John Adams refused to write Declaration citing self-awareness: I'm obnoxious and unpopular

What was said

"Reason one, you're a Virginia and Virginiaians ought to stand at the head of this business because Virginia is the largest independent colony. Reason number two, and here's a guy looking in the mirror without flinching at all. Quote, I'm obnoxious. I'm suspected. I'm unpopular. And you are very much otherwise. And reason three, you can write 10 times better than I can."

John Adams, who had been called the Atlas of independence and carried the revolutionary cause, deliberately gave away the most famous writing assignment in history to Thomas Jefferson. Adams provided three brutally self-aware reasons: Virginia needed to lead, he himself was obnoxious and unpopular, and Jefferson was the superior writer. The speaker presents this as an extraordinary act of a powerful man choosing the cause over personal glory and immortality.