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VOA慢速英语2013 约翰·亚当斯当选国家的第二任总统

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John Adams Elected as Nation's Second President -The Making of a Nation No. 27 - Adams Part 1 约翰·亚当斯当选国家的第二任总统

From VOA Learning English, welcome to THE MAKING OF A NATION – American history in Special English. I’m Steve Ember.

In 1796 the new nation held its third presidential election. George Washington won the first two elections without opposition1. But 1796 saw a change in American politics. That year, for the first time, there was more than one candidate for president.

There was also more than one political party. The Federalists were led by former treasury2 secretary Alexander Hamilton. And the Republicans were led by former secretary of state Thomas Jefferson.

John Adams was a Federalist. Most people expected him to win. He was well known throughout the country. He had campaigned for American independence from Britain. He had served as a diplomat3 in Europe and as the first American minister to Britain. He was George Washington's choice for vice4 president and had served in that position for both of Washington's terms.

But, unlike other Federalists, Adams was not loyal to Alexander Hamilton. So Hamilton worked against Adams. Hamilton tried to win support for his own candidate for president. His choice was another Federalist named Thomas Pinckney, from South Carolina.

At last, the day arrived for counting the votes of the electors. The Federalists were shocked by the results. Seventy-one electors voted for John Adams. Sixty-eight voted for Thomas Jefferson. Only sixty voted for Hamilton's choice, Thomas Pinckney.

Under the electoral system used at that time, the candidate with the most electoral votes became president. The candidate with the next largest number of votes became vice president.

So America's second president would be John Adams, a Federalist, and his vice president would be Thomas Jefferson, a Republican.

Jefferson had resigned from public service a few years earlier. But he decided5 to accept his election as vice president. He wrote to his friend James Madison that he was willing to serve under Adams. Jefferson said he believed Adams was the only man who could stop Alexander Hamilton from becoming president in the next election in 1800.

To Adams himself, Jefferson wrote that he valued their long friendship and hoped it would continue. Republican newspapers carried articles that were friendly to Federalist John Adams -- the first time they had done so.

Adams and Jefferson took office in March 1797. However, some Federalists believed their party's power had come to an end. Adams was a Federalist. But, as we said, he was not loyal to the party's leader, Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton, sitting in his law office in New York City, did not lose hope. He knew he still controlled the top Federalist leaders in Congress.

More than that, he believed he knew how to control John Adams.

The new president made Hamilton's job easy. Adams kept George Washington's top advisers6. The three men, who had served in Washington's cabinet, would now advise President Adams.

Washington had appointed them at Hamilton's request. And they always did what Hamilton told them to do.

Historians still cannot explain why John Adams -- a man who did not like or trust Alexander Hamilton -- kept the three cabinet secretaries. If the secretaries had been men of great ability, then that might be an explanation. But they were not.

One was a secretary of state who knew very little about foreign relations. The second was a secretary of the treasury who knew even less about finance. And the third was a secretary of war who knew nothing about military matters and defense7.

Adams may have kept these men as an act of party unity8. Or he may have kept them because he could not get anyone else.

Whatever his reason, the decision was politically costly9 for Adams. The three cabinet secretaries worked together against him.

President Adams would tell his cabinet secretaries what he wanted. Then they would secretly go to Alexander Hamilton for their orders.

In the end, these secret activities helped destroy the Federalist Party.

They also made the administration of John Adams one of the most important periods in the political history of the United States.

John Adams was born in the village of Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1735. He wanted to be a farmer. But he was sent to Harvard College to study to be a clergyman.

He had no interest in that career and became a lawyer, instead.

In the years before the American Revolution, John Adams wrote articles about the injustice10 of British rule. He also became a delegate to the First Continental11 Congress. He urged the Congress to appoint George Washington as commander-in-chief of the colonial armies. He argued for the creation of a Navy. And he helped develop the resolutions declaring America's independence.

“We think of George Washington in his famous farewell address urging Americans to give their loyalty12 to the United Sates, and to further its interests, and not to be loyal to some foreign country. And that was what Adams believed as well.”

John Ferling is a professor emeritus13 of history at the University of West Georgia. He has written many books about America’s founders14, including John Adams. He says Adams wanted Americans to be able to govern themselves through their representatives.

“Adams was opposed to monarchies15, and he was opposed to rule by hereditary16 nobility.”    

Adams spent most of the Revolutionary War years in Europe. He helped win Dutch recognition of the new American nation. He also negotiated a loan from the Dutch government, as well as a treaty of friendship and commerce. After the Americans defeated British forces, he helped negotiate the peace treaty between the two countries. Then he served as the first American minister to Britain.

Adams was extremely intelligent and was a thoughtful, lively writer. However, John Ferling says Adams often acted very coldly and said little. Or he easily became angry.

“If you thought of adjectives to describe Adams, certainly you would think of words like captious17, contrary, gruff, egotistical, short-tempered, whatever.”

But, he says, many people liked Adams after they got to know him.

“He was certainly an excellent conversationalist, and he was filled with ideas. He wasn’t a vindictive18 person. He seemed to be a very honest person.”

His best friend was probably his wife, Abigail. They were married for almost 60 years. Joseph Ellis, a history professor at Mt. Holyoke College, wrote a book about their relationship.

