John Quincy Adams

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Portrait, John Quincy AdamsJohn Quincy Adams 6th President of the United States (March 4, 1825 to March 3, 1829) Nickname: “Old Man Eloquent” Born: July 11, 1767, in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts Died: February 23, 1848, in Washington, D.C.

Father: tiny U.S. flag John Adams Mother: Abigail Smith Adams Married: Louisa Catherine Johnson Adams (1775-1852), on July 26, 1797 Children: George Washington Adams (1801-29); John Adams (1803-34); Charles Francis Adams (1807-86); Louisa Catherine Adams (1811-12) Religion: Unitarian Education: Graduated from Harvard College (1787) Occupation: Lawyer Political Party: Democratic-Republican Other Government Positions:

  • Secretary to U.S. Minister to Russia, 1781
  • Minister to the Netherlands, 1794
  • Minister to Prussia, 1797-1801
  • United States Senator, 1803-08
  • Minister to Russia, 1809-11
  • Peace Commissioner at Treaty of Ghent, 1814
  • Secretary of State, 1817-25 (under tiny U.S. flag Monroe)
  • Member of U.S. House of Representatives, 1831-48

Presidential Salary: $25,000/year

Presidential Election Results:
YearPopular VotesElectoral Votes
1820tiny U.S. flagJames Monroe231
John Q. Adams1
(Votes Not Cast)3
1824John Q. Adams108,74084
tiny U.S. flag Andrew Jackson153,54499
Henry Clay47,13637
William H. Crawford46,61841
1828tiny U.S. flag Andrew Jackson647,286178
John Q. Adams508,06483

Vice President: John C. Calhoun (1825-29) Cabinet:

Secretary of State
Henry Clay (1825-1829)
Secretary of the Treasury
Richard Rush (1825-29)
Secretary of War
James Barbour (1825-28)
Peter B. Porter (1828)
Attorney General
William Wirt (1825-29)
Secretary of the Navy
Samuel L. Southard (1825-29)

Supreme Court Appointments:

Associate Justice
Robert Trimble (1826-28)

Notable Events:

  • 1825
    • The appointment of Henry Clay as secretary of state, led to charges that the Clay and Adams made a bargain in the election of 1824.
    • Erie Canal completed.
  • 1828
    • Baltimore & Ohio railroad, the first designed for passengers and freight.
    • tiny U.S. flagAndrew Jackson defeated Adams.

Internet Biographies:

John Quincy Adams — from The Presidents of the United States of America
Compiled by the White House.
John Quincy Adams — from American Presidents: Life Portraits — C-SPAN
Biographical information, trivia, key events, video, and other reference materials. Website created to accompany C-SPAN’s 20th Anniversary Television Series, American Presidents: Life Portraits.
John Quincy Adams — from U.S. Presidents
From the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, in addition to information on the Presidents themselves, they have first lady and cabinet member biographies, listings of presidential staff and advisers, and timelines detailing significant events in the lives of each administration.

Historical Documents:

Inaugural Address (1825)
The Jubilee of the Constitution (1839)
Argument in the Amistad trial (1841)

Other Internet Resources:

Adams National Historical Site
The birthplace of John Quincy Adams and other notable Americans. From the National Park Service.

Points of Interest:

  • President Adams regularly swam nude in the Potomac River. Anne Royall, the first American professional woman journalist, knew of Adams’ 5 A.M. swims. After being refused interviews with the president time after time, she went to the river, gathered his clothes and sat on them until she had her interview. Before this, no female had interviewed a president.
  • Adams was the first to be elected president without receiving either the most popular votes or the most votes of the electoral college.
  • He was the first president married abroad.
  • Adams was the first president to be photographed.
  • Adams is the only president to be elected to the House after his presidency.
  • One of his sons, George Washington Adams, died at the age of 28, an apparent suicide.

Previous President: tiny U.S. flag James Monroe | Next President: tiny U.S. flag Andrew Jackson


©1996-2008. Robert S. Summers. All rights reserved.

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