John Quincy Adams' Life

John Quincy Adams was born on July 11, 1767 in Quincy, Massachusetts. He attended a village school until the headmaster went off to war. He was the son of President John Adams and First Lady Abigail Adams. His father signed the Declaration of Independence when John Quincy was eight. His parents were determined to see him elected President.  He was tutored by his mother, attended schools in Paris, and attended the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. John Quincy Adams began a diary that he wrote in for over sixty years. He returned from the Netherlands in 1785 to attend Harvard University. He graduated in 1787 and started to practice law. At age 28 he was appointed minister to the Netherlands by George Washington. John Quincy Adams married Louisa Johnson and they had three sons. He served as the minister to Prussia in 1797 through 1801, the time his father was President of the United States. He often traveled with his father. Adams was elected to the United States Senate in 1803 where he served until 1808. In 1809 President James Madison appointed Adams the first American minister to Russia. In 1812 war broke out between the United States and Great Britain. Adams served on the delegation that brought about the Peace Treaty of Ghent in 1814. He later became minister to Great Britain until 1817 when President James Monroe appointed Adams Secretary of State.  He negotiated the Transcontinental Treaty of 1819 with Spain, which gave the United States access to the Pacific Ocean. Adams ran for President in 1825 and won; he served one term. Adams was frustrated by the politics of the presidency, because he believed he was the people's representative. He ran for Congress in 1831 where he was an active legislator. He died two days after he collapsed on the floor of the House of Representatives on February 23, 1848. Note; John Quincy Adams was President from 1825 through 1829 and the Vice President was John Caldwell Calhoun.