Adams helped write the Massachusetts Constitution with James Bowdoin and his cousin John Adams. Later, Adams helped draft the Articles of Confederation. After the Revolutionary War ended, he ran for the House of Representatives in the 1st United States Congressional election. He lost the election to Fisher Ames. He was elected Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts in 1789. After John Hancock's death in 1793, Adams served as the acting governor. He was then elected governor in January of 1794. He served in that position until June 1797. He then retired from politics and settled in his home in Boston. He died six years later on October 2, 1803.