Chapter 9 Summary and Analysis

The letters of chapter nine range from January 1812 to June 1813. After Jefferson's presidency and the events of 1801, Adams and Jefferson's relationship was understandably in tatters. Jefferson was furious about Adams's midnight appointments and Adams was furious about Jefferson's association with the writers of scurrilous attacks on his family. Reconciliation between the two, though, was a few years away. A mutual friend, Dr. Rush, was a signer of the Declaration and a well-known doctor. He saw Adams and Jefferson as personifications of the American Republic as they aged and saw their estrangement as a tragedy. For a few years, Rush sent letters to both men in attempts to reconcile them.

By 1811 his efforts were successful. He was able to warm the two men's hearts toward one another and convinced Adams to write Jefferson. He initially sent Jefferson a letter with two Pieces...