Thomas Boylston Adams (July 25, 1910 – June 4, 1997) was an American business executive, writer, academician, and political candidate.

Early life

Adams was born on July 25, 1910, in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

. His parents were John Francis Adams and Marian Morse Adams, and his grandfather was

Charles Francis Adams Jr. Charles Francis Adams Jr. (May 27, 1835 – March 20, 1915) was an American author, historian, and railroad and park commissioner who served as the president of the Union Pacific Railroad from 1884 to 1890. He served as a colonel in the Union Ar ...

, through whom he was a member of the

Adams political family The Adams family is an American political family of English origins, most prominent between the late 18th century and the early 20th century. Based in eastern Massachusetts, they formed part of the Boston Brahmin community. The family traces to ...

of Massachusetts and a descendant of American presidents

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...

and

John Quincy Adams John Quincy Adams (; July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth president of the United States, serving from 1825 to 1829. He previously served as the eighth United States secretary of state from 1817 to 1825. During his long diploma ...

. He was named for John Quincy Adams's brother

Thomas Boylston Adams (1772–1832) Thomas Boylston Adams (September 15, 1772 – March 12, 1832) was the third and youngest son of second United States president John Adams and Abigail (Smith) Adams. He worked as a lawyer, a secretary to his brother John Quincy Adams while the la ...

, whose son also shared the same name. Adams was graduated from the

Groton School Groton School is a Private school, private, college-preparatory school, college-preparatory, day school, day and boarding school located in Groton, Massachusetts, United States. It is affiliated with the Episcopal Church (United States), Episcop ...

and then attended Harvard College. He was a captain in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical ri ...

during World War II, a vice president of the

Sheraton Corporation Sheraton Hotels and Resorts is an American international hotel chain owned by Marriott International. As of June 30, 2020, Sheraton operates 446 hotels with 155,617 rooms globally, including locations in North America, Africa, Asia-Pacific, Cent ...

of America from 1954 to 1963, and president of Adams Securities from 1964 to 1968.

Career

Adams was president of the

Massachusetts Historical Society The Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) is a major historical archive specializing in early American, Massachusetts, and New England history. The Massachusetts Historical Society was established in 1791 and is located at 1154 Boylston Street ...

(1957–1975) and treasurer of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

(1955–1990). He was a trustee of the Adams papers (a collection of 300,000 pages of diaries, letters and other writings papers from four generations of his family) and helped organize them for public use. He was a columnist for ''

The Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'' from 1974 to 1991. In 1966, Adams, an early and vocal opponent of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, ran a quixotic campaign as a peace candidate for the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate, against two far better-known candidates: former governor

Endicott Peabody Endicott Howard Peabody (February 15, 1920 – December 2, 1997) was an American politician from Massachusetts. A Democrat, he served a single two-year term as the 62nd Governor of Massachusetts, from 1963 to 1965. His tenure is probably ...

and Boston mayor John F. Collins. Adams got about 8% of the vote as Peabody won the nomination (and was easily defeated in turn by Republican

Edward Brooke Edward William Brooke III (October 26, 1919 – January 3, 2015) was an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who represented Massachusetts in the United States Senate from 1967 to 1979. He was the first African American elected to t ...

). He ran for Congress in 1968 and was a delegate to the

1972 Democratic National Convention The 1972 Democratic National Convention was the presidential nominating convention of the Democratic Party for the 1972 presidential election. It was held at Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami Beach, Florida, also the host city of the Rep ...

Personal life

Adams was married for 57 years to the former Ramelle Frost Cochrane; the couple had five children. Adams died on June 4, 1997, in

Lincoln, Massachusetts Lincoln is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 7,014 according to the 2020 United States census, including residents of Hanscom Air Force Base who live within town limits. The town, located in the MetroWe ...

Published works

References

Family tree

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adams, Thomas Boylston Adams family 1910 births 1997 deaths Quincy family Writers from Kansas City, Missouri People from Lincoln, Massachusetts Groton School alumni Harvard College alumni Massachusetts Democrats American hoteliers Writers from Massachusetts United States Army Air Forces officers United States Army Air Forces personnel of World War II 20th-century American businesspeople Candidates in the 1966 United States elections Candidates in the 1968 United States elections American anti-war activists