[349]

Legacy
Historical reputation
See also: Bibliography of John Adams
Franklin summed up what many thought of Adams when he said, "He means well for his country, is always an honest man, often a wise one, but sometimes, and in some things, absolutely out of his senses."[350] Adams strongly felt that he would be forgotten and underappreciated by history. These feelings often manifested themselves through envy and verbal attacks on other Founders.[165][351] Edmund Morgan argues, "Adams was ridiculously vain, absurdly jealous, embarrassingly hungry for compliments. But no man ever served his country more selflessly."[352]
Historian George Herring argues that Adams was the most independent-minded of the Founders.[353] Though he formally aligned with the Federalists, he was somewhat a party unto himself, at times disagreeing with the Federalists as much as he did the Republicans.[354] He was often described as "prickly", but his tenacity was fed by decisions made in the face of universal opposition.[353] Adams was often combative, which diminished presidential decorum, as he admitted in his old age: "[As President] I refused to suffer in silence. I sighed, sobbed, and groaned, and sometimes screeched and screamed. 