Born
in Massachusetts on July 11, 1767, John Quincy Adams was the eldest son
of President John Adams and the sixth president of the United States.
In his pre-presidential years, Adams was one of America's greatest
diplomats (formulating, among other things, what became the Monroe
Doctrine); in his post-presidential years, he conducted a consistent and
often dramatic fight against the expansion of slavery. Though full of
promise, his presidential years were difficult. He died in 1848 in
Washington, D.C.As a child, John Quincy Adams witnessed firsthand the birth of the nation. From the family farm, he and his mother watched the Battle of Bunker Hill in 1775. At age 10, he traveled to France with his father, who was securing aid during the Revolution. By age 14, John Quincy was receiving "on-the-job" training in the diplomatic corps and going to school. In 1781, he accompanied diplomat Francis Dana to Russia, serving as his secretary and translator. In 1783, he traveled to Paris to serve as secretary to his father, negotiating the Treaty of Paris. During this time, John Quincy attended schools in Europe and became fluent in French, Dutch and German. Returning home in 1785, he entered Harvard College and graduated in 1787.
Early Political Career
In 1790, John Quincy became a practicing attorney in Boston. As tensions mounted between Britain and France, he supported President George Washington's neutrality policy of 1793. President Washington appreciated young Adams's support so much that he appointed him U.S. minister to Holland. When John Adams was elected president in 1797, he appointed his son U.S. minister to Prussia. On the way to his post, John Quincy traveled to England to wed Louisa Catherine Johnson, the daughter of Joshua Johnson, the first U.S. consul to Great Britain.After John Adams lost his bid for a second term in 1800, he recalled his son from Prussia. In 1802, John Quincy was elected to the Massachusetts legislature, and one year later, he was elected the U.S. Senate. Like his father, John Quincy was considered a member of the Federalist Party, but in truth, he was never a strict party man. During his time in the Senate, he supported the Louisiana Purchase and President Thomas Jefferson's Embargo Act—actions that made him very unpopular with other Federalists. In June 1808, Adams broke with the Federalists, resigned from his Senate seat and became a Democratic-Republican.
John Quincy Adams returned to the diplomatic corps in 1809, when President James Madison appointed him the first officially recognized minister to Russia (Francis Dana was never officially accepted as a U.S. ambassador by the Russian government). In 1814, Adams was recalled from Russia to serve as chief negotiator for the U.S. government during the Treaty of Ghent, settling the War of 1812. The following year, Adams served as minister to England, a position his father had held 30 years earlier.
In a post he was most suited for, John Quincy Adams served as secretary of state in President James Monroe's administration from 1817 to 1825. During this time, he negotiated the Adams-Onis Treaty, acquiring Florida for the United States. He also helped negotiate the Treaty of 1818, settling the long-standing border dispute between Britain and the United States over the Oregon country, and initiating improved relations between Great Britain and its former colonies.
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