Adams, Abigail Smith (1744–1818)

First lady to US president John Adams and public figure. She married lawyer John Adams of Boston 1764; one of their children, John Quincy Adams, would become the sixth US president. A strong supporter of the cause of American independence, she joined her husband on diplomatic missions to Paris and London after the Revolutionary War. As wife of the US vice-president 1789–97 and later president 1797–1801, she was widely respected.

Born in Weymouth, Massachusetts, she showed an early interest in public affairs. In detailed letters to her husband, she chronicled the events of her day and was an advocate of women's rights.