John Quincy Adams

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For his grandson with the same name, see John Quincy Adams II.

"Quincy Adams" redirects here. For the rapid transit train station in Quincy, Massachusetts, see Quincy Adams (MBTA station).

John Quincy Adams
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
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 8th district
In office March 4, 1843 – February 23, 1848
Preceded by	William B. Calhoun
Succeeded by	Horace Mann
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 12th district
In office March 4, 1833 – March 3, 1843
Preceded by	James L. Hodges
Succeeded by	George D. Robinson
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 11th district
In office March 4, 1831 – March 3, 1833
Preceded by	Joseph Richardson
Succeeded by	John Reed Jr.
8th United States Secretary of State
In office September 22, 1817 – March 4, 1825
President	James Monroe
Preceded by	James Monroe
Succeeded by	Henry Clay
United States Envoy to the United Kingdom
In office June 8, 1815 – May 14, 1817
President	James Madison James Monroe
Preceded by	Jonathan Russell (1812)
Succeeded by	Richard Rush
United States Minister to Russia
In office November 5, 1809 – April 28, 1814
President	James Madison
Preceded by	William Short
Succeeded by	James A. Bayard
United States Senator from Massachusetts
In office March 4, 1803 – June 8, 1808
Preceded by	Jonathan Mason
Succeeded by	James Lloyd
United States Minister to Prussia
In office December 5, 1797 – May 5, 1801
President	John Adams Thomas Jefferson
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Henry Wheaton (1835)
United States Minister to the Netherlands
In office November 6, 1794 – June 20, 1797
President	George Washington
Preceded by	William Short
Succeeded by	William Vans Murray
Personal details
Born	July 11, 1767 Braintree, Massachusetts Bay, British America (now Quincy, Massachusetts, U.S.)
Died	February 23, 1848 (aged 80) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Resting place	United First Parish Church
Political party	Federalist (1792–1808) Democratic-Republican (1808–1830) National Republican (1830–1833) Anti-Masonic (1833–1838) Whig (1838–1848)
Spouse(s)	Louisa Johnson (m. 1797–1848)
Children	4, including George, John, Charles
Education	Harvard University (BA, MA)
Signature

John Quincy Adams (ⁱ/ˈkwɪnzi/;^[a] July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was an American statesman who served as a diplomat, United States Senator, member of the House of Representatives, and was the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later the Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. He was the son of President John Adams and Abigail Adams and thus contributed to the formation of the Adams political family.
Adams shaped U.S. foreign policy using his ardently nationalist commitment to U.S. republican values. As a diplomat, Adams played an important role in negotiating key treaties, most notably the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812. As Secretary of State, he negotiated with Britain over the United States' northern border with Canada, negotiated with Spain the annexation of Florida, and drafted the Monroe Doctrine. Historians generally concur that he was one of the greatest diplomats and secretaries of state in American history.^[2][3] In his biography, Samuel Flagg Bemis argues that Adams was able to "gather together, formulate, and practice the fundamentals of American foreign-policy – self-determination, independence, noncolonization, nonintervention, nonentanglement in European politics, Freedom of the Seas, [and] freedom of commerce."^[4]
Adams was elected president in a close and controversial four-way contest in 1824. As president he sought to modernize the American economy and promote education. Adams enacted a part of his agenda and paid off much of the national debt.^[5] However he was stymied time and again by a Congress controlled by opponents, and his lack of patronage networks helped politicians sabotage him. He lost his 1828 bid for re-election to Andrew Jackson. He has been portrayed by recent historians as an exemplar and moral leader during an era of modernization, when new modes of communication spread messages of religious revival, social reform, and party politics, and improved transportation moved goods, money, and people more rapidly.^[6]
After leaving office, he was elected as U.S. Representative from Massachusetts in 1830, serving for the last 17 years of his life with greater acclaim than he had achieved as president. Animated by his growing revulsion against slavery,^[7] Adams became a leading opponent of the Slave Power. Adams predicted the Union's dissolution over slavery, and in such a case, felt the president could abolish slavery by using his war powers.^[8] Historians have in the aggregate ranked Adams as the 21st most successful president.