John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)
John Quincy Adams, son of the second president John Adams, was the sixth president of the United States of America.
In 1779 the 12 year old Adams accompanied his father to Europe where he helped out as a translator and assistant. As a student he already knew how to speak and write Greek, Latin, French, Dutch, and German.
He met his future wife Louisa Catherine Johnson, daughter of an American consul, during a diplomatic mission trip in London. In 1803 Adams was voted as a Federalist for the senate. Five years later however he resigned from his position due to conflicts with the Federalists. As a diplomat and statesman he had great influence on America’s foreign affairs in the first half of the 19th century. He worked on the peace treaty with Great Britain and functioned as secretary of state for President James Monroe.
In the election of 1824 Adams was appointed President of the United States of America by the House of Representatives after the normal election brought no decision with an absolute majority. The political differences between Adams and his rival candidate Andrew Jackson can already be seen as an indication of the following breakup of the Republican Party.
Adams was the president of the United States of America from 1825 to 1829. His domestic politics were, despite reformations, rather unspectacular. His most important inheritance was the plan for the Erie and Illinois Waterway and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad plans.
After a political break Adams was appointed representative for the Democratic- Republican Party in 1831 and became politically active in the House of Representatives once again. In 1841 he fought for the fugitives of the slavery ship “La Amistad” in the Supreme Court and gained the slaves’ freedom.