Basic Information
Name: John Adams, Jr.
Nickname: The Colossus of Independence, Old Sink or Swim, Johnny Boy
Born: October 30, 1735
Died: June 4, 1826
Nationality: As American as it gets
Hometown: Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts Bay Colony
WORK & EDUCATION
Occupation: Attorney, delegate to both Continental Congresses, Envoy to France, Minister to the Netherlands, Minister to the Court of St. James, Vice President, President
Education: Harvard University
FAMILY & FRIENDS
Parents: John Adams, Sr., Susanna Boylston
Siblings: Peter, Elihu
Spouse: Abigail Smith
Children: Abigail, John Quincy, Susanna, Charles, Thomas, Elizabeth
Friends: Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Samuel Adams (not the beer guy, the patriot)
Foes: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Ben Franklin
Analysis
Adams is infamous as being America's prickliest Founding Father. In fact, sending Adams out to be a diplomat is a bit like getting a shark to guard your blood. There are better ideas out there. Still, Adams was useful to the proceedings. He was the guy who secured American fishing rights. (Source)
Aw, yeah, Adams. Thanks for protecting our rights to Maine lobster and Chesapeake crab cakes.
Weirdly, though, Adams hated Franklin, considering him old and feeble. He refused to visit the man, saying Franklin should be visiting him first. That's pretty petty—and not the kind of attitude you're looking for in a diplomat. (Source)
But hey: fishing rights.
This synopsis kind of sells short Adams's other accomplishments. For all his faults, he was a man of principles (that might have been why he was so unbearable in his personal life). He defended the British soldiers involved in the Boston Massacre in court when no one else would—which was a move that actually ended up showing the world that Americans had upright attitudes about the law. Bonus: he was the first vice president and the second president.
But because the Treaty of Paris was such a diplomatic endeavor (and because Adams was a little too crotchety to be an ace diplomat), he played more of a supporting role in the drafting of this particular doc.