Shortly thereafter, both he and his father crossed party lines to support Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase.[284] The only major political incident involving the elder Adams during the Jefferson years was a dispute with Mercy Otis Warren in 1806. Warren, an old friend, had written a history of the American Revolution attacking Adams for his "partiality for monarchy" and "pride of talents and much ambition."A tempestuous correspondence ensued between her and Adams. In time, their friendship healed.[285] Adams did privately criticize the President over his Embargo Act,[282] despite the fact that John Quincy voted for it.[286] John Quincy resigned from the Senate in 1808 after the Federalist-controlled State Senate refused to nominate him for a second term. After the Federalists denounced John Quincy as no longer being of their party, Adams wrote to him that he himself had long since "abdicated and disclaimed the name and character and attributes of that sect."[4]
After Jefferson's retirement from public life in 1809, Adams became more vocal. He published a three-year marathon of letters in the Boston Patriot newspaper, refuting line-by-line Hamilton's 1800 pamphlet. 