Mr. Adams's Last Crusade: John Quincy Adams's Extraordinary Post-Presidential Life in Congress

by Joseph Wheelan

Following his single term as President of the United States (1825-1829), John Quincy Adams, embittered by his loss to Andrew Jackson, boycotted his successor's inauguration, just as his father John Adams had done (the only two presidents ever to do so). Rather than retire, the sixty-two-year-old former president, U.S. senator, secretary of state, and Harvard professor was elected by his Massachusetts friends and neighbors to the House of Representatives to throw off the "incubus of Jacksonianism." It was the opening chapter in what was arguably the most remarkable post-presidency in American history.

In this engaging biography, historian Joseph Wheelan describes Adams's battles against the House Gag Rule that banished abolition petitions; the removal of Eastern Indian tribes; and the annexation of slave-holding Texas, while recounting his efforts to establish the Smithsonian Institution. As a "man of the whole country," Adams was not bound by political party, yet was reelected to the House eight times before collapsing at his "post of duty" on February 21, 1848, and then dying in the House Speaker's office. His funeral evoked the greatest public outpouring since Benjamin Franklin's death.

Mr. Adams's Last Crusade will enlighten and delight anyone interested in American history.

Genres: History, Biography, Presidents, American History, Nonfiction, Politics, Us Presidents

336 pages, Paperback

First published January 8, 2008

Reviews

[Mahlon · Rating 4 out of 5]

For 35 years, John Quincy Adams served his country selflessly in several capacities including, Diplomat, Senator, Secertary of State, and 6th President of the U.S. The consensus among historians seems to be that Adams' one-term in office was a failure, largely due to his perceived "corrupt bargain" with Henry Clay. He left office isolated and unpopular. He could have easily retired to Massachusetts and lived out his life as a gentleman farmer. Thankfully for us, he decided to heed the call of his friends and neighbors and enter the House of Representatives. At 64, he was the oldest of 89 Freshman when he began serving in 1831. He died in his seat in 1848. It's these 17 years that are subject of Mr. Adams Last Crusade. Joseph Wheelan uses Adams' career as a jumping off point to discuss the entire Jacksonian Age, illuminating many of the critical flash points faced by politicians of this era. These included Slavery, Nullification, Indian removal and treatment, the Annexation of Texas and War with Mexico,and the settlement of the Oregon Territory. On most of these issues Adams led the principled opposition, regularly infuriating his southern counterparts. In addition he also chaired the committee in charge of spending James Smithson's $500,000 bequest. Thanks to Adams' recommendations and tireless championing The Smithsonian Institution was founded in 1846.

One wonders how he ever found the time to consult on the Amistad case. This book contains the clearest synopsis of the issues involved in the case that I've read.

When he died in 1848 at age 80, he was mourned by supporters and opponents alike, many considered him to be the greatest man of the age, and that's saying a lot considering who his contemporaries were.

I've read many Biographies of Presidents and Politicians, and this well written, informative gem ranks right up there near the top. It's my hope that it does for JQA what Mccollugh's Biography did for his father. Wheelan is slightly repetitive at times, but you'll barely notice as you are swept away by his engaging narrative.

[Alan Tomkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent. Highest recommendation.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I read John Adams and then watched the marvelous HBO mini-series based on it (twice, the second time with the kids of course), and in each case came away with a bit of curiosity about Adams' oldest son. That would be John Quincy Adams, America's sixth president and second one-termer – just like his dad! Mr. Adams' Last Crusade is sort of a Cliff's Notes bio of JQA; it blitzes through his rise to and through the presidency in the first 80 pages (well-trod material, that), and then settles into an easy early-19th century groove, glossing the tensions arising from slavery in the 1830's and 1840's, with a bit of Smithsonian history thrown in for good measure.

