Diplomat to France

John Adams and his son John Quincy left for France on December 22, 1778. They were scheduled to travel on the Boston, a frigate commanded by Captain Samuel Tucker. To assure John and his son's safe departure, Captain Tucker was given particular instructions. Tucker would be forced to avoid battle at all costs if he did this because Adams' part in brokering an alliance with France was too crucial to ignore. They had a difficult journey, suffered bad weather along the way, and even engaged in combat with the British cruiser Martha, for which John Adams gave his approval. Adams ultimately made it to France via Bordeaux on April 1, 1778. When he got there, he had dinner with Dr. Noel, a French doctor Adams had grown fond of while serving on the Boston, aboard a French vessel just off the coast.

Adams was thrilled with the friendliness of the French because it was his first encounter with them. They dined in the captain's cabin, which was "as clean as any gentleman's mansion." John Adams understood through Dr. Noel's interpretation that the alliance between France and the United States was already assured as a result of General Gage's victory at Saratoga. Before Adams sailed for France, on February 6, 1778, the agreement had been signed. Before he ever arrived in continental Europe, his goal of negotiating an alliance with the French was achieved. During the second trip he helped create the Treaty of Paris with Benjamin Franklin and John Jay which ended the American Revolution.