Adams was rare for his ability to keep a secret, any number of which he took to the grave, including the backstory of the Boston Tea Party, which he knew as well as anyone. (Dryly he noted that some individuals enjoyed every political gift except that of discretion). He freely understood and discussed his limitations, reminding friends that he understood nothing of military matters, commerce, or ceremony, though Congress charged him, at various times, with all three. Most of America’s founders became giants after independence. Adams began to shrink. A cloud of notoriety survives him; the fame does not. He would be minimized in any number of ways. He was called many names in his life but one thing he was never called was ‘Sam.’ He is the sole signer of the Declaration of Independence to come down to us as an incendiary, and a beer.
—Stacy Schiff, The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams (Chapter 1: “Truly the Man of the Revolution,” pages 5–6)