Jane Hampton Cook Reveals How John Quincy Adams Grew Up to Fulfill His Father's Presidential Expectations
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Jane Hampton Cook Reveals How John Quincy Adams Grew Up to Fulfill His Father's Presidential Expectations
Jane Hampton Cook chronicles the extraordinary life of John Quincy Adams, who achieved what few could imagine: becoming President of the United States after his father, John Adams, held the same office. From watching the Battle of Bunker Hill at age seven to serving as a child diplomat across Europe, Adams built an unparalleled career in public service. His presidency may have brought disappointment, but his subsequent nine terms in Congress defending freedom and opposing slavery cemented his legacy as one of America's most dedicated servants, fighting until his final collapse on the House floor at age 80.
Imagine your father expected you to grow up to be President of the United States. Now imagine you actually did it. This was the reality for John Quincy Adams, whose father John Adams was a leading figure in the American Revolution and the second President of the United States. That's a lot to live up to, but John Quincy did it and more.
Born on July 11, 1767, near Boston, he grew up in a time of turmoil. At the age of seven in 1775, he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill from a hilltop near his family home.
A Childhood Spent in Diplomacy
In 1778, Congress sent his father to Paris to help convince the French to support the American war of independence. John Quincy traveled with him, a ten-year-old diplomat in training. And what a training it was. For the next seven years, in addition to France, John Quincy lived in Great Britain, the Netherlands, Russia, and Sweden, learning firsthand the art of diplomacy.
By the time he returned to the United States in 1785 at the age of 18, he had absorbed not only the customs of these countries but learned to speak their languages as well.
From Law to International Diplomacy
After graduating from Harvard, he took up the law, but reading legal documents all day bored him to tears. The world was changing fast and he wanted to be in the middle of it, which is right where he landed.
George Washington, who always had a keen eye for exceptionally talented young men, appointed him the American ambassador to the Netherlands. That subsequently led him to the court of Russian Tsar Alexander the First and then to the court of British King George III.
Negotiating the End of the War of 1812
He reached the peak of his diplomatic career in 1814 when he negotiated the end of the disastrous War of 1812 between Great Britain and the United States. Although the British, as the stronger power, had the leverage, Adams and his colleagues held their ground. The final settlement, named the Treaty of Ghent after the Belgian city where it was signed, was essentially a wash for the British but a victory for the Americans, who from their point of view had defeated the British a second time.
Secretary of State and the Monroe Doctrine
Adams now stood alone as America's foremost diplomat. When his friend James Monroe became President in 1817, he appointed Adams Secretary of State. The two men forged a highly productive partnership. Their most lasting accomplishment was the Monroe Doctrine, issued in 1823.
The doctrine announced that America would not permit European colonization in the Western Hemisphere. Although the doctrine bears the name of the fifth president, it originated with his Secretary of State. It remains a fundamental principle of American foreign policy.
A Contested Path to the Presidency
Adams's many accomplishments made him the logical successor to Monroe, but the hero of the War of 1812, Andrew Jackson, begged to differ. In the 1824 presidential election, Jackson ran against Adams. Jackson won the popular vote but couldn't secure a majority in the Electoral College. This forced the decision as to who would be the next president into the House of Representatives.
When Henry Clay, the influential Speaker of the House, threw his support to Adams, the son of the second president became the sixth president. Adams had achieved his ultimate goal. It brought him nothing but misery.
A Presidency Marked by Obstruction
His ambitious agenda to build a national system of roads and canals, establish a national university, and expand foreign trade got nowhere. Jackson's allies in Congress, soon to call themselves Democrats, blocked him at every turn.
The presidency revealed Adams's weakness as a politician. Brilliant and forward-looking, he was a man for the people but not a man of the people. In the 1828 election, a rematch with Jackson, Adams opted to remain above the fray. But that was the style of yesterday. This time, the charismatic General won easily.
Adams left the White House a dejected figure, lamenting, "the sun of my political life sets in the deepest gloom."
A New Career Fighting for Freedom
As it turned out, a new phase of his illustrious career was beginning. Against his wife Louise's advice—in fact, against the advice of practically everyone he knew—he ran for Congress in 1830. For most people, this would have been a humiliating demotion, but for Adams it was a way to stay in the fight.
During his nine terms, Adams was Congress's most outspoken opponent of slavery. So outspoken, in fact, that his pro-slavery enemies tried to shut him up literally. They imposed the infamous gag rule in 1836 to prevent any discussion of the slavery issue on the House floor.
But the southern Democrats and their northern allies proved no match for Adams, who repeatedly thwarted their designs. Nobody ever figured out a way to keep Adams silent for long—nobody, that is, except Father Time.
A Servant Until the End
On February 21, 1848, Adams, now 80, still at his post, still defending the right of all men to be free, collapsed in the House chamber. He died two days later.
John Quincy Adams was far from America's most successful president, but by his own high standard, his record of public service has never been equaled.