Wheelan paints a portrait of John Quincy Adams as a man born and groomed in the image of his father: a self-important, know-it-all pedant, a man born and groomed to statesmanship who would have preferred a life in letters to the law if his parents had let him get away with it. He was apparently a shrewd and superior diplomat, though why these skills failed to translate into his performance as a senator, president, or member of Congress is unclear. If at all soft-spoken abroad, at home he proved to be a man who in lieu of compromise preferred rubbing his intellect obnoxiously in others' face; someone so arrogant and politically tone-deaf as to name Henry Clay Secretary of State after Clay decisively deferred his own presidential ambitions to Adams' in 1824 despite Clay's prescient and outspoken concerns that such a nomination would lend credence to charges of their having made a corrupt bargain; a man who preferred hectoring fellow members of Congress and playing with parliamentary rules to consensus building or even momentarily contemplating partisan gambits to effect desired policy. (Heaven forfend his ego should permit him to stoop so low.)

The passage that I think best exemplifies Adams as a big, lovable dork appears at p. 47, with Adams' pathetic performance of mundane presidential duty:

At a Baltimore banquet to commemorate the city's repulse of the British during the War of 1812, Adams offered a toast to "Ebony and Topaz – General Ross' posthumous coat of arms, and the republican militiamen who gave it." Observing the confusion on his listeners' faces, the president attempted to explain that the allusion was to a Voltaire story, "Le Blanc et le Noir," …{but e}vidently no one had read Voltaire's depiction of Ebony as the spirit of evil, and Topaz as the good spirit, transmogrified in Adams's toast to General Robert Ross, whose coat of arms was embellished by the king after Ross's death outside Baltimore, and the "good" American militia.... Yet, at small dinner parties he could be surprisingly animated and urbane, and when he wished, he could impress his guests with his stories and his knowledge of wines.

Wines?! Small wonder Americans threw him over for the fascist Indian-killer, Andrew Jackson. Among other things, Tennessee's stonewall was a whiskey man.*

Still, you could argue that Adams was but a byproduct of his upbringing. John and Abigail do not hesitate to remind young John Quincy of the unique networking and educational advantages the elder Adamses offer him by dragging him round the patriot circle in Philadelphia and late 18th century European capitals, nor to threaten him to meet their lofty expectations. Imagine being a teenager away from home and getting letters from Mom telling you she'd rather see you come home in a casket than hear you'd been (even momentarily) an embarrassment. Or as a 15-year-old to be invited by America's new ambassador to Russia to act as secretary/translator, only to get Dad's merely reluctant permission along with a strict admonition not to screw up. Thanks for the vote of confidence, folks.

Why didn't the elder Adamses simply point to Uncle William or brother Charles, each of whom squandered their lives and meager fortunes on alcoholism? Alcoholism and depression ran tragically in each of the Adams-Smith families. Both John Quincy's brothers succumbed to excessive drink as did one of his own sons (George), and John Quincy struggled with periodic bouts of bed-confining melancholy.

So Adams finds himself out of work for the first time in a long time in 1828 after Martin van Buren engineers a hatchet job of an election that ushers in the questionable era of Jacksonian democracy. Fortunately, Adams wasn't forced long to ruminate on the nonleadership he put toward his infrastructure-building presidential agenda. The proud support and appeals to vanity of the residents of Quincy, Massachusetts, overrode the objections of his wife and eldest son to render him the freshman Representative of the 8th District as a sprightly 63 year old, a post he would not relinquish until his death in office (heck, in the very Capitol Building) some 17 years later.

Wheelan's book divides the nearly two decades of Adams' activities as an outspoken burr in the saddle of the slaveholding South into bite-sized, if impersonal chunks. He skillfully summarizes Adams' crusade against the Gag Rule, starting with the abolitionist self-organization that gave rise first to mass antislavery petitions, then the adoption of a standing rule in the House to ignore petitions and petitioners, the attrition of popular tolerance of the Rule, and finally its repeal. He offers up a whole chapter's-worth on the Amistad case, the trial of American-captured mutinous Spanish slaves that ended with Adams' successful Supreme Court defense and some years later, after a barnstorming fundraising tour, their return home to Ghana. However, by contrast with these tidy mini-narratives, Wheelan's consideration of arguments and events leading up to and through the annexation of Texas come across a bit hazier, as is Wheelan's depiction of the gradual evolution of Adams' views on the abolition of slavery.

