This Day In History, 1826: Jefferson Lives...

The ageless story of Jefferson and Adams on Independence Day is as fascinating and relevant as it’s ever been. 🇺🇸🇺🇸Read: https://t.co/NldXBcdXvk Happy 4th of July!! @RealClearNews pic.twitter.com/2gXXEPEOpj

— Michael Golden (@MG_GoldenMean) July 4, 2019

According to Michael Golden's fascinating article titled Two Founders, Two Fourths, John Adams' actual words are believed to be "Thomas Jefferson survives" and I'll defer to his expertise. The article starts with this:  

On July 4, 1826, in Washington, D.C., the United States celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. On that same day, two of America’s revered founding fathers – men who had been dear friends, successive U.S. presidents and worthy adversaries for more than five decades – both passed away within five hours of each other. At the age of 90, John Adams died of heart failure in the late afternoon at his home in Quincy, Massachusetts. Just before he passed, Adams was said to have voiced three final words: “Thomas Jefferson survives.” Adams was not aware that only hours earlier, 500 miles away at his mountaintop Monticello estate in Virginia, the 83-year-old Jefferson had been the first to take his last breath.

To this day, that most theatrical sequence of events seems almost mythological. Certainly it was long known that Jefferson had a flair for the dramatic – one of the reasons John Adams had urged him back in June of 1776 to author the first draft of the Declaration of Independence. On the eve of the 50th anniversary of the signing, the historical significance of the occasion must have seemed obvious. But Jefferson left no doubt. On the night before his death, just before slipping into a coma, Jefferson whispered to his family: "Is it the Fourth?" He stayed alive until just past noon the following day. (Read the entire article here.) 

Jefferson Lives, by-the way, is the title of a West Wing episode, the third episode of season 5, first aired on October 8, 2003. In the booklet that came with the DVD set, it's described like this:  

Eager to reestablish his authority, Bartlet decides to name a vice-president. When the new Speaker of the House quashes his first choice, Secretary of State Berryhill, Bartlet makes a surprising second selection.  

It's a fun episode; my favorite thing about it is this: It features series star Martin Sheen, playing President Bartlet and guest star William Devane, playing Secretary of State Lewis Berryhill. If you're of a certain age, you may remember a TV movie, The Missiles of October, about the Cuban Missile Crisis, that aired on December 18, 1974. In it, a much younger William Devane played President Kennedy; a much younger Martin Sheen played Attorney General and presidential brother Bobby Kennedy. In The West Wing, Sheen is the president and Devane is the cabinet member; for me it was fascinating to see these two actors together again after almost 30 years. 

This is the trailer: