John Adams (FML)

Adams, John. The Political Writings of John Adams. Edited by George A. Peek, Jr. Liberal Arts Press. 1955. 223 pp.

John Adam's enduring title to fame was his grasp of the principles of republican conservatism. He "vindicated with vigor and consistency such basic ideas of the American Constitution as the balanced and limited powers of the government, the right of the minority to protection against the tyranny of the majority and the inseparable connection between liberty and property. ... The heart of the second President's political philosophy is summed up in one brief sentence in his Defense of the American Constitution. 'Power is always abused when unlimited and unbalanced.'" - William Henry Chamberlin, in The Freeman.