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U.S. Presidents & Presidency: J.Q. Adams

A topic guide covering the Presidents of the United States. This is an ongoing project. As such, additional individuals will be added over time.

John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams served as the sixth president of the United States from 1825 - 1829. Prior to the presidency, he served as secretary of state from 1817 - 1825. He was a member of the Anti-Masonic Party. He was the son of John Adams, second president of the United States. 

John Quincy Adams owned enslaved people, however he was "was known as a vocal opponent of slavery" by the end of his life (White House History).  Based on research, it is evident that John Quincy Adams used enslaved labor in the White House. "The White House required a substantial staff to operate at the level that Washington society expected, but at the time there were no appropriated funds to pay for household staff" (White House History). 

Adams died on February 23, 1848 in Washington, D.C. 

Resources

Reference, Archives, & Primary Sources

John Quincy Adams - 6th U.S. President & Son of Founding Father John Adams

Biography.com captures the most gripping, surprising, and fascinating stories about famous people: The biggest break. The defining opportunity. The most shattering failure. The unexpected connection. The decision that changed everything. With over 7,000 biographies and daily features that highlight newsworthy and compelling points-of-view, we are the digital source for true stories about people that matter. John Quincy Adams - 6th U.S. President & Son of Founding Father John Adams

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEULcKFBKLw

Perspectives

John Quincy Adams

Fred Kaplan, the acclaimed, award-winning author of Lincoln, returns with John Quincy Adams, an illuminating biography of one of the most overlooked presidents in American history--a leader of sweeping perspective whose progressive values helped shape the course of the nation. In this fresh and lively biography rich in literary analysis and new historical detail, Fred Kaplan brings into focus the dramatic life of John Quincy Adams--the little known and much misunderstood sixth president of the United States and the first son of John and Abigail Adams--and persuasively demonstrates how Adams's inspiring, progressive vision guided his life and helped shape the course of America. Kaplan draws on a trove of unpublished archival material to trace Adams's evolution from his childhood during the Revolutionary War to his brilliant years as Secretary of State to his time in the White House and beyond. He examines Adams's myriad sides: the public and private man, the statesman and writer, the wise thinker and passionate advocate, the leading abolitionist and fervent federalist who believed strongly in both individual liberty and the government's role as an engine of progress and prosperity. In these ways--and in his energy, empathy, sharp intellect, and powerful gift with words both spoken and written--he was a predecessor of Lincoln and, later, FDR and Obama. Indeed, this sweeping biography makes clear how Adams's forward-thinking values, his definition of leadership, and his vision for the nation's future is as much about twenty-first century America as it is about Adams's own time. Meticulously researched and masterfully written, John Quincy Adams paints a rich portrait of this brilliant leader and his significance to the nation and our own lives.

John Quincy Adams

"Penetrating, detailed, and very readable. . . . A splendid biography." -- Wall Street Journal Few figures in American history have held as many roles in public life as John Quincy Adams. The son of John Adams, he was a brilliant ambassador and secretary of state, a frustrated president, and a dedicated congressman who staunchly opposed slavery. In John Quincy Adams, scholar and journalist James Traub draws on Adams's diaries, letters, and writings to evoke his numerous achievements-and failures-in office. A man of unwavering moral convictions, Adams is the father of foreign policy "realism" and one of the first proponents of the "activist government." But John Quincy Adams is first and foremost the story of a brilliant, flinty, and unyielding man whose life exemplified admirable political courage.