"A pitch-perfect telling of one of early America's greatest tales."
—MICHAEL KRANISH
"A perfectly timed book."
—JONATHAN HORN
"An impressive, important book."
—DAVID S. BROWN
A Perfect Coincidence
The Extraordinary Friendship and Astonishing Deaths of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
Scribner, May 2026
​​​​​A revelatory new look at the long and complex relationship between Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, who died on the same historic day — July 4, 1826, exactly fifty years after the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.
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In creating the Declaration of Independence, Jefferson and Adams collaborated in what Jefferson later called "a perfect coincidence" of thought and action. Exactly fifty years later, in the most perfect coincidence in American history, they died within hours of each other — both former US presidents, both essential architects of the nation.
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Published to coincide with the 250th anniversary of the United States — and the 200th anniversary of the men's deaths — this book is essential reading for anyone interested in presidential biographies, the Revolutionary War era, and the enduring power, yet terrible fragility, of American democracy.