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John Quincy Adams |
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Adams, John Quincy (1767-1848), 6th president of the United States. He was the son of John Adams, 2d president. Independence and Union were the watchwords of his career; a "Union of the United States of North America" to grow by the destiny of Providence and nature to become a continental republic of free citizens stretching from ocean to ocean and from Gulf to Arctic. Until the election of 2000, the "Second Adams" was the only son of a president to become president; in fact, his parents actually trained him for highest office. His mother told the boy that some day the state would rest upon his shoulder. As he grew up with the new nation, he had during his long lifetime two notable careers, separated by a strange interlude. The first career was as an American diplomat who rose to become secretary of state. The second career was as a member of the House of Representatives and opponent of slavery. The strange interlude was as president of the United States; for four years the state did indeed rest, uneasily, upon his shoulder. Never publicly popular, often reviled by his political enemies, he nevertheless ended his life in the sunshine of national esteem. |