Author Suzanne Tripp Jurmain begins her book by asking the question, “Can presidents be pals?” Some were, like Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren, or George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Other presidents weren’t so lucky. Harry Truman once called Richard Nixon a “shifty-eyed liar.” Theodore Roosevelt said that William McKinley “had the backbone of a chocolate éclair;” and Andrew Jackson hated James Buchanan so much that he wanted to make him ambassador…to the North Pole.

However, there is one unlikely presidential friendship, a love-hate relationship, which surpasses all others in drama.

Tom was tall; John was short. Tom was soft-spoken; John was loud. Tom was even-tempered; John was passionate. Despite their many differences, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams could agree on one thing: the need for American independence. Together, the two Founding Fathers worked side by side, persuading the Continental Congress to break ties with Great Britain, creating the Declaration of Independence, and then going overseas to Europe to convince doubters that the United States was a true nation.

Sadly, something happened to Tom and John’s friendship. They started to disagree on how the country should be run. They debated and argued over the matter. They criticized each other in public. Finally, Tom and John simply stopped speaking to each other.

Was this the end of a beautiful friendship? Would Tom and John allow politics to come between them forever? Read Worst of Friends to find out.