17. John Adams suffered through problems with his children
John Adams was perhaps the biggest prude of all of the founders. Though he started each day with a glass of hard cider, he was relatively abstemious with alcohol, at least in the standards of the time. He measured the character of others by how they restrained themselves from temptations, of the bottle, of female company, and of lewd behavior. He found France and the French distasteful and degenerate, and Franklin’s embrace of French society disgraceful. Yet despite his stern self-restraint, or perhaps because of it, he found deep sadness with some of his children. His daughter Nabby married badly, and as a result, spent much of her adult life living in abject poverty. But it was his son Charles who proved to be his biggest disappointment in life. Charles accompanied his father to France during the Revolution, though he returned alone in 1781.
Despite the advantages of the Adams name in Massachusetts, a Harvard degree, and strong connections in Boston, Charles failed to make much of a living as an attorney. Eventually, he abandoned his wife and two daughters, living in various taverns and flophouses. He became a noted philanderer, often with prostitutes, as well as a serious alcoholic. Adams made several attempts to reform his wayward son, though with little in the way of success. Finally, in 1799 during his single term as President, Adams disowned his son. He wrote at the time Charles was “a Madman possessed by the devil”. His elder son, John Quincy, also abandoned his brother after the younger Adams lost funds entrusted to him in land speculation. Charles Adams died in 1800, just 30 years of age. Tradition ascribes his death to cirrhosis, though it was likely from respiratory failure.