As I mentioned above, Wheelan also tosses in Adams' 12-year role as steward of the James Smithson bequest. Per Wheelan, Adams was instrumental in protecting the legacy that would lead to the founding of the Smithsonian by way of his absolute refusal to let it be spent on any initiative other than an astronomical observatory (a forward-looking initiative which no one at the time really cared about). Fortunately for the Smithsonian, Adams was persuaded in the 11th hour (well, year) that such an observatory would prove redundant to the Naval Observatory already in place. Unfortunately, Wheelan has nothing to say about Adams' part (did he have any?) in making Congress appropriate funds equivalent to the amounts squandered by investment in worthless state treasury instruments, the Congressional charter itself, or on the founding philosophy and development of the Institution once its establishment was finally secured.

C'est la. I found this book to be a diverting read, and one which fully satisfied the curiosity sowed by David McCullough and HBO. What's more, I appreciated Wheelan's vivid portrait of Martin van Buren as a master Machiavellian and chief Adams antagonist. However, it's ridiculous to compare Wheelan's and McCullough's work. Wheelan lacks McCullough's depth, sweep, and vision; his work – like this review – is more akin to Wikipedia's JQA article. There's little here on Adams' friends and family, on his home life, or much context outside of the content I have summarized. So notwithstanding that I enjoyed the book, I would have to assume that there are other works which more fully capture John Quincy Adams, the people, and the times of the 1830's and 1840's. If you come across one you really like, please let me know.



(*N.B. - Not Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, though for all I know he was a whiskey drinker, too. Just one on the wrong side of history. I wouldn't have put him on the twenty dollar bill either.)

[Priscilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book i learned so much about our 6th president a wonderful person courageously stood up for human rights in a dark time in history from his all-consuming fight to end slavery in America then his efforts to save the native Americans from being robbed of there land and his wish for rights for women... This book is well written and researched 😊 highly recommend

[Kusaimamekirai · Rating 5 out of 5]

　　
“I leave nothing to live after me but aims beyond my means, and principles too pure for the age in which I have lived.”-John Quincy Adams.

It was perhaps 5 or 6 years ago. I was having dinner with a friend, and we got to discussing a famous entertainer at the time who was in the process of being excoriated and blackballed from public life for cheating on her husband. I felt that men (especially here in Japan) are rarely treated this way for their own affairs, some even joke about them on tv, and that the treatment she was receiving (mostly from men) was incredibly hypocritical and unjust. My friend paused for a moment, seemingly upset, and said to me, “正義的すぎる”.
In English, “Your sense of justice is too much”
While I won’t pretend that I don’t linger on incidents where myself or others are wronged, I feel like I have nothing on John Quincy Adams.
Adams was perhaps the most obsessive historical figure I can think of (John Brown?), certainly among the presidents, about injustice toward his fellow man.
For many, Adams was the last link via his father to the revolutionary generation of Washington and Jefferson, and after a spectacularly unsuccessful one term presidency where he refused to campaign (unlike the shameless Andrew Jackson) or purge his administration of people hostile to him because he didn’t believe presidents should do that, Adams thought he was an anachronism whose political career had come to an end in his early 60’s.
It wasn’t long however before Adams found himself being recruited for an open House seat in his home state of Massachusetts. Never a particularly energetic or willing campaigner and resigned to being at the end of his productiveness in life, Adams gave a great deal of thought as to whether he wanted to resume his political career. Stories such as this one from his failed run at a 2nd presidential term sum him up fairly well:

“Crowds that gathered to see Adams were told to go home and ‘attend to their private duties.’ When a throng greeted him at a Philadelphia pier in October 1827, giving three hearty cheers in the hope that he would make an extemporaneous speech, Adams described how he ‘returned their salutation by a bow, waving the hand, and saying, ‘God Bless you all!’. There was not the slightest disorder’. Indeed, there was not; the disappointed crowd dispersed.”

