History UsefulNotes / JohnQuincyAdams

Before becoming president, Adams served as a prominent statesman, having gained experience when he went with his father to Europe during the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanRevolution Revolutionary War]]. He served as a respected ambassador to several countries in Europe, and later helped negotiate the treaty that ended the UsefulNotes/WarOf1812. As UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe's Secretary of State, Adams authored most of the Monroe Doctrine, bought Florida from the Spanish, and helped negotiate the border of the United States and British Canada (gaining America parts of present-day Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the process). He is widely considered to be one of the most successful statesmen and diplomats in American history. Adams was also a professor at Harvard for some time.

After Monroe's second term election, Adams was one of four men to run for the presidency in 1824. UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson was one of the other four, and he won a plurality of both the popular vote and the Electoral College, but not enough to win the election. As the Constitution dictates, the decision then went to the House of Representatives. Speaker of the House UsefulNotes/HenryClay, who was the fourth-placed nominee and Jackson's sworn nemesis, swung the election in Adams' favor by convincing enough representatives to vote for him. Upon entering office, a grateful Adams nominated Clay to be his Secretary of State. The Jacksonians in Congress were outraged, and for the next four years they complained of the "Corrupt Bargain" which stole the election, but neither Adams nor Clay were corrupt. Clay believed that Jackson was unfit for the presidency, and the third-placed nominee, William Crawford, had just suffered a severe stroke. Adams also made a good choice when he nominated Clay, since he was one of the most qualified politicians in the country. Still, this did start things on the wrong foot, and it proved that, like his father before him, Adams was often oblivious to how politics work in practice. Jackson vowed to do whatever it took to win the presidency in 1828.

Before becoming president, Adams served as a prominent statesman, having gained experience when he went with his father to Europe during the Revolutionary War. He served as a respected ambassador to several countries in Europe, and later helped negotiate the treaty that ended the UsefulNotes/WarOf1812. As UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe's Secretary of State, Adams authored most of the Monroe Doctrine, bought Florida from the Spanish, and helped negotiate the border of the United States and British Canada (gaining America parts of present-day Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota in the process). He is widely considered to be one of the most successful statesmen and diplomats in American history. Adams was also a professor at Harvard for some time.

Refusing to mix religion into American politics, Adams took the oath of office with one hand on the Constitution and another on a law book. Despite his diplomatic and political skills, he achieved very little during his time in office. When he entered the White House, Adams proposed to Congress an ambitious series of "internal improvements" sponsored by the federal government, including more roads and canals, stronger industries, national parks, federal support for the arts and sciences, and a national university. Jackson's allies in Congress tried to deadlock every single one of these suggestions, and only some of the roads and canals were passed. Additionally, Adams had already solved most major foreign policy issues before he became President, so not much really happened on that front besides some trade agreements with countries in Europe and Latin America. In an ironic echo of the situation his father faced, his Vice President, John C. Calhoun, was a political enemy who had been on Jackson's side during the election. Still, Adams did manage to pay off almost '''two thirds''' of the national debt in just four years - mostly, though, because the Jacksonians would not let him spend money on anything and paying off the debt was the only option. His successor, Jackson, paid off the rest during his time in office. The Jacksonians kept portraying Adams as a corrupt aristocrat and Jackson as an honest hero of the common man, and Adams, who had a very poor ability to communicate with people and honestly was pretty stubborn, could do little to convince people otherwise. The criticisms and insults thrown at Adams are absolutely insane, way worse than even the worst mudslinging in today's politics. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Adams was utterly crushed when Jackson went up against him again in the election of 1828.

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'''John Quincy Adams''' (July 11, 1767 -- February 23, 1848) was the sixth U.S. President in [[UsefulNotes/AntebellumAmerica 1825 to 1829]]. A Democratic-Republican, he served between UsefulNotes/JamesMonroe and UsefulNotes/AndrewJackson. He was the first son of [[UsefulNotes/JohnAdams a former President]] to enter the White House, and only UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush has done so since.