Description

John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, and diarist who served as the sixth President of the United States from 1825-29. He previously served as the eighth US Secretary of State from 1817-25, and during his long diplomatic and political career also served as an ambassador, and as a member of the US Senate and US House of Representatives representing Masachusetts. He was the elder son of John Adams who served as the second US President from 1797-1801. Initially a Federalist like his father, Adams won election to the presidency as a member of the Democratic-Republican Party, and in the mid-1830s affiliated with the Whig Party. During his presidency the Democratic-Republican Party polarized into two major camps: one group, known as the National Republican Party, supported Adams, while the other, the Democratic Party, was led by Andrew Jackson. The Democrats proved to be more effective political organizers than Adams and his National Republican supporters, and Jackson decisively defeated Adams in the 1828 presidential election. Rather than retiring from public service, Adams won election to the House of Representatives where he served from 1831 until his death. This edition contains Adams's State of the Union Addresses for the four years of his presidency from 1825-28.