Despite his lack of charisma or willingness to lower himself to trying to win votes, Adams in fact become the congressman from Massachusetts and in turn, the first (and only) former President to become a congressman.
Unlike the presidency however, all of the intransigence and righteousness that was seemingly a hindrance to him, would become an asset in the House where he was responsible to no-one other than his constituents and could more or less speak his mind.
And speak his mind he did.
Always opposed to slavery but never vocal about it other than in his diaries, Adams found his voice in the House where despite a gag rule instituted by Southern congressman that prevented discussion of slavery, Adams would find increasingly creative ways to bring anti-slavery petitions to the floor and discussing them in the bluntest and most eloquent terms possible. Often this would involve a needling of his Southern colleagues right in the spot where he knew it would rile them up the most. Such as when on the floor of the House when a Southern congressmen refused to hear the petitions of 9 slave woman he described as ‘infamous’. The author writes:

“A month after the battle over the women’s petitions, Adams escalated his one-man insurgency and was nearly censured. He first introduced a petition by nine free black women from Fredericksburg, Virginia. When Congressman John Patton of Virginia venomously characterized them as being of ‘notoriously infamous character and reputation’, Adams wryly wondered how Patton came by that information.”

Adams would add:

“There existed great resemblances between the progeny of the colored people and the white men who claim possession of them. In fact, if a slave woman was described as ‘infamous’, might not the slave’s owner be infamous, too?”

Chaos on the floor of the house predictably ensued, not for the first or last time because of him.

While Adams was indisputably a hero for younger abolitionists who took up the fight under his banner, Adams was also a passionate defender of women’s rights and an outspoken critic of the forced relocation of Native Americans as well.
For me, it is not only Adams progressive social views which were well ahead of their time that are to be admired. He is also a wonderful example that even in the twilight of our lives, when we think that our lives have run their course and that we have already done everything meaningful or worthwhile that we will ever do, there is always the possibility of a second or third act that can take us to even greater heights for ourselves and the world around us.

[Chris Chester · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy catalog of what still has to be the greatest second act in the storied history of American politics.

John Quincy Adams routinely ranks in the bottom third of American presidents -- and for good reason. A one-termer, his principled approach to politics was out of step with the barbed party system emerging in his day. He refused to make decisions that would have been in his own best interest politically. He eschewed the prevailing ideas of political patronage around which most political organizing is built. He was unable or unwilling to speak even the small mistruths that characterize the positions of power he occupied.

Wheelan covers these failures, along with a brief biography of Adams' early life and career in the first 20% or so of this book.

Instead he focuses on Adams' long Congressional career -- that piece of his life so often ignored by aforementioned rankers of presidents.

Where his principles acted to his detriment in the White House, they worked swimmingly for him in the House of Representatives. Feeling even from the moment he was first elected that his time there was short, he approached Congress like a man with nothing to lose. And carrying as he did the cache of a former president and a son of the American Revolution, he cast a long shadow that protected him in many ways.

And he used that position of privilege to wage a series of fights the legacy of which we still feel today. He repudiated the American government's positions on the removal of Native Americans. He advocated for the political rights of women in an age when suffrage wasn't even on the table yet. He was an ardent defender of the first amendment -- not just the provision for free speech but for the right to petition, often introducing petitions he strongly disagreed with for the sake of challenging lawmakers who would squash that right.

And most importantly, he was one of the most powerful opponents of slavery in Congress in that era. He worked with northern abolitionists to introduce hundreds of petitions on the floor of Congress. He introduced constitutional amendments to get rid of the three-fifths compromise and to expand birthright citizenship to all. He called for slavery to be abolished in the District of Columbia. He sought to bar any new slave states from entering the union -- most vehemently Texas.

(I actually made the decision to read this book after being impressed by Adams' character in The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War, where he features prominently.)

To me almost as important is the fact that he didn't start his Congressional career holding those positions, but assumed them over time as a matter of conscience. It's a far different kind of political "evolution" than the kind we see today, where politicians trim their sails almost exclusively to catch the prevailing winds during an election, before reverting back to their default mode of self-interest and nihilism.

In the end, I just find his story charming. I like men of principle who are willing to stand alone to defend what they think is right. I prefer someone who will openly go to war for what they believe in instead of maneuvering in the shadows. It doesn't make for the most effective politician, certainly, but it makes for a better person.

If I have any quibbles with Wheelan's book as it's constructed, I do wish there was more of Adams' own words. I know the diction of men of that time is not incredibly legible, but it's weird to read so much ABOUT Adams' barbed tongue without actually getting to see very much evidence of it. Still, I flew through this book in a week and I only want to learn more about the man, which is a credit to both his writing and his scholarship.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

Any time a biographical book aims to focus on one particular period of a person's life, you're either going to get a deep dive with a detailed narrative and insightful analysis of the period, or an efficient, easy read that focuses on the period that the author finds most interesting so you don't have to bother with the dull parts of a full biography.

