Madison almost never spoke so negatively even about people who were his avowed enemies. He was impugning Adams’s character, asserting that Adams wanted the otherwise pointless vice presidency only so he would be next in line. Madison was even going so far as to insinuate that Adams might not wait until Washington stepped down to try to replace him. This attack on Adams was a rare instance of Madison’s jealousy. Adams was the one American with pretensions to be a serious constitutional philosopher.
