John Adams: Second

约翰·亚当斯：第二任总统

VOA Learning English presents America's Presidents.
美国之音慢速英语介绍美国总统栏目。

Today we are talking about John Adams. In 1796, he was elected as the country’s second president.
今天，我们来谈论约翰·亚当斯。1796年，他当选为美国第二任总统。

Being second can be difficult. And being the second president of a new country, following a popular first president such as George Washington, turned out to be extremely difficult.
成为第二会很困难。成为一个新兴国家的第二任总统，尤其是前任如此出名的情况下，那将会极其困难，例如乔治·华盛顿。

For one thing^[1], Adams did not always get along with other people. He was known to get angry easily, and often.
首先，亚当斯与他人相处并不总是很融洽。人人都知道他易怒，并且经常性地。

Adams also was leader of a divided administration. His own vice president often disagreed with him – passionately
亚当斯领导的政府部门有很多分歧。他的副总统经常激烈地与他争执。

The situation was the result of a rule in the Constitution at the time. It said the person who received the majority of votes became president. The person with the second largest number of votes became vice president.
导致这种情况的发生是那时候宪法规定的结果。宪法上规定获得最多选票的人成为总统，第二多的人成为副总统。

The rule worked fine for the first two elections. Washington had won the presidency, and Adams won the vice presidency. The two men belonged to the same political party and shared many points of view.
此规则在前两次选举中没有问题。华盛顿赢得了总统席位，亚当斯赢得了副总统席位。他们都属于同一个政治党派，并且分享着许多观点。

But in 1796, Adams’ opponent in the election, Thomas Jefferson, became the vice president. The two men were personal friends, but political enemies.
但是在1796年的大选中，亚当斯的对手，托马斯·杰斐逊成为了副总统。他们彼此是私人朋友，但是也是政治敌人。

President Adams supported a strong federal government that protected the interests of business and the wealthy. Vice President Jefferson, on the other hand, wanted to limit the power of the federal government. As a result, Adams and Jefferson often clashed.
亚当斯总统支持联邦政府保护商人和富人的利益。另一方面，副总统杰斐逊想要限制联邦政府的权利。结果，亚当斯和杰斐逊经常发生冲突。

Adams also made what many historians consider a mistake in choosing his cabinet. Adams simply kept Washington’s official advisers, mostly to satisfy political opponents.
很多历史学家都认为亚当斯在选择他的内阁时犯了错误。亚当斯仅仅保留了华盛顿的官方顾问，主要是为了满足政治对手。

But later, Adams learned that many of his cabinet members opposed him, too.
后来，亚当斯也了解到许多内阁成员是反对他的。

Historian John Ferling says Adams was “in over his head, and started swimming upstream” almost from the start of his presidency.
历史学家约翰·费林认为亚当斯几乎从他的总统生涯开始就“陷入一种无法摆脱的困境，与主流观点相悖”。

Foreign policy crisis 外交政策危机

On top of all that, Adams faced a foreign policy crisis. After the French Revolution, Great Britain allied with other European nations against France. They wanted to keep the unrest from spreading to their countries.
此外，亚当斯面临着外交政策危机。法国大革命后，英国与其他欧洲国家联合来抵制法国。美国当局想防止动乱波及到自己国家。

Adams worked hard to make sure the U.S. did not get pulled into a war between France and Great Britain. But France did not trust the U.S. It tried to interrupt^[7] trade by seizing U.S. ships.
亚当斯努力让美国避免陷于法国和英国之间的战争。但是法国不信任美国，法国试图通过拦截美国船只来阻止美国贸易。

Adams wanted to resolve the problem peacefully. He threatened military action, but he also sent diplomats to talk with French officials.
亚当斯想要和平解决这个问题。在以军事行动威胁的同时，他也派遣了外交官去和法国官员谈判。

Adams aimed for “an honorable peace” with France. It took some time but he got it.
亚当斯目的是与法国来一场“光荣的和平”，这确实耗费不少时间，但最终他做到了。

