John Quincy Adams (1767-1848)

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848), was the only son of a President, until George Bush Sr. and George Bush Jr., who also became President. Like his father, John Adams, he failed to win a second term. But soon afterward he was elected to the House of Representatives. This pleased him more, he said, than his election as President.

Before entering the presidency, Adams held several important diplomatic posts. He took part in the negotiations that ended the War of 1812. As Secretary of State, he helped develop the Monroe Doctrine. Quarels within his party hampered Adams as President, and he made little progress with his ambitious legislative program. His years in the White House were perhaps the unhappiest period of Adams' life.

Adams was short and stout, and his shrill voice often broke when he became excited. Yet he spoke so well that he was nicknamed "Old Man Eloquent." Adams was affectionate with close friends, but more reserved toward others. He once referred to himself as "an unsocial savage."

During Adams' administration, Noah Webster brought out his two-volume American Dictionary of the English Language, and James Fenimore Cooper published his famous novel "The Last of the Mohicans". The American labor movement began in Philadelphia.