Mr. Adams’'s Last Crusade: John Quincy Adams’'s Extraordinary Post-Presidential Life in Congress

334 Pages·2008·1.04 MB·English

by  Joseph Wheelan

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MR. ADAMS’S
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MR. ADAMS’S
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JOHN QUINCY ADAMS’S EXTRAORDINARY
POST-PRESIDENTIAL LIFE IN CONGRESS
JOSEPH WHEELAN
PublicAffairs
New York
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Copyright © 2008by Joseph Wheelan.
Published in the United States by PublicAffairs™,a member of the Perseus Books
Group.
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
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Book Design by Jeff Williams
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wheelan,Joseph.
Mr.Adams’s last crusade :John Quincy Adams’s extraordinary post-presidential life
in Congress / Joseph Wheelan.— 1st ed.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN–13:978–0–7867–2012–5(hardcover)
ISBN–10:0–7867–2012–3(hardcover)
1.Adams,John Quincy,1767–1848.2.Adams,John Quincy,1767–1848—Political and
social views.3.United States.Congress.House—Biography.4.Legislators—United
States—Biography.5.Presidents—United States—Biography.6.United States—Pol-
itics and government—1815–1861.I.Title.
E377.W472008
973.5'5092—dc22
[B]
2007040831
First Edition
10987654321
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Contents
Author’s Note vii
Prologue xi
ONE Favored Son of the Revolution 1
TWO The Road to the Presidency 27
THREE An “Agony of Mind” 37
FOUR The Freshman Congressman 67
FIVE A Worthy Cause 91
SIX Adams, Science, and the Smithsonian Institution 111
SEVEN Lightning Rod of Congress 129
EIGHT “True and Honest Hearts Love You” 145
NINE The Amistad 163
TEN “Old Nestor” 187
ELEVEN Triumph 205
TWELVE A New War and Decline 225
Epilogue 253
Bibliography 261
Notes 269
Index 293
Acknowledgments 307
About the Author 309
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Author’s Note
A
merican presidents rarely diverge from the ancient
example of Cincinnatus, the Roman consul who,
after serving as dictator during a national emer-
gency, returned home to his plow. George Washington was the
American exemplar of this model of public service,and his succes-
sors, for the most part, have adopted the practice of retiring to
their home place.
Ex-presidents often become living ghosts of their formerly fa-
mous selves. We see them at ceremonial functions, but otherwise
they are invisible to us.We picture them in their studies,organiz-
ing their papers and spending a couple of hours a day writing their
memoirs, or golfing, sailing, or riding horses—indulging in the
private pursuits that they often sacrificed while they were busy
serving the public.
In my lifetime,presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton broke
with this archetype to devote their post-presidencies to humani-
tarian and other public causes. Previously, William Howard Taft,
president from 1909 to 1913, was appointed to the U.S. Supreme
Court in 1921and served nine years as its chief justice.After losing
a third-party bid for the presidency,Theodore Roosevelt explored
Brazil’s River of Doubt,a place visited (at least figuratively) by all
presidents at one time or another. Andrew Johnson, impeached
and nearly convicted, was subsequently elected to the Senate but
died after serving only four months.
vii
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viii | Author’s Note
But no ex-president can match the astonishing record of John
Quincy Adams.His presidency,generally regarded as a failure,was
of only one term’s duration—he and his father,John Adams,were
the only one-term presidents among the first seven chief execu-
tives. Adams appeared destined for anonymous retirement in his
native Massachusetts when something serendipitous happened;his
friends and neighbors sent him to the House of Representatives.
This book focuses on Adams’s amazing seventeen years in the
House of Representatives.No recent Adams biography,and few of
any vintage,has made his congressional career its primary subject;
books on the second Adams tend to recount his life as a rising nar-
rative climaxed by his dismal presidency. His congressional career
is usually presented as an afterthought. While this book relates
Adams’s extraordinary early life as a diplomat, son of the Revolu-
tion, and secretary of state, his actions during these years and his
presidency are here presented as a prelude to his entry into the
House of Representatives in December 1831.
Adams entered the House as a freshman congressman at the age
of sixty-four, believing that if the people summoned him, he was
obligated to obey that summons. This was an antiquated notion
that did not fit with the raw political ambition and slash-and-burn
politics of the Jackson era. In the seventeen years that followed,
Adams largely redeemed his presidential record by becoming Con-
gress’s leading champion of the First Amendment right to petition
and its first great opponent of slavery.He also became a passionate
advocate for the sciences and oversaw the establishment of the
Smithsonian Institution,ensuring that James Smithson’s generous
bequest to the United States was not squandered. Most impor-
tantly, Adams became Congress’s conscience—a prickly, sarcastic,
and highly articulate voice of reason. His allies fondly referred to
him as “Old Man Eloquent”;his enemies not so kindly called him
the “Madman of Massachusetts,”and worse.
Few public figures have been as highly principled or as extraor-
dinarily intelligent as Adams. Few have worked as hard as he.
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Author’s Note | ix
Adams knew the ropes of the House better than his longer-serving
colleagues. He used that knowledge to torment the slave power
during the 1830s and 1840s,to condemn the government’s cruel re-
moval of eastern Indian tribes, to uphold the right of women to
participate in the political process,and to argue against the war of
aggression against Mexico.
Why is John Quincy Adams relevant now? Today, we Ameri-
cans regard our government with weary cynicism and distrust.We
need to be reminded that it needn’t be this way.
America once produced a fearless,combative,highly principled
“man of the whole country”in the person of John Quincy Adams,
and she can do it again.We need to listen for his or her clear,rea-
sonable voice amid the din of equivocating,obfuscating,and tem-
porizing politicians.The byword that Adams had engraved on his
signet ring is a good enough admonition:We must “Watch.”