Historian John Ferling says although the crisis in Europe caused Adams “endless trouble,” he dealt with it well.
历史学家约翰·费林说尽管这场欧洲危机给亚当斯带来了“无穷无尽的麻烦”，但他很好地处理了它。

Many years later, Adams wrote that “the greatest jewel in his crown” was reaching peace with France.
很多年后，亚当斯写道：“他王冠中最伟大的珍宝”是与法国缔结和平。

The Adams family 亚当斯的家庭

National Park Service

Even if Adams struggled as president, he was successful in other parts of his life.
尽管亚当斯作为总统不尽人如意，但他在生活中的其他方面还是很成功的。

He grew up outside the city of Boston. His father was a farmer, as well as a church official and town leader. However, Adams chose to attend Harvard University and become a lawyer.
他在波士顿长大，父亲是一位农场主，也是一位教会官员和镇领导。然而，亚当斯却选择了去上哈佛大学并且成为一名律师。

Adams was a very good lawyer. In fact, he was one of the busiest lawyers in Boston. His success enabled him to buy a big, two-story house that still stands in Quincy, Massachusetts.
亚当斯是一位非常出色的律师。事实上，他是波士顿最忙的律师之一。律师职业的成功让他在马萨诸塞州昆西市买了一套2层大房子。

Adams also had a happy marriage. The relationship between him and his wife, Abigail, is one of the best-known of that time. The two wrote many letters to each other during the years they were apart. More than 1,000 of their letters still survive today. John and Abigail Adams were both passionate patriots who supported the American Revolution.
亚当斯也拥有一个幸福的婚姻。他和妻子艾比盖尔之间的关系在那时成为一段佳话。他们分开的那几年之间彼此写了很多信件。直到今天，仍然有超过1000封幸存下来。约翰和艾比盖尔·亚当斯都是热情的爱国者，他们都支持美国大革命。

Circa

They also agreed about the issue of slavery. Unlike many founding families of the U.S., the couple did not own slaves and spoke out against the system of people owning other people.
他们在奴隶问题上观点一致。不像许多美国的创始家族，这对夫妻不仅没有拥有奴隶而且反对人类奴役其他人类。

Election of 1800 1800年大选

In November of 1800, John and Abigail Adams moved to the Executive Mansion in Washington, D.C. Adams was the first president to live in what we now call the White House.
1800年11月，约翰和艾比盖尔·亚当斯搬进了华盛顿特区的行政官邸。亚当斯是第一任住进现在称作白宫的总统。

They would not stay long, however.
然而，他们并没有住多久。

Adams was facing a difficult re-election campaign. His vice president, Thomas Jefferson, was running against him. His party was divided – many Federalists supported other candidates. And some voters did not like his decisions – including creating a permanent army, raising taxes, and limiting the rights of immigrants.
亚当斯面临着再一次大选的困难。他的副总统托马斯·杰斐逊与他竞争。他的政党四分五裂 — 许多联邦党派人士支持其他候选人。并且一些选民不喜欢他的决策 — 包括组建了一直永久军队，提高税收，限制移民的权力。

Those four laws – called the Alien and Sedition Acts – extended the time that immigrants had to wait before becoming U.S. citizens.
四部法律（译注：《归化法》、《客籍法》、《敌对外侨法》和《镇压叛乱法》） — 叫做《移民和镇压叛乱法案》— 延长了成为美国公民的时间。

They permitted the government to detain citizens from enemy nations without reason during wartime.
法案允许政府在战时无理由拘留来自敌对国家的公民。

The laws also permitted the president to expel foreign citizens he believed were dangerous.
法案也允许总统驱逐他认为有威胁的外国公民。

And they made criticizing the president or Congress a crime.
并且规定，批评总统或国会是犯法的。

Adams said the Acts aimed to control people in the U.S. who supported France. But many politicians at the time argued that the laws mostly affected people who supported the opposing political party.
亚当斯宣称法案的目的在于控制支持法国的美国民众。但是那个时候，许多政治家认为此项法案最主要的目的是用来影响支持反对政治党派的民众。

