John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), the son of President John Adams, spent much of his early life as a diplomat in Europe, helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812 and served as secretary of state under James Monroe. He won the disputed 1824 election in the House of Representatives after no candidate gained an electoral majority, and Andrew Jackson's supporters accused him of a corrupt bargain with Henry Clay. As president he proposed a national program of internal improvements, education and science that Congress largely rejected, and he lost to Jackson in 1828. From 1831 until his death he served in the House, where he became a leading opponent of slavery's political power.

Historians widely regard Adams as one of the most accomplished diplomats in U.S. history, crediting him with the Adams-Onís Treaty and much of the thinking behind the Monroe Doctrine. Admirers also point to his vision of federal support for science, education and transportation, which anticipated later national programs, and to his post-presidential defense of the right of petition and of the Amistad captives. Critics in his own time saw his program as an overreach of federal power, and Jacksonians condemned the 1824 election as a corrupt bargain. Many historians judge his presidency itself unsuccessful, citing his poor relations with Congress and his reluctance to use patronage or build a party, and the 1828 tariff deepened Southern resentment that fed the Nullification Crisis.