“The Declaration of Independence I always considered as a Theatrical Show. Jefferson ran away with all the stage effect of that; i. e. all the Glory of it.”

—  John Adams

Letter to Benjamin Rush (21 June 1811); published in Old Family Letters: Copied from the Originals for Alexander Biddle (1892), p. 287 http://books.google.com/books?id=5d8hAAAAMAAJ&dq=%22Jefferson+ran+away+with+all+the+stage+effect+of+that%22; also quoted in TIME magazine (25 October 1943) http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,796192-2,00.html
1810s

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John Adams 202
2nd President of the United States 1735–1826

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