...emotion that so characterized his life. Benjamin Franklin's famous comment on the volatile Adams — he "is always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes,...and in some things, absolutely out of his senses" — seems uncomfortably close to the mark. Yet in many ways Adams' impetuous character, contentious...

...4950,51-52. 3. The PCC extract ends here. 4. Franklin refers to John Adams, of whom he later remarked "that he means well for his country, is always an...sometimes and in some things absolutely out of his senses" (to Robert R. Livingston, July 22, 1783, Wharton, ed., Rev. Dipl. Corr., VI, 582). For one delegate's...

...courtesy call. Franklin had summed up his feelings about Adams during the Silas Deane affair: "John Adams is always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes...and in some things absolutely out of his senses." When the three delegates met with a British agent, Franklin declared common cause with the others and...

...the vainest, most outspoken, testiest, and most abrasive. Benjamin Franklin once said that Adams was "always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes, and in some things, absolutely out of his senses."6 Throughout his entire public career, Adams felt that his own enormous contributions to the...

...News-Writers of Europe to depreciate his Character &. But as Shakespear says, "Trifles light as Air," &c. I am persuaded, however, that he means well for his...sometimes, and in some things, absolutely out of his senses.1409 Tuesday, August 12, 1783. Today, in Paris, Benny Bache turns fourteen years old. He arrived...

...this appraisal of himself a few months after it was written by Franklin in a letter to RR Livingston: "I am persuaded however, that he means well for his...but sometimes and in some things, absolutely out of hisSences."52 Thomas Jefferson delivered an equally corrosive estimate of Adams at about the same time....

...and later, Hamilton to Charles Carroll, July 1, 1800, 25 HP 1-2. Franklin actually wrote about Adams: "He means well for his Country, is always an honest...and in some things, absolutely out of his senses." See Franklin to Robert R. Livingston, July 22, 1783, 9 THE WRITINGS OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN 62 (Albert...

...Franklin at times was also less than complimentary about Adams, writing in 1783, for example, that Adams "means well for his Country, is always an honest Man,...and in some things, absolutely out of his senses" (W9:62; cf. 33:162-64). For more on Franklin and Adams, see: William B. Evans, "John Adams' Opinion...

...1783, to Robert Livingston, that Franklin described Adams in words that were never to be forgotten : "He means well for his country, is always an honest...and in some things, absolutely out of his senses." In the first week of September the peacemakers convened to sign the definitive treaty. Henry Laurens...

...seamen; and retained the royalists among us, to keep us divided ... I am persuaded that . . . [Adams] means well for his country, is always an honest man,...sometimes, and in some things, absolutely out of his senses.'113 Franklin was, however, effectively overpowered by his colleagues and agreed to proceed...