The first programme in a three-part series commemorating the 225th anniversary of the arrival in Amsterdam of John Adams. He would later become the second president of the newly independent United States of America, but he arrived in Amsterdam in 1780 as the first American ambassador to the Netherlands, also a new country officially known as the United Provinces of the Dutch Republic. His diplomatic mission was to gain support for the fledgling United States from the Dutch. Adams brought his two young sons with him so they could receive the benefits of a European education.
Historians from both sides of the Atlantic, including Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer David McCullough, join forces to tell the story of the 18th century-seeds of Dutch-American friendship.
Producer: David Swatling
Broadcast: April 3, 2005