FREE ESSAY ON JOHN ADAMS

JOHN ADAMS

John Quincy Adams was the only son of a president to become president. He had an
impressive political background that began at the age of fourteen. He was an intelligent
and industrious individual. He was a man of strong character and high principles. By all
account, his presidency should have been a huge success, yet it wasn't. John Quincy
Adams' presidency was frustrating and judged a failure because of the scandal, attached
to his election, the pettiness of his political rivals, and his strong character. John
Quincy Adams was born on July 1767, in Braintree Massachusetts. His parents were John and
Abigail Adams. Quincy, had every advantage as a youngster. At the time of his birth, his
father was an increasingly admired and prospering lawyer, and his mother Abigail Smith
Adams, was the daughter of an esteemed minister, whose wife's family combined two
prestigious and influential lines, the Nortons and the Quincys. Accompanying his father
on diplomatic missions in Europe, young John Quincy Adams received a splendid education
at private schools in Paris, Leiden, and Amsterdam, early developing his penchant for
omnivorous reading. He was able to speak several languages. At the age of fourteen, he
was asked to serve as secretary and translator to Francis Dana, the first US ambassador
to Russia. Despite his age, young Adams was a valuable aid to the consul; he enjoyed
Russia and the exposure to diplomatic circles. He later returned to the United States and
attended Harvard. He graduated in two years and entered the law offices of Theophilus
Parsons in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Passing the bar in 1790, he set up practice in
Boston. In 1794 John began his long political career. George Washington appointed John
Quincy Adams an Ambassador to the Netherlands. After his father was elected as the second
president of the United States, he was reassigned to the post of minister to Prussia. He
kept this post throughout his fathers' term of office. After his fathers defeat to Thomas
Jefferson he returned home.  In 1802 he was elected to the Massachusetts senate, which
sent him to the U. S senate the following year. He was also appointed to the Supreme
Court, a membership he declined. President James Madison then appointed him to minister
to Russia in 1809. He continued to serve his country and gained a well-respected
reputation.  Adding to his reputation was his brilliant and tough-minded performance as
chief American peace commissioner in the negotiations at Gent that ended the War of 1812
and his effectiveness as minister to Great Britain during the last two years of the
Madison administration. He continued to distinguish himself by negotiating a treaty with
Spain. The Adams-Onis Treaty with Spain, concluded with Spain on February 22, 1819.
Provided for the transfer of East and West Florida to the United States and the
establishment of a border between Spanish and US territory running from the Gulf of
Mexico to the Rocky Mountains and along the forty-second parallel to the Pacific ocean.
Historians regard the treaty as a brilliant act of diplomacy, and Adams himself called
its conclusion the most important event of my life. Many historians give credit to Adams
for his contributions to the Monroe Doctrine. Adams also was the mind behind the Monroe
Doctrine, which warned that the United States would oppose any European interference in
the internal affairs of an American nation or further European colonization of territory
in the Western Hemisphere. There was no doubt that Adams was a deserving candidate for
the presidential election of 1824. He had held high diplomatic positions and displayed
both aptitude and ability. He wanted to be President, but although Adams was the most
distinguished member of the Monroe Cabinet, his successes were somewhat neutralized by
his lack of friends and organizational backing" He had also earned himself a reputation
of being stubborn and unflexable. He had no problems speaking out against issues he felt
were unjust. He also spoke out against his own political party. The son of a leading
Federalist Party, Adams proved to be anything but a slavish devotee to that political
cause. When he thought the party was in the wrong, he stood ready to oppose it. In fact,
as he told his father, if he thought the country was in the wrong, he could not bring
himself to solicit God's approval for its course. The final break from the Federalist
Party came after Adams choice to support President Jefferson's Embargo act of 1807.
Adams, however, angered his fellow Federalists by insisting on considering each issue
independently, rather than voting with the party. When he supported President Jefferson's
Embargo act in 1807, the Massachusetts legislature elected his successor six months
before his term expired. He later resigned in protest and returned to teach at Harvard.
Despite his break with the Federalist Party, he remained active in politics. He was
appointed Minister to Russia and later appointed as Secretary of State under President
Monroe. President Monroe, like the Presidents before him served two consecutive terms. In
1824 he was ready to retire. The Presidential candidates were William Crawford of
Georgia, Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. Henry Clay of Kentucky and John Quincy Adams, Then
Crawford was stricken, and his nomination by a small congressional caucuses was merely a
gesture of respect and friendship. The four candidate race split the electoral votes.
Although no one received majority needed to win the election, Jackson had received the
most votes. The four-candidate race split the electoral vote, and n one received the
majority required to be elected. Jackson led Adams 99 to 84 votes, with Crawford and Clay
receiving 41 and 37 votes, respectively. The stalemate drew the election into the House
of Representatives. There Henry Clay, a powerful member of the House, gave his support to
Adams, who emerged victorious despite having received less than one-third of the popular
vote. Although Jackson and his supporters were furious, there was nothing they could do.
John Quincy Adams was elected as president. His presidency and the election were
immediate judged corrupt. This was due to the fact that Adams made Clay his Secretary of
State. What was earlier a murmur became a roar when Adams proffered, and Clay accepted
the position of secretary of state in Adams' cabinet. In a rage at the outcome of the
House's election Jackson said of Clay that the Judas of the West has closed the contract
and will receive the thirty pieces of silver, and in Clays home state he charged that the
people had been cheated. Their will defeated by corruption's and intrigues at Washington.
This scandal seemed to taint Adams presidency and reputation. Neither Adams nor Clay
could ever recover from it. After that, nothing went right for Adams. The Jackson men in
his cabinet were openly disloyal Any idea or policy Adams proposed was immediately
opposed. Yet Adams' schemes were derided or ignored. He had no party organization to back
him. He lacked the personal magnetism to fire the national imagination and impose his
will. Even with all this opposition Adams continued to work hard and serve his country.
Serving his country meant not firing his political rivals if they did their jobs. Even
though they were intent on ruining his presidency, Adams would not remove them from
office as long as they did their jobs. Adams' chief blunders was simply his fair and
high-minded treatment of his political enemies. The era of the spoil-system did not
reward political integrity of the sort that refused to kick men out of office merely
because they were performing their jobs ably. The Jacksonian's and their Whig successors
judged political appointees not so much by the quality of their public performance as by
their loyalty to the man or the party in power. He not only would not replace his
political enemies; he would not condemn them for their wrong doing towards him.
Self-defense or countercharge was out of the question: refusing to sink to the level of
his opponents, Adams remained tight-lipped, retained his dignity, and was soundly beaten.
The sun of my political life, he confided in his diary, sets in the deepest gloom. He
remained a man of high moral standards and strong conviction. His integrity was worth
more to him than a second term.  He appears to have contemplated his forthcoming
political disaster reflectively, fortified by his conviction that the path he had taken
was the moral one. Adams lost the following presidential election. He had given up a good
part of his life to serve his country. Unfortunately it seemed neither neither he nor the
country realized his important contribution.  I should of been one of the greatest
benefactors of my country.... But the connective power of mind was not conferred upon me
but by my Maker, and I have not improved the scanty portions of His gifts as I might and
ought to have done. His presidency was judged a failure due in a large part to the
presidential scandal he seemed unable to overcome. His rivals were responsible for
keeping it alive in everyone's minds. They never let the public forget his Corrupt
Bargain with Clay. They also doomed almost every piece of important legislation he had
tried to pass. Adams' own integrity allowed his rivals free reign. His own high standards
about refusing to abuse his office resulted in his rivals retaining their positions of
power. The scandal, political rivals, and his own integrity doomed his presidency to
failure.