John Quincy Adams


  1. John Quincy Adams was the 6th president of the United States. He was born in Massachusetts in 1767. He was the oldest son of John Adams, the second president of the United States. Because his father had been a diplomat and then president, John Quincy’s childhood was unusual. When he was ten years old, John accompanied his father to Europe where John Adams served as a diplomat. In the next eight years, John Quincy went with his father to Paris, London, and Holland. While his father was working, John Quincy studied. He excelled in his studies. He was especially fluent in French, and at age 14, he had a job as the personal secretary to the minister to Russia.
  2. In 1785, John Quincy Adams returned home. He graduated from Harvard in two years, and then studied law. Like his father, he established a law practice in Boston. When John Quincy was 26 years old, President Washington appointed him minister to Holland. In the years that followed, he served as minister to several European countries under different presidents. As minister to Great Britain, Adams was the chief negotiator of the treaty that ended the War of 1812. He also served as Secretary of State under President James Monroe. During this time, he drafted the Monroe Doctrine, which declared that no European country could colonize any territory in North and South America.
  3. In 1824, John Quincy Adams decided to run for president of the United States. Besides Adams, there were three other major candidates – Andrew Jackson, the extremely popular war hero; Henry Clay, Speaker of the House; and William H. Crawford, Secretary of the Treasury. However, the contest was mainly between Adams and Jackson. Historians describe the Adams-Jackson campaign of 1824 as the most vicious in American history.
  4. Although Jackson and Adams were the top vote-getters, none of the candidates won the fifty percent of the vote required by the Constitution. In this situation, the House of Representatives would make the final decision. The House voted for Adams on the first ballot . Adams immediately gave Henry Clay, his supporter , the job of Secretary of State. Andrew Jackson was very angry at the outcome. He accused Adams of making a “ corrupt bargain,” a “dirty deal.” Jackson’s supporters agreed. They thought that Clay had influenced the House vote in Adams’s favor.
  5. Adams’s time as president was not easy. Jackson’s supporters constantly worked against him. Also, John Quincy’s stubborn and cold personality often made it hard for others to work with him. In 1828, Adams decided to run for a second term as president. Andrew Jackson and his supporters, still angry over the 1824 election, worked hard to beat Adams. Jackson won the election. Two years later, John Quincy Adams was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. He served as a hardworking and respected congressman for 17 years. In 1848, Adams had a stroke on the floor of the House and died two days later.
  6. Most historians do not consider John Quincy Adams a great president. He is remembered, however, as a great diplomat, Secretary of State, and congressman. He is also remembered for his part in creating the Monroe Doctrine.