| John Quincy Adams | |
|---|---|
| File:John Quincy Adams Presidential Portrait.jpg | |
| Order | 6th President of the United States |
| In office | March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829 |
| Vice President | John C. Calhoun |
| Preceded by | James Monroe |
| Succeeded by | Andrew Jackson |
| Born | July 11, 1767 Braintree, Massachusetts (now Quincy), United States |
| Political Party | Democratic-Republican (to 1825); National Republican (1825–1829) |
| Spouse | Louisa Catherine Adams (m. 1797–1848) |
| Children | George Washington, John II, Charles Francis, Louisa (died in childhood) |
| Profession | Diplomat, lawyer, professor, statesman |
| Alma mater | Harvard University |
| Signature | 
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John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the 6th president of the United States (1825–1829), a distinguished diplomat, and later a powerful member of the U.S. House of Representatives. The son of President John Adams, he helped shape early American foreign policy, authored the Monroe Doctrine’s core principles as secretary of state, and spent his later years fighting the spread of slavery.
Early Life and Education
Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, Adams grew up amid the American Revolution and accompanied his father on diplomatic missions to Europe. Fluent in several languages, he studied at Leiden and Paris, graduated from Harvard College (1787), and read law in Newburyport.
Diplomat and Public Service
Adams served successively as U.S. minister to the Netherlands, Prussia, Russia, and Great Britain, and as U.S. senator from Massachusetts (1803–1808). As Secretary of State under James Monroe (1817–1825), he negotiated:
- The Adams–Onís Treaty (1819), acquiring Florida and setting a transcontinental boundary with Spain.
- The Rush–Bagot Agreement and the Convention of 1818 with Britain, easing tensions and fixing borders.
He was a chief architect of the Monroe Doctrine (1823), asserting U.S. opposition to European colonialism in the Americas.
Election of 1824 and the “Corrupt Bargain”
In the four-way 1824 race, no candidate won an Electoral College majority. The House of Representatives chose Adams over Andrew Jackson. When Henry Clay became secretary of state, Jackson’s supporters decried a “corrupt bargain,” undermining Adams’s political support from the start.
Presidency (1825–1829)
Adams envisioned a robust national program—internal improvements, a national university, scientific initiatives, and support for the arts—within an energetic federal framework sometimes associated with the American System. He faced relentless opposition from Jacksonians and limited congressional backing, so much of his ambitious agenda stalled. He lost re-election to Jackson in 1828.
Post-Presidency in the House
Adams made history by returning to public office as a U.S. representative (1831–1848), where he became a leading anti-slavery voice. He battled the pro-slavery gag rule, successfully working toward its repeal in 1844, and argued before the Supreme Court on behalf of the enslaved Africans in the Amistad case (1841), securing their freedom.
Death
Adams collapsed at his House desk on February 21, 1848, and died two days later in the Capitol. He is interred at United First Parish Church in Quincy, Massachusetts, alongside his parents.
Legacy
Widely respected for intellect and integrity, Adams is remembered as one of America’s greatest secretaries of state and as a principled congressman who defended civil liberties and opposed slavery’s expansion. His presidency, constrained by partisanship, is today reassessed in light of his broader, lifelong contributions to the Republic.