This book is the latter. It focuses on John Quincy Adams's post-presidential service in Congress, arguably the most celebrated and successful stage of his life and career. It's a pretty quick read, well-told but not too deep, relating events somewhat straightforwardly. Episodes like the Amistad case and the effort to censure Adams are both described in the book as public "sensations," but are recounted more matter-of-factly than particularly dramatically.

The book was written in 2008, before the spate of recent JQA biographies. So it may have been true at the time, when Wheelan wrote his author's note, that in "books on the second Adams... his congressional career is usually presented as an afterthought." But that's not true anymore. When you subtract the first three chapters that summarize Adams's pre-congressional life and career, and account for the larger type and wider margins, this book devotes just as much time to Adams's service in Congress as the final third of James Traub's excellent full biography "John Quincy Adams: Militant Spirit," which recounts the same events but with much more dramatic flair and insightful commentary.

For those interested in learning a little more about John Quincy Adams and the early debates over slavery that ultimately led to secession and civil war, this book does the job in a decent, efficient way. But for those who have read, or want to read, about his full life, this book doesn't add much to what a good thorough biography of Adams will already have to offer.

[Bob Barker · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the funniest books I’ve read. JQA at his best on the House Floor wailing away at the bigots from the South. His sarcasm, wit and brains were too much for slavery lovers to handle. Worth every second I spent reading.

[Dale · Rating 5 out of 5]

bI have found a new hero from history

I've known about John Quincy Adams's post-Presidential career ever since I read Profiles In Courage by JFK many, many years ago. However, what I most remember about that description of him was that that he argued against slavery in the Congress when he could have just coasted along in a comfortable poltical semi-retirement.

Joseph Wheelan does us all a favor by elaborating on John Quincy Adams's amazing career in this well-written, informative book. Wheelan briefly covers John Quincy Adams's early career in the first 65 pages. As a teenager, John Qincy Adams was an assistant to his father while he was an ambassador to Europe during the Revolutionary War. He served as ambassador to several European countries after the War and also as Secretary of State (the Monroe Doctrine is as much his as Monroe's) and finally President.

Oddly enough, that amazing career was only a prelude to his final post - Representative from Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress. He reports to Congress at age 64. Adams was vaguely opposed to slavery but was very much in favor of the rights to free speech and petition. The Congress was avoiding any discussion of the topic of slavery, including ignoring all petitions to end slavery in Washington, D.C. (Congress administers the District of Columbia so it could have outlawed slavery within it by simple passage of a law).

Adams was indignant that a basic part of the Bill of Rights was being ignored so he began to...

Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2010/...

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Preliminary review:)

A quick, excellent read about JQA's congressional years, a perfect companion piece to Harlow Giles Unger's biography of John Quincy Adams.

[Russ Grossman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 13 of my Presidential biographies challenge - I've been supplementing the main biography with others that I think will fill in missing gaps. While my main JQA biography covered his post-presidential career, this one definitely went into it with greater depth. Wheelan does a superb job of catching us up to the beginning of Adams's tenure in the House of Representatives. All of the key points were explored with vigor - opposing slavery, trying to overturn the Gag Rule, the Amistad case, and trying to prevent Texas from being admitted as a slave state. Some of these Adams was able to accomplish, others not, but throughout, he maintained his honor and integrity, and garnered the respect and admiration of his peers. Wheelan describes the emotional outpouring from the country upon his death as similar to Washington before him and Lincoln after. It's unfortunate that JQA is ranked near the bottom for his presidency alone, when his entire life is a masterpiece worth recognition. When he died clutching his desk in the House, I almost cried like the rest of America. Highly recommended!

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the whole, a fairly decent book with a compelling argument for why John Quincy Adams should be remembered. It has a concise biographical resume for JQA's life up through his presidency, and then settles in for the main thesis: the look at his life post-presidency, particularly his work in Congress.

