Pen pals in the sunsets of their lives, they wrote between Massachusetts and Virginia until they both died on the same Fourth of July. It's an extraordinary rhyme in American history, which has extra meaning for our hard times.

"I loved Jefferson, and I have always loved Jefferson," one wrote about the other, after a long silence separated the political enemies. Then they were old friends again.

I mean John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, on opposite sides of America's burning divide, which just exploded in street strife over race.

In a sense, the two sowed the seeds of the Civil War — over slavery — which they never lived to see. In casting, it's perfect: the Yankee versus the classic cavalier.

So, let's look at Adams and Jefferson anew — not take down their statues. They have things to teach us.

The lawyers remain leading lights — not only in Philadelphia in 1776 but also in our shared story. Without them, we're not nearly the same. Adams all but assigned writing the Declaration of Independence to the 33-year-old Virginian.

Adams was a fierce editor — "a colossus." He was, by far, the better speaker; Jefferson was a great writer, yet a shy public speaker. As always, they contrast, from the greatest states, North and South. Jefferson was tall, Adams short.

"A letter from you calls up recollections very dear to my mind," Jefferson wrote to Adams after a friend, Dr. Benjamin Rush, broke the barrier between them.

"It carried me back to the times when, beset with difficulties and dangers, we were fellow laborers in the same cause ... self-government," Jefferson wrote, recalling the good old Revolutionary days.

Historian David McCullough lays out the lively correspondence between the aged founders in a fine biography, "John Adams." The letters were written to posterity, he said.

Little is said about the bitter days when they deadlocked in the 1800 election. Jefferson ousted President Adams, making the Federalist a one-term president.

That was not Jefferson's finest hour, laying bare the cunning ambition that throbbed under the charming Southern gentleman who played the violin.

"Then he wished to be President ... and I stood in his way" Adams once said. "And so he did everything that he could to pull me down."

Adams, staunchly opposed to slavery, championed central government over the states.

But Adams was on the losing side. "Jeffersonian democracy," based on landed wealth, slavery and states' governance, reigned for the next 24 years.

Jefferson was succeeded by Virginia slaveholders James Madison and James Monroe, each under his influence.

The tragedy of the nation when it was young: this "Virginian dynasty," which gave a green light to slavery's expansion. Virginia was the largest slaveholding state, and Jefferson was a wealthy master of human bondage.

His slave mistress, Sally Hemings, had the same white father as his dead wife, Martha — not uncommon in Virginia circles in his era.

"Whether you or I were right, posterity must judge," Adams wrote about their many differences. Jefferson neglected the navy he built, which seems like nothing now.

Slavery is of greatest moment in the race between the second and third presidents. Two centuries on, posterity is you and me.

We see Adams today on the right shore of history. Don't forget Jefferson's way won the day as long as they lived. Jefferson's tragic flaw — a mirror of the new nation's — got a pass from our very first day and page.

Boston and Philadelphia, cities critical of slavery, organized resistance in the 1830s and 1840s. But not before Jefferson set the stage for slavery to expand.

The two towers of American ideals and aspirations died on the nation's 50th birthday, July 4, 1826. Adams was 90, Jefferson 83.

"Jefferson survives," were among Adams' last words. Jefferson died hours earlier, calling in "servants" — slaves.

Adams' will left $100,000. Jefferson died $100,000 in debt. In a shameful nightmare, 130 enslaved people were auctioned at his mansion, Monticello.

Jefferson's own contradiction of "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" haunted him at times and should never be forgotten at his shrines. The true story is now told at Monticello.

Adams on his final Fourth: "It is a great day. It is a good day."

Jamie Stiehm can be reached at JamieStiehm.com. To read her weekly column and find out more about Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, please visit creators.com.

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