<Tr> <Th> Alma mater </Th> <Td> Harvard College </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Signature </Th> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <P> John Adams (October 30 (O.S. October 19) 1735--July 4, 1826) was an American statesman and Founding Father who served as the first Vice President (1789--97) and second President of the United States (1797--1801). He was a lawyer, diplomat, political theorist, and a leader of the movement for American independence from Great Britain . He was also a dedicated diarist and correspondent, particularly with his wife and closest advisor, Abigail . </P> <P> Adams collaborated with his cousin, revolutionary leader Samuel Adams, but established his own prominence prior to the American Revolution . Driven by his devotion to the right to counsel and the presumption of innocence, he provided a successful, if unpopular, legal defense of the accused British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre, despite severe local anti-British sentiment . Adams was sent as a delegate from colonial Massachusetts to the Continental Congress, where he played a leading role in persuading Congress to declare independence . He assisted in drafting the Declaration of Independence in 1776, and was its foremost advocate in the Congress . As a diplomat in Europe, he helped negotiate the eventual peace treaty with Great Britain, and acquired vital governmental loans from Amsterdam bankers . Adams was the primary author of the Massachusetts Constitution in 1780 . This influenced the development of America's own constitution, as did his earlier Thoughts on Government (1776). </P>

Ok google who was the second president of the united states