An otherwise well-written book, it is weakened by its jumps around in time (sometimes paragraph to paragraph) and the author's habit of repeating some of his facts and points, sometimes multiple times. In a longer book, one might not notice, but this one is only 309 pages including the footnotes, et al, and so the repetition is annoying and unnecessary. The epilogue is particularly guilty of said repetition, transforming what should be the crowning moment of the book into something more reminiscent of a high school essay.

This book could have easily been 4 stars with a better editor. However, it was still worth the read, and far better than the last biography of JQA that I read.

[Ray Almeida · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an amazing addition for anyone who enjoys American history. I previously read about John Quincy Adam's father, John Adams, and was deeply impressed. And so this book is an enthralling continuation of the events that follow.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear of how active and successful Adams was past his underappreciated presidency. His skill for extemporaneous speech and picture perfect memory in recalling events is inspiring for any young American who desires to be set apart from his peers. Adam's excellent defenses for the right to petition, in tandem with his battles against slavery were truly venerable, despite Adam's advanced age. Reading this book was a wonderful experience. It was as if I was reading about a loved one's life ambitions throughout life, and ending upon their imminent departure from earth. I cannot do the book justice with my feeble recollection. I can only say that I highly recommend this book to any American who enjoys history to any extent.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent biography of John Quincy Adams. Wheelan covers his brilliant carrier as a diplomat and statesman and his failed single term Presidency. But he concentrates on Quincy’s years of service to the nation as a member of congress over many decades. I had read two biographies of Quincy Adams that focused on his earlier career and Presidency, but I now have a different view of Quincy Adams.

He almost single-handedly led the struggle against slavery in the House. He tirelessly challenged the southern and northern democrat House member. He was rewarded with a gag order in the House and was nearly censured. He accomplished this with little support initially.

He was a great American.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good read focusing on John Quincy Adams' Congressional career in the 1830s and 1840s. The writing flowed well and was accessible, though it was made for somebody who already knew a bit about JQA and his career, since it sped through everything except his time in Congress in about 50 pages.

I liked the in depth look at his time in Congress and the actions he took then. I especially liked the more thorough look at his fight over the right to petition Congress, and the types of petitions he presented (and tried to present), as well as ways that he baited traps to find ways to keeping harping on the subject.

[Jeremy Perron · Rating 4 out of 5]

As explained by the title, Joseph Wheelan's book covers the second President Adams' career as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives. Most presidents who have served in the House of Representatives did so at an earlier stage in their careers. (Examples: James Madison, John F. Kennedy, and George H.W. Bush.) Their House membership was a stepping-stone on the way to bigger and better things. John Quincy Adams however became a member of House after he was President of the United States. While many see this as a huge demotion, Wheelan explains that in many ways Adams was freer than ever to conduct himself in the manner that he thought a statesman should act: on principle not politics.

"Besides being arguably Congress's most learned member--and undoubtedly the oldest--Adams was also one of the most resilient and hard-working of the representatives, often the first to take his seat and the last to leave. When the House recessed for dinner and then resumed work that continued into the night, Adams found it agreeable to spend the hour, while his colleagues dined at their lodgings, in a House conference room, writing letters while consuming five or six small crackers and a glass or water. `I am calm and composed for the evening session, and far better prepared for taking part in any debate than after the most temperate dinner at home or abroad."(p.137)

Congressman Adams had strong beliefs and he would stand up for what was right not what was popular. Despite this he never challenged slavery, until slavery challenged him. He might not have turned it into his private war if it had not been for the South's foolish attempts to shut down even the discussion of slavery. In his battle against the gag rule Adams became the defender of many unpopular causes.

"Adams had become the de facto chief spokesman for many of those denied a voice in government--abolitionists silenced by the Gag Rule, slaves, Indians, and finally, women. One may ask why Adams took on this role, but a better question is, Why did he have no company? Almost alone among his fellow congressmen, all a generation his junior or more, Adams believed in and upheld the principles of the Founding Fathers embodied in the individual liberties of the Constitution and the Bill or Rights, in the soaring words of the Declaration of Independence, and in the antiquated ethic, which went by the board with his father's defeat in 1800, of nonpartisanship and selfless public service." (p.150)

Adams even became a defender of women's involvement in political life. Although not a suffragist, he fought for the basic human right to speak and be heard. The women that he was defending were members of the abolitionist movement. Their participation in this movement would later lead to the beginnings of the suffragist movement.

