John Adams (1767-1848) was the sixth US President. John Quincy Adams was the son of the second US President John Adams. He had affiliations with the Democratic-Republican, Federalist and the National Republican parties of America. Adams was appointed as the Minister to the Netherlands where he worked from 1794 to 1796. He was also sent to Portugal in 1796 by George Washington. Quincy Adams was then sent as Minister to Prussia from 1797 to 1801 by his father John Adams.
John Quincy Adams fought for election to the US House of Representatives in 1802 as the Federalist candidate. He lost, but was elected to the US Senate in 1803. In 1808, John Adams broke with the Federalists. He resigned from the Senate that very year and joined the Republicans. From the period of 1809 to 1814, he served as the Minister to Russia. John Quincy Adams was involved in the negotiation for the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. From 1815 to 1817, he was appointed as the Minister to the Court of St. James (Great Britain), where he won recognition as a diplomat. Adams worked as Secretary of State in the Cabinet of 5th US President James Monroe from 1817 until 1825. He took the responsibility to formulate the Monroe Doctrine drafted by James Monroe.
John Quincy Adams contested the US Presidential Election of 1824. Neither of the candidates won a majority of the electoral votes or the popular votes. The final decision was left to the House of Representatives. The Speaker of the House Henry Clay gave his support to Quincy Adams that made Adams the sixth US President. He continued with his Presidency from 1825 to 1829.
During his Presidency,
John Adams tried to start a program of modernization. A number of roads like Cumberland Road were extended during his time. The canals like Delaware and Chesapeake Canal were also built in his days. He was also the prime initiator behind the merger of the Great Lakes to Ohio's and Indiana's Ohio River system. One of the major treaties signed by John Quincy Adams was the Tariff of 1828. This treaty aimed at protecting Northern US industry from the goods of European market. The European products' prices were increased to make this into effect.
John Adams also signed international treaties with nations like Mexico, Denmark, Austria, Prussia, the Scandinavian countries. These treaties helped in the foreign relations of US.
After his retirement as the US President, John Adams continued with his political career. Till his last days, he was the member of the House of Representatives. He was attacked by a brain hemorrhage on 21st February, 1848 before addressing the House of Representatives. He took his last breath 2 days later.
A few of the quotations by
John Adams are very popular. Some of them are as follows:
- “America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy.”
- “Old minds are like old horses; you must exercise them if you wish to keep them in working order.”
- “Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air.”