“They’re the first power couple in American history. She has the greatest influence on foreign policy than any first lady up until probably Eleanor Roosevelt.”

Joseph Ellis says Abigail Adams did not see herself mainly as a hostess, even though she did lead social events. Instead, he says, the Adamses were a diplomatic team.   

Another of John Adams' supporters was Thomas Jefferson. This was strange. Jefferson's political philosophy was opposed to everything Adams represented. And the two men did argue. But they were also friends. For the last years of their lives, Adams and Jefferson wrote letters to each other about their memories and about the future of the country.  

Perhaps Jefferson liked Adams because he respected him for his intelligence. Perhaps he never forgot that Adams had fought hard for American independence. Adams had given many years of his life to the young nation.

However, some people just did not like John Adams, but they knew they needed to work with him.

Federalist leaders, especially, appealed to Adams' weaknesses when they wanted his support. For example, they knew Adams was jealous of George Washington. Sometimes, if Adams knew Washington's opinion on a subject, he would purposely offer a different opinion.

Yet Washington -- like Jefferson -- respected Adams. He felt the new nation needed Adams' skills.

And John Ferling says Adams also respected George Washington, even though he thought Washington was not always fair to him.

Adams' last public appearance was before cadets from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was a very old man by then. Someone had to help him walk. And, says historian John Ferling, Adams could not say more than a few sentences.

“But what he did in that speech was, he exhorted19 those would-be officers to model themselves on George Washington and called Washington a great man.”

Adams' personal weaknesses caused other troubles during his presidency20. He belonged to the Federalist Party, but he did not want to become involved in party arguments. And he did not want to make all the compromises necessary in the world of politics. So, other Federalists often worked against him.

Adams won the presidency in 1796. But his term would be difficult. His own party, the Federalists, did not trust him. And he did not have the support of the general public. The people knew he believed that men of money and position should govern America.

Even so, Adams did not expect the job of president to be easy. In politics, he said, a man must always walk on broken glass and red-hot iron. It is not easy to do this when you are not wearing shoes. But some men must do it. There are many dangerous things that have to be done for our country in these dangerous times. If nobody else will do them, he said, he will.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
2 treasury 7GeyP     
n.宝库;国库,金库;文库
参考例句:
  • The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
  • This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。
3 diplomat Pu0xk     
n.外交官,外交家;能交际的人,圆滑的人
参考例句:
  • The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话,紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
  • He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。
4 vice NU0zQ     
n.坏事;恶习;[pl.]台钳,老虎钳;adj.副的
参考例句:
  • He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
  • They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。
5 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
6 advisers d4866a794d72d2a666da4e4803fdbf2e     
顾问,劝告者( adviser的名词复数 ); (指导大学新生学科问题等的)指导教授
参考例句:
  • a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
  • She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。
7 defense AxbxB     
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩
参考例句:
  • The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
  • The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。
8 unity 4kQwT     
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调
参考例句:
  • When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结,并非一团和气。
  • We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前,我们必须加强团结。
9 costly 7zXxh     
adj.昂贵的,价值高的,豪华的
参考例句:
  • It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
  • This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用,左不过贵了些。
10 injustice O45yL     
n.非正义,不公正,不公平,侵犯(别人的)权利
参考例句:
  • They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
  • All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。
11 continental Zazyk     
adj.大陆的,大陆性的,欧洲大陆的
参考例句:
  • A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
  • The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。
12 loyalty gA9xu     
n.忠诚,忠心
参考例句:
  • She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
  • His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。
13 emeritus ypixp     
adj.名誉退休的
参考例句:
  • "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
  • He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。
14 founders 863257b2606659efe292a0bf3114782c     
n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
  • The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句
15 monarchies 5198a08b4ee6bffa4e4281ded9b6c460     
n. 君主政体, 君主国, 君主政治
参考例句:
  • It cleared away a number of monarchies. 它清除了好几个君主政体。
  • Nowadays, there are few monarchies left in the world. 现在世界上君主制的国家已经很少了。
16 hereditary fQJzF     
adj.遗传的,遗传性的,可继承的,世袭的
参考例句:
  • The Queen of England is a hereditary ruler.英国女王是世袭的统治者。
  • In men,hair loss is hereditary.男性脱发属于遗传。
17 captious wTjy2     
adj.难讨好的,吹毛求疵的
参考例句:
  • There is no captious client but faulty product and service.没有挑剔的客户,只有不完善的产品和服务。
  • His criticisms were always captious and frivolous,never offering constructive suggestions.他的评论一向轻率并爱吹毛求疵,从不提出有建设性的建议。
18 vindictive FL3zG     
adj.有报仇心的,怀恨的,惩罚的
参考例句:
  • I have no vindictive feelings about it.我对此没有恶意。
  • The vindictive little girl tore up her sister's papers.那个充满报复心的小女孩撕破了她姐姐的作业。
19 exhorted b5e20c680b267763d0aa53936b1403f6     
v.劝告,劝说( exhort的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The party leader exhorted his members to start preparing for government. 该党领袖敦促党员着手准备筹建政府。
  • He exhorted his elder. 他规劝长辈。 来自《简明英汉词典》
20 presidency J1HzD     
n.总统(校长,总经理)的职位(任期)
参考例句:
  • Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
  • Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

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