The first President who was the
son of a President, John Quincy Adams in many respects paralleled the career as
well as the temperament and viewpoints of his illustrious father. Born in
Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1767, he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from the
top of Penn's Hill above the family farm. As secretary to his father in Europe,
he became an accomplished linguist and assiduous diarist.
After graduating from Harvard
College, he became a lawyer. At age 26 he was appointed Minister to the
Netherlands, then promoted to the Berlin Legation. In 1802 he was elected to the
United States Senate. Six years later President Madison appointed him Minister
to Russia.
Serving under President Monroe,
Adams was one of America's great Secretaries of State, arranging with England
for the joint occupation of the Oregon country, obtaining from Spain the cession
of the Floridas, and formulating with the President the Monroe Doctrine.
In the political tradition of
the early 19th century, Adams as Secretary of State was considered the political
heir to the Presidency. But the old ways of choosing a President were giving way
in 1824 before the clamor for a popular choice.
Within the one and only
party--the Republican--sectionalism and factionalism were developing, and each
section put up its own candidate for the Presidency. Adams, the candidate of the
North, fell behind Gen. Andrew Jackson in both popular and electoral votes, but
received more than William H. Crawford and Henry Clay. Since no candidate had a
majority of electoral votes, the election was decided among the top three by the
House of Representatives. Clay, who favored a program similar to that of Adams,
threw his crucial support in the House to the New Englander.
Upon becoming President, Adams
appointed Clay as Secretary of State. Jackson and his angry followers charged
that a "corrupt bargain" had taken place and immediately began their campaign to
wrest the Presidency from Adams in 1828.
Well aware that he would face
hostility in Congress, Adams nevertheless proclaimed in his first Annual Message
a spectacular national program. He proposed that the Federal Government bring
the sections together with a network of highways and canals, and that it develop
and conserve the public domain, using funds from the sale of public lands. In
1828, he broke ground for the 185-mile C & 0 Canal.
Adams also urged the United
States to take a lead in the development of the arts and sciences through the
establishment of a national university, the financing of scientific expeditions,
and the erection of an observatory. His critics declared such measures
transcended constitutional limitations.
The campaign of 1828, in which
his Jacksonian opponents charged him with corruption and public plunder, was an
ordeal Adams did not easily bear. After his defeat he returned to Massachusetts,
expecting to spend the remainder of his life enjoying his farm and his books.
Unexpectedly, in 1830, the
Plymouth district elected him to the House of Representatives, and there for the
remainder of his life he served as a powerful leader. Above all, he fought
against circumscription of civil liberties.
In 1836 southern Congressmen
passed a "gag rule" providing that the House automatically table petitions
against slavery. Adams tirelessly fought the rule for eight years until finally
he obtained its repeal.
In 1848, he collapsed on the
floor of the House from a stroke and was carried to the Speaker's Room, where
two days later he died. He was buried--as were his father, mother, and wife--at
First Parish Church in Quincy. To the end, "Old Man Eloquent" had fought for
what he considered right.