[262] Adams signed his commission on January 31 and the Senate approved it immediately.[273] Marshall's long tenure left a lasting influence on the Court. He maintained a carefully reasoned nationalistic interpretation of the Constitution and established the judicial branch as the equal of the executive and legislative branches.[274]
After the Federalists lost control of both houses of Congress along with the White House in the election of 1800, the lame-duck session of the 6th Congress in February 1801 approved a judiciary act, commonly known as the Midnight Judges Act, which created a set of federal appeals courts between the district courts and the Supreme Court. Adams filled the vacancies created in this statute by appointing a series of judges, whom his opponents called the "Midnight Judges," just days before his term expired. Most of these judges lost their posts when the 7th Congress, with a solid Republican majority, approved the Judiciary Act of 1802, abolishing the newly created courts.[275]

Post-presidency (1801–1826)
Initial years
Adams resumed farming at Peacefield in the town of Quincy and began work on an autobiography. The work had numerous gaps and was eventually abandoned and left unedited.