Familydynasties in U.S. politicsare not uncommon . Do the name Roosevelt , Kennedyand Bush reverberate any bell shape ? But the original class dynasty was in spades the Adams family .
Founding FatherJohn Adamsserved in the Continental Congress , as President George Washington ’s vice President of the United States , then as nation ’s second president ( 1797 - 1801 ) . His eldest Logos John Quincy Adams was the country ’s sixth president ( 1825 - 1829 ) .
But Adams and his Logos deal more than a life history way of life .
" They both had a deep abiding duty to country and in the central principles of American democracy , " says Sara Martin , editor - in - chieftain ofThe Adams Family Papers , an extensive collection of Adams family writings possess by theMassachusetts Historical Society . " And they both spend the majority of their professional lives in service to the country . "
Both men attended Harvard and studied police , though John Quincy also had the benefit of growing up as the son of " John Adams , found Father , " and enjoyed some impressive experience as a result . When he was just 10 , he traveled to France with his father as John sought acknowledgment and funds from the French politics to stand the American Revolution . When the support was n’t outgoing , the father and son traveled to the Netherlands , where the Dutch derive through with both recognition and fiscal assistance . When John Quincy was 14 , he traveled to St. Petersburg to serve as a French - linguistic communication interpreter and private secretary to Francis Dana , the U.S. Minister to Russia .
John served as America ’s first Minister to Great Britain . He negotiate the term of the peace accord to terminate the Revolutionary War and pass to Paris for the sign language in September 1783 .
John Adams as President
John became the nation’sfirst vice presidentin 1788 under George Washington ( it was a solacement prize no onereallywanted . ) And when Washington withdraw in 1796 , John stand for chair and was elected as aFederalist , though Martin sound out he was only slackly assort with the company .
" Hewasa Federalist president , but because he maintain himself to rule over company , he in reality runs into problems with the Federalist Party , " she say . " The Federalist Party fractures during his presidency and conduce to his defeat in the election of 1800 . "
alien affairs dominated John ’s presidential term , and his loyalty to his value ( and perhaps his stubbornness ) doomed his chances for a second term .
" When he takes office , U.S relation back with France are drop — the XYZ affair;the Quasi - War — these are the dominant issues , " pronounce Martin .
The U.S. was split along Anglo and French bank line . John was viewed as pro - British and Federalists typically require a more fast-growing insurance toward France . John always sought diplomacy first . His biggest mistake was search a diplomatic solution without consulting his Federalist cabinet .
" He was battled from within his storage locker and from external force , " Martin says .
in the end , he lose his reelection bidding . He returned to Massachusetts and his beloved married woman , Abigail .
Like Father, Like Son
" For John Quincy Adams , being his father ’s son , fare of long time , he is array with the Federalists , " sound out Martin . He became a U.S. senator in 1803 and , like his father , put rule over party , mean there were times he voted with the Federalists and time he vote with theDemocratic - Republicans .
John Quincy eventually rive from the Federalist political party and in 1809 , he left the U.S. to dish up as a diplomat overseas , helping negotiate the end of theWar of 1812 in Ghent , Belgium , and serving in the same post his father did in Great Britain , U.S. Minister to the Court of St. James . John Quincy returned to the U.S. in 1817 to serve as Secretary of State under President James Monroe .
John Quincy ’s most significant contribution was developing theMonroe Doctrine , the U.S. foreign policy that " respected the independency of other nations , while asserting and defend her own , " to cite the written document .
John Quincy stood as a broadly speaking affiliated popular - Republican campaigner in the1824 presidential electionwith three other candidates from the same party , Andrew Jackson , William H. Crawford andHenry Clay . Jackson deliver the goods the democratic voting but did n’t get a battalion ( an inviolable majority of either the popular vote or the electoral right to vote ) . The competition was decided by the House of Representatives , who choose John Quincy , infuriating Jackson and his supporters .
" From day one , John Quincy ’s presidency was embattle because Jackson and his helper play off him at every turn , " Martin says . " He had this challenging view of internal improvements – channel , roads , even grander visions for a internal university and a national observatory – but he could n’t get any adhesive friction for these ideas . He did not have a successful administration . "
Problems and the Presidency
alien policy issues dogged his father ’s administration , but domestic issues were John Quincy ’s curse , specially growing localism — the matter of state ’s right field .
" It was really play out in the issue of the federal government ’s relationship with Native Americans , specifically what was run on in Georgia , " Martin say .
The governor of Georgia refused to honorfederal treatieswhen settlers move into native domain andCreek Nationsdefended their territory . John Quincy could have but did n’t use federal troops to keep state troops in line , and a new accord ended up causing Native Americans to cede more kingdom .
" It becomes the further dispossession of aboriginal territory , " Martin says , " The roots of the Trail of Tears are base in this incident . "
Martin says both men frequently wrote of desiring a " quieter life " but believed it was their duty to serve the untested state in whatever direction they were foretell .
" If you take their careers as a whole , their presidencies were the least successful of their public lives , and that ’s true for both of them for many of the same reason , " she say . " Neither were able to get popular support the elbow room their opponents did . Jefferson sold the idea of a more inclusive democracy ; Jackson did the same affair . But you bet at the cathode-ray oscilloscope of their lives ; the presidency was only a humble luck of it . "
