Possibly these were not Jefferson’s exact words; possibly his assessment of Adams was not as harsh and patently disloyal as Letombe’s account would make it appear. But if what Letombe recorded was all that Jefferson had to say for Adams, this would seem to have proved the end of a long friendship. And whatever Jefferson’s exact words may have been, clearly the chargé d’affaires was led to conclude that the difficulties of the moment were not a question of American regard for France, but of the difficult, unpopular, aberrant old man who temporarily held office as President.