Historian John Ferling says they were right. And, he says, Adams may have been using the Alien and Sedition Acts to protect his political career. But they ended up damaging his public image.
历史学家约翰·费林认为这是对的。并且，他说，亚当斯也许使用了《移民和镇压叛乱法案》来保护他的政治生涯，但是最终损害了他的公众形象。

They also raised the question for the first time of whether states had the right to ignore a federal law if they disagreed with it.
他们也第一次提出了如果州法律与联邦法律不一致时，州法律是否有权利来驳回联邦法律的问题。

Adams and Jefferson 亚当斯和杰斐逊

Supporters of Vice President Thomas Jefferson used Adams’ approval of the Alien and Sedition Acts against him effectively. Jefferson’s campaign said Adams exercised so much power as president that he must want the U.S. to become a monarchy.
副总统托马斯·杰斐逊的支持者通过亚当斯签署的法案《移民和镇压叛乱法案》来有效地反对他。杰斐逊的竞选团队说亚当斯作为总统动用了太多的权利，认为他一定是想让美国成为君主政体。

Adams’ campaign said Jefferson was a radical who would bring revolution to the country.
亚当斯的竞选团队说杰斐逊是激进分子，认为他会给国家带来革命。

The U.S. had never experienced such an ugly election before. Some people wondered whether the country would be able to transfer power peacefully.
美国之前从来没有遇到过如此丑陋的选举。一些人很想知道国家是否能和平地交接权利。

When Jefferson won, however, Adams did not resist. He retired to his farm in Massachusetts.
杰斐逊最终赢得选举时，亚当斯没有坚持（没有参加老朋友的就职典礼）。他退休回到了马萨诸塞州的农场。

Adams spent most of his retirement writing. He even began exchanging long letters with his old friend – and old enemy – Thomas Jefferson.
亚当斯退休后大部分时间都在写作。他甚至开始与他的老友 — 也是老敌人 — 托马斯·杰斐逊开始长期书信来往（一南一北长达14年的通信）。

They two men discussed their families, their thoughts on politics and religion, and their nation’s history. The letters were both personally and historically meaningful: Adams and Jefferson were the last living members of the original patriots who started a new country.
这两个男人讨论着他们的家庭，政治想法和信仰以及国家历史。这些信件同时具有个人和历史意义：亚当斯和杰斐逊是最后活着的两名最初的开创一个新国家的爱国者。

On July 4, 1826 – the nation’s 50th birthday – the two friends, patriots and former U.S. presidents died within hours of one another.
1826年7月4日— 也就是《独立宣言》签署50周年 — 这两位好友，爱国者和前美国总统相继在数小时内去世了（在几小时前，杰斐逊已经先他半步离开了人间）。

I'm Kelly Jean Kelly.

Anne Ball and Kelly Jean Kelly wrote this story. Caty Weaver was the editor.

Words in This Story

for one thing - 首先，一方面，但是，一则

passionately - adv. having, showing, or expressing strong emotions or beliefs - 热情地；强烈地；激昂地

be in over your head - to be involved in a difficult situation that you cannot get out of - 陷入一种你无法摆脱的困境。
e.g. Sean tried to pay his gambling debts, but he was in over his head.

upstream - adj. in the direction opposite to the flow in a stream or river - 逆流的

swimming upstream - To go against or disagree with a prevailing or popularly held opinion or perspective; to act or behave contrary to the majority of others.
e.g. When I was in college, I really swam upstream with some radical opinions, but as I've grown older, I've found myself falling more in line with others. I don't understand why you always have to swim upstream instead of making things a little easier on yourself!

get pulled into - 被拉到

interrupt - v. to cause something to stop happening for a time - 打断

National Park Service - (美国)国家公园管理局(创立于1916年)

patriot – n. person who supported the American Revolutionary War for freedom from Britain - 爱国者

Circa - prep.,adv. - [拉丁语]大约在，接近(尤用于年代、数字等前面)

Executive Mansion - (美国)总统官邸，白宫(位于哥伦比亚特区华盛顿宾夕法尼亚大街)

ugly - adj. unpleasant - 丑陋的

transfer - v. to give rights to another person - 交接，转移

original - adj. existing first or at the beginning - 最初的，原始的