Which signer of the Declaration later became the second US president?

John Adams was the signer of the Declaration of Independence who later became the second U.S. president.

Adams represented Massachusetts in the Second Continental Congress and was one of the Declaration’s 56 signers. He also served on the Committee of Five that drafted the document and strongly advocated independence in Congress. His fellow committee member Thomas Jefferson later became the third president.

After independence, Adams pursued diplomacy in Europe and helped negotiate the Treaty of Paris that ended the Revolutionary War. Under the Constitution, he became the nation’s first vice president, serving two terms alongside George Washington from 1789 to 1797.

Adams won the 1796 presidential election and served as president from 1797 to 1801. George Washington was the first president, while James Monroe and James Madison came later as the fifth and fourth presidents, respectively. A memorable coincidence is that Adams died on July 4, 1826—the 50th anniversary of the Declaration’s adoption—on the same day as Thomas Jefferson.