Not Your Father's Founders Read Free Page A

mission.
    Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
    â€œA LL MEN PROFESS HONESTY AS LONG AS THEY CAN . T O BELIEVE ALL MEN HONEST WOULD BE FOLLY . T O BELIEVE NONE SO IS SOMETHING WORSE.”
    â€”J OHN Q UINCY A DAMS
    By the time he graduated from Harvard in 1787 and passed his bar exam three years later, he was an experienced diplomat. President George Washington took advantage of his experience.
John Q. the Minister
    In May 1794, Washington appointed Adams the U.S. minister to the Netherlands, then transferred him to Portugal. After John Adams was elected president, he redirected his son to Berlin in 1797, where he negotiated a treaty of amity and commerce with Prussia.
    His ministerial career came to an abrupt halt in 1801 after Thomas Jefferson became president. John Quincy returned to the United States and applied his talents to politics, starting his legislative career as a state senator. In 1803 he was elected to the U.S. Senate. He broke away from his father’s Federalist Party once there. He sided with the Democratic-Republicans on issues such as the Louisiana Purchase and a trade embargo against Britain.
    Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
    â€œA MERICA DOES NOT GO ABROAD IN SEARCH OF MONSTERS TO DESTROY . S HE IS THE WELL-WISHER TO FREEDOM AND INDEPENDENCE OF ALL . S HE IS THE CHAMPION AND VINDICATOR ONLY OF HER OWN.”
    â€”J OHN Q UINCY A DAMS
    That was contrary to the wishes of the people of Massachusetts and resulted in the state holding a special election several months before his term was scheduled to end. He lost the election and resigned from the Senate to become a professor of rhetoric and oratory at Harvard.
    Quotations to Live (and Die) By!
    â€œA LWAYS VOTE FOR PRINCIPLE, THOUGH YOU MAY VOTE ALONE, AND YOU MAY CHERISH THE SWEETEST REFLECTION THAT YOUR VOTE IS NEVER LOST.”
    â€”J OHN Q UINCY A DAMS
    He switched to the Democratic-Republican Party and resumed his political career after his three-year hiatus as a teacher.
    His father’s old—and growing older—friends continued to advance John Quincy’s career. President Madison named him as minister to Russia, a post he filled from 1809−14. Next, he accepted the same post in Britain, where he served from 1815−17.
    Adams did not stay in England long. He returned to the United States in 1817. President James Monroe appointed him as secretary of state. That opened the door for Adams to participate in two major events: the 1820 acquisition of Florida and the 1823 implementation of the Monroe Doctrine, which warned European powers for the first time to keep their distance from the United States’ sphere of influence, which included South America and the Caribbean islands.
    FEDERAL FACTS
    John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and his son, Charles Francis Adams, all served as ministers to Great Britain during their careers.
    REVOLUTIONARY REVELATIONS
    Even though the Monroe Doctrine is attributed to James Monroe, historians credit John Quincy Adams with being the true architect of the policy.
The Second President Adams
    Adams campaigned to replace Monroe after Monroe’s second term ended. Adams entered a four-candidate race in which he ran second to Andrew Jackson in the popular election. Because no one achieved a majority of the popular or electoral votes, the House of Representatives cast the deciding vote.
    The House of Representatives voted for Adams. Jackson was convinced that Adams had promised Henry Clay—a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, an unsuccessful candidate for president, and a political ally of John Quincy Adams—a position as secretary of state in exchange for using his influence to woo House members to vote for Adams. Jackson called it a “corrupt bargain” and withdrew his support for Adams during his presidency. The feud that developed between Jackson and Adams as a result prevented Adams from accomplishing anything significant during his term, since Jackson’s followers