...doubts about John Adams. It is well to recall Benjamin Franklin's astute evaluation of Adams from 1783: "He means well for his country, is always an honest...and in some things, absolutely out of his senses." See LH Butterfield, Diary and Autobiography of John Adams, 4 vols., ed. LH Butterfield (Cambridge,...

...Hamilton attacked with his pamphlet and that Benjamin Franklin memorialized by describing Adams as "always an honest Man, often a wise one, but sometimes,...and in some things, absolutely out of his senses." Adams himself admitted as much in his better moments, confessing that there had "been very many times...

...Benjamin Franklin's famous judgment of John Adams, with whom he worked and fought for several years— "Always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes, and in some things, absolutely out of his senses"—can serve as a motto for much of his family (Abigail included). The Adamses typically envy...

...letter with the fairest and most quoted assessment anyone ever made of the character of John Adams: "I am persuaded, however, that he means well for his...and in some things, absolutely out of his Senses." In these months Franklin was linked to Adams in their ineffective commission to make commercial treaties,...

...had long held. As he would put it to Livingston a few months later, once the negotiations were over, "He means well for his country, is always an honest...and in some things, absolutely out of his senses." 38 On October 30, Adams's forty-seventh birthday, the American negotiators and their British counterparts...

...had long held. As he would put it to Livingston a few months later, once the negotiations were over, "He means well for his country, is always an honest...sometimes and in some things, absolutely out of his senses."38 On October 30, Adams's forty-seventh birthday, the American negotiators and their British...

...plotting against him, and employing the News-Writers of Europe to deprecate his Character, &c. ... I am persuaded, however, that he means well for his...and in some things, absolutely out of his senses. seventy-fifth year," he wrote, "and I find that the long and severe fit of gout which I had last winter...

...down."18 Franklin sometimes lost patience — referring to Adams as "a certain mischievous madman."19"! am persuaded, however, that he means well for his...sometimes, and in some things, absolutely out of his senses."20 However, Franklin was persuaded to join in defying Congress openly. I went out to Passy...

...Franklin was too generous in his famous summary of the man from Massachusetts, when he said that Adams "means well for his Country, is always an honest Man,...and in some things, absolutely out of his Senses.""' Franklin hoped that "the ravings of a certain mischievous .Madman here against France and its Ministers,...

...hard to relax and enjoy himself once in a while. Ben even commented in a letter home that John Adams "means well for his country, is always an honest man,...and in some things, absolutely out of his senses." Despite these interpersonal conflicts and ambitions, Ben did not lose sight of the greater goal of...