John Adams in HBO Series

Perhaps of all the Founding Fathers, Thomas Jefferson is the most fascinating. If you could have a cup of tea with any of them and talk for an hour, you'd definitely want to pick Benjamin Franklin-- you'd have a great time!

But if you wanted to have a pen pal and write back and forth over many months or years, you could have no better than Thomas Jefferson (lucky for John Adams, who wrote letters back and forth with Thomas Jefferson for many years after they had both retired from politics).

The interplay between these two was a driving force in the development of the young American republic, and their intense political rivalry as well as their personal friendship makes for a story so compelling, it's hard to believe that it isn't the stuff of fiction.

(Take for instance that Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on the same day in 1826-- July 4th, the day the united States of America declared independence! Not knowing that Jefferson had died, John Adam's last words were reportedly "Thomas Jefferson survives.")

The story of John Adams' friendship and struggle with Thomas Jefferson is perhaps captured no better than it is in David McCullough's book, John Adams, and the HBO miniseries of the same name that was based upon it.