author
John Quincy Adams
1767–1848
Raised in the turbulent early years of the United States, he grew into a brilliant diplomat, president, and one of the strongest antislavery voices in Congress. His life links the Revolution, the White House, and the long fight over the nation’s future.
3 Audiobooks
State of the Union Addresses of John Quincy Adams
by John Quincy Adams
About the author
Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1767, he was the son of John and Abigail Adams and spent part of his youth traveling in Europe while his father served the new republic abroad. That early exposure to diplomacy shaped a career that would carry him through major posts in the Senate, foreign service, and the State Department.
Before becoming the sixth president of the United States in 1825, he built a reputation as one of the country’s most skilled diplomats. He served in several European capitals, helped negotiate the Treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812, and as secretary of state played a central role in the foreign policy later associated with the Monroe Doctrine.
Although his presidency lasted only one term, his public life did not slow down afterward. In the House of Representatives, he became a determined opponent of slavery’s expansion and defended the right to petition Congress, giving his later years a moral force that has kept his story alive long after his time in the White House.