Though John Adams was old and ill when he died, the curious timing of his demise sparked countless unusual theories.

John Adams rose to prominence in 1770, when he defended eight British soldiers who were charged with murder after they fired into a group of Bostonians, killing five and wounding six others.

The Adams family’s commitment to these principles did not end with John Adams. His son, John Quincy Adams, carried his father’s torch into an era marked by one of our nation’s most painful ...