[334]
Many attacks on Adams were scurrilous, including suggestions that he was planning to "crown himself king" and "grooming John Quincy as heir to the throne."[332] The allegations were totally false, he told Jefferson — he never wanted an American monarchy.[335]
According to Luke Mayville, Adams synthesized two strands of thought: practical study of past and present governments, and Scottish Enlightenment thinking concerning individual desires expressed in politics.[336] Adams's conclusion was that the great danger was that an oligarchy of the wealthy would take hold to the detriment of equality. To counter that danger, the power of the wealthy needed to be channeled by institutions, and checked by a strong executive.[336][323]

John Adams by Gilbert Stuart (1823). This portrait was the last made of Adams, done at the request of John Quincy.[337]
Religious views
Adams was raised in the Congregational church but it was factionalized. In Quincy, the Unitarian faction was dominant and included Adams and his father. It was a new force in the colonies and denied the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus Christ. It was opposed by the Calvinist faction that was Trinitarian and emphasized Christ as the Savior. 