THE ADAMS CHRONICLES (1976) – This mini-series of 13 50-minute episodes looked at historical giant John Adams and his descendants from the American Revolution up to the 1890s. Michael Tolan narrated 8 episodes.
EPISODE ONE: JOHN ADAMS, LAWYER (Jan 20th, 1976) – As a young man, John Adams (George Grizzard) suffers setbacks in his career as a lawyer, so he returns to the farm his father left him. His fiery cousin Samuel Adams (W.B. Brydon) tells him he made a mistake and should go back to practicing law. John meets Abigail Smith (Kathryn Walker), daughter of a Reverend (Addison Powell). He marries her and as they raise their children he returns to his career as an attorney.
Though he and Samuel Adams agree about the need to push back against increasingly suffocating British laws, they sharply disagree when John’s principles prompt him to become the lawyer defending the British soldiers facing charges in the Boston Massacre. John felt the men were being railroaded and when no one else would defend them, he stepped up and did so. Not for the last time, John Adams’s principles put him at odds with those closest to him.
This episode also starred John Houseman, Nancy Marchand, David Elliott, Curt Dawson as John Hancock and John Tillinger as King George III.
EPISODE TWO: JOHN ADAMS, REVOLUTIONARY (Jan 27th) – The years go by a little too swiftly in this episode, but there’s drama to spare. John’s passion and public writing against British tyranny repair his relationships in Boston and elsewhere. He goes from having to move Abigail and their children back to his farm because of threats in Boston to becoming instrumental in efforts toward American Independence.
The Boston Tea Party happens in 1773 and British pressure ratchets up. Eventually John is elected to represent Massachusetts at the Continental Congress, while Abigail struggles to keep the family alive during an outbreak of dysentery. The Battles of Lexington and Concord in April 1775 start all-out war between the Colonies and Great Britain. John is dissuaded from enlisting in the army and remains in Congress, where he nominates George Washington of Virginia to command the rebel forces.
More than a year later, the summer of 1776 sees John Adams, Benjamin Franklin (Robert Symonds), Thomas Jefferson (Albert Stratton) and others serving on the Congressional Committee in charge of drafting the Declaration of Independence.
EPISODE THREE: JOHN ADAMS, DIPLOMAT (Feb 3rd) – Yes, I know the words “John Adams” and “Diplomat” are mutually exclusive, but what can ya do? Ya gotta love the guy. This episode covers events from the rest of 1776 up to 1783, but in my opinion the pacing is better this time around. John, Ben Franklin and their allies in Congress reject Lord Howe’s offer of pardons for all rebels in exchange for submitting to British rule again.
As the war rages on, John and Ben Franklin are sent to France to represent American interests after Silas Deane is disgraced in an embezzlement scandal. Abigail persuades John to take son John Quincy Adams with him to gain experience. Franklin charms the Europeans, while Adams is again found “obnoxious and disliked” you might say. John is better with money men and secures a Dutch loan to keep the rebel cause afloat.
By 1783 John is helping to negotiate the Treaty of Paris cementing America’s victory, while John Quincy Adams has become so fluent in multiple languages that he is sent to Russia as a Diplomatic Secretary.
EPISODE FOUR: JOHN ADAMS, MINISTER TO GREAT BRITAIN (Feb 10th) – From 1785 to 1788, John Adams serves as America’s first Minister to Great Britain. On the plus side, this allows Abigail and the rest of their children to join him in London. Negatives include the lingering tensions between the U.S. and Britain.
Upper crust British strategy now seems to be to stifle the young nation’s attempts to find footing in trade and respect in international relations, assuming that America as an independent nation will fail and figuratively come begging to once again become mere colonies of England. After three years with few successes, John, Abigail and their children return to the United States.
Katherine Houghton is now playing daughter Abigail Adams II, Jack Gwillim is Lord Carmathen and Richard Cox plays Col. William Stephens Smith.
EPISODE FIVE: JOHN ADAMS, VICE PRESIDENT (Feb 17th) – George Washington is elected the first United States President in the 1788 election, with John Adams as Vice President. John becomes bored and irritated presiding over the Senate and steps back, establishing the still adhered to precedent of Vice Presidents only filling their Constitutional role as President of the Senate for special occasions like the State of the Union Address or to cast tie-breaking votes in the Senate.
Moreover, factions led by Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton pursue conflicting visions for the new government. Jefferson and his acolytes want a central government so lacking in power that it hinders America’s survival as an independent nation. The Hamilton camp (See what I did there?) favors a federal government so supreme that it seems virtually tyrannical. After eight years, Adams is elected the new president with Jefferson as his Vice President, setting up conflict between the two since Adams is closer to Washington and Hamilton’s views.
Leora Dana now plays Abigail Adams at this stage of her life. Mark Winkworth is John Quincy Adams, Tom Tammi portrays Thomas Adams, Philip Anglim is Charles Adams and Ken Kercheval is James Madison.
EPISODE SIX: JOHN ADAMS, PRESIDENT (Feb 24th) – As president, John Adams must deal with Jefferson’s constant attempts to undermine him and his policies regarding a strong federal government. Adams winds up playing into the hands of Jefferson and his allies with the Sedition Act and the Alien Acts, which inspired strong criticism of John for assorted justifiable and unjustifiable reasons.
Adding to Adams’s unpopularity is his refusal to commit American armed forces to join Revolutionary France in their war against European monarchies. Adams feels the U.S. is too militarily weak at the time and that joining a war against powerful nations would end with the annihilation of America’s army and navy. President Adams instead settles in for the Quasi-Naval War against France from 1798 to 1801.
In 1800, John loses to Jefferson, who becomes the next President. Robert Prosky plays Navy Secretary Benjamin Stoddert, whose administrative leadership against France on the seas led to the Quasi-War also being called Stoddert’s War.
LATER THIS WEEK I WILL EXAMINE THE SEVEN REMAINING EPISODES, AS THE OTHER ADAMSES STEP TO THE FOREFRONT FOR THE REST OF THE SERIES. WILLIAM DANIELS PORTRAYS JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, YEARS AFTER PLAYING JOHN ADAMS IN THE MUSICAL 1776.
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