead the Continental Army; was integral in getting the Treaty of Paris signed; single-handedly secured important loans and official governmental recognition from the Netherlands (which was the first place to recognize the US as a nation); acted as the defense lawyer for the British soldiers in the Boston Massacre, because no one else would and he believed everybody deserved justice; was the first ambassador to Britain.

Plus, he and Abigail could not have been ANY cuter a couple. (If there's one thing I look for in my historical crushes, it's . . . ok, it's unbending principles or determination or an efficient wielding of vast amounts of power. But if there are four, then the next one is the adorable doting on of the wife. It shows an underlying squishy cuteness.)

As John Adams himself claimed, he was kind of an obnoxious guy. Also vain and arrogant, but underneath it all was insecurity and a longing to do the right thing. As Thomas Jefferson told James Madison (I say as if I know, like James was all, "Hey, Rachel, did you hear what Tom said about Adams? Dude."): "He is vain, irritable, and a bad calculator of the force and probable effect of the motives which govern men. This is all the ill which can possibly be said of him. He is as disinterested as the Being who made him. He is profound in his views and accurate in his judgment, except where knowledge of the world is necessary to form a judgment. He is so amiable that I pronounce you will love him, if ever you become acquainted with him. He would be, as he was, a great man in Congress."

My John Adams love is often spurred on by watching my fav-o-rite movie, since William Daniels did a very accurate (and foxy) job of portraying John Adams on stage and screen in 1776. Do I love 1776 so much because of my undying affection for John Adams, or do I love John Adams so much because of my undying affection for 1776?

Actually, that's a really easy question. Undying affection for John Adams, hands down.

Woo!