The influence of Cicero on John Adams

The influence of Cicero on John Adams. Cicero was a Roman who was regarded with admiration by many Americans as one of the greatest people for his intellectual influence on many of the American founding fathers, especially John Adams. Works of the classical authors from the ancient Romans have been studied in America over time, with the Cicero’s classics garnering the admiration of many liberal Americans.

The influence of Cicero on John Adams

The influence of Cicero on Adams was so profound that it turned his early interest in science and mathematics to a completely different devotion of studying the classics of Cicero which later modeled his political career. During his youth, while studying law, Adams was taken into Cicero’s works even as he admitted he understood much less. His little understanding of the writer’s work, however, did not deter him from further pursuits of sharpening his knowledge and skills. Some years later, with Adams career well shaped into politics, he reminisced and shared with pleasure of the vast knowledge he found in Cicero’s works. Adams often borrowed tactics and counsel from Cicero’s work to complement both his law and political career. As a politician, Adams advocated Cicero’s views regarding mixed government which he deemed applicable to America. Before his death, Adams wrote extensively in exaltation and defense of his idol from some of the Americans who considered Cicero as naïve. According to John Adams, Cicero was the greatest Roman writer to have ever lived.

From my analysis of the article, Cicero’s theories on politics and democracy revolutionized America for the better through their advocacy by John Adams and many other Americans. Cicero’s works on how he dedicated his life against tyranny in the defense of his own republic have been borrowed by many of the American founding fathers like Thomas Jefferson and John Adams to model America into the country it is now. Even though these founding fathers rejected the monarchical and aristocratic governments, they adopted some elements of running a democratic government from the works of Cicero which, in my opinion, has impacted America for the better.