Early Political Career
Popular for his military service, Adair was chosen as a delegate to the Kentucky constitutional convention in 1792. Upon the state's admission to the Union, he was elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives, serving from 1793 to 1795. He also remained active in the Kentucky militia. On February 25, 1797, he was promoted to brigadier general and given command of the 2nd Brigade of the Kentucky Militia. He was promoted to major general and given command of the 2nd Division of the Kentucky Militia on December 16, 1799.
Adair returned to the Kentucky House of Representatives in 1798. When Kentuckians voted to hold another constitutional convention in 1799 to correct weaknesses in their first constitution, Adair was chosen as a delegate. At the convention, he was the leader of a group of politically ambitious delegates who opposed most limits on the powers and terms of office of elected officials, particularly on legislators. He was elected to the Kentucky House again from 1800 to 1803. A candidate for a seat in the U.S. Senate in 1800, he was defeated by an overwhelming 68–13 vote of the legislature by John Breckinridge, who had been the acknowledged leader of the just-concluded constitutional convention. In 1802, Adair succeeded Breckinridge as Speaker of the House by a vote of 30–14 over Elder David Purviance, the candidate preferred by Governor James Garrard. He continued to serve as Speaker for the duration of his tenure in the House. Also in 1802, the legislature formed Adair County, Kentucky, naming it after the popular Speaker.
In January 1804, Garrard nominated Adair to the position of registrar of the state land office. Adair's was the seventh name submitted by Garrard to the state Senate for the position; his approval by the Senate marked the end of a two-month imbroglio between Garrard and the legislature over the appointment. Later that year, he was a candidate for the U.S. Senate seat then occupied by John Brown. Although Henry Clay supported Brown's re-election, Adair had the support of Felix Grundy. Grundy accused Brown of involvement in a conspiracy to make Kentucky a province of the Spanish government, damaging his popularity. Adair won a plurality, but not a majority, of the votes cast in six consecutive ballots. Clay then threw his support to Buckner Thruston, a more palatable candidate who defeated Adair on the seventh ballot. Grundy's influence in the legislature continued to grow, and when John Breckinridge resigned to accept President Thomas Jefferson's appointment as U.S. Attorney General in August 1805, the Senate chose Adair to fill the vacancy.
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