"Congressman Benjamin Howard of Maryland aroused Adams's indignation by declaring that women did not belong in `the fierce struggles of political life,' but in the home. Adams had provoked Howard's assertion by presenting a petition signed by women opposed to annexing Texas. Before Adams had finished responding to Howard's pronouncement, Howard must have wished that he had not said anything at all." (p.150-1)

One of the most famous of cases that was argued by Adams was in defense of the African prisoners of the Amistad who had rioted in their cause for freedom. Adams was originally unsure whether or not he should even do it for he had not argued in front of the Supreme Court in decades. He nevertheless proved victorious and the captured Africans went free.

"Adams, arguably the greatest American secretary of state, scorned Forsyth's eagerness to cooperate with Spain's `inadmissible and insolent demands. His voice dripping with sarcasm, Adams said the Spanish minister wished the president to use `absolute fiat' to pluck the Africans from the courts and sent them to Cuba. `Is the Khan of Tartary possessed of a power to meet demands like these? I know not where on the globe we should look for any such authority, unless it be with the Governor General of Cuba with respect to negroes.'" (p.181)

"Adams asked the justices to imagine that the Amistad was an American vessel with a cargo of African slaves that had tied up at a U.S. port. `The captain would be seized, tried as a pirate and hung! And every person concerned, either as owners or on board the ship would be severely punished.'" (p.182)

The passion that John Quincy Adams had for the causes that he felt were in the right impressed even some of his enemies. It kind of reminds me of Pope Sixtus V wishing that Queen Elizabeth I was a Catholic queen.

"Even Adams's Southern adversaries grudgingly professed admiration for his intellectual and rhetorical gifts. `They call Adams a man of one idea,' South Carolina Congressman Isaac Holmes was heart to say, `but I tell you what it is, he has got more ideas than all of us put together.' South Carolina Congressman Francis Pickens remarked, `Well that is the most extraordinary man on God's footstool.' Even Marshall, badly mauled by Adams rhetorical onslaught, granted that if somehow Adams could be removed or silenced on the subject of slavery, `none other, I believe, could be found hardy enough, or bad enough, to fill his place." (p.201)

In the my review of the pervious book I had read on Mr. Adams, I stated that presidents were always incredible statesmen but they were not always successful as president. John Quincy Adams' time as president was a failure but this book will show you that John Quincy Adams' career was a success.

[David Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Quincy Adams is the only subject for whom I have read two biographies. What is interesting about John Quincy Adams is that his four years as president is the least remarkable of his long political career. Even though he was eminently prepared to become president he was awfully bad at it. Yet, his greatest accomplishment may have been his third act as a U.S. Representative. John Quincy Adams single handedly pushed the issue of slavery to the forefront and forced Congress to debate it, much to the chagrin of southern politicians.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Quincy Adams is what of my favorite people to read about in history. While he might not have had the most successful presidency, his personal honor and adherence to his principles makes him a person to admire and respect. This book looks mainly at his post presidency and work fighting slavery as a member of the House of Representatives. I really enjoyed the read and while I would have liked a bit more on his family experiences during this time period, I learned a lot.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gained a great appreciation for JQA, his principles, his willingness to literally wear his life out in the service of his country. Very engagingly told, too. Some of the writing was weak (sentences I had to parse very carefully, a couple of words I couldn't find in any dictionary, some repetition, some jumping around in time). Nevertheless, it was hard to put down. Highly recommended!

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was on the fence about whether to rate this book 3 or 4 stars. Its good but not great. Nonetheless for what its trying to do, it succeeds really well and it its more readable and enjoyable than Leonard Richards' book on the same topic. There's good anecdotes about Adams and the Early Republic and Wheelan majors on whats importane. Its a good read on an interesting subject.

[W Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book that closely examines the post-presidency of John Quincy Adams. Well researched, the author makes the case that Adams’s greatest service to his country came during the 17 years he served in the US House of Representatives.

[Madeleine Liu · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good biography. Interesting titbits and quotations! Perhaps one too many passages eulogizing the man while he is still living—I mean, entirely commentary and filler from Wheelan that's just "wow... what an old, brave, stoic man." We get it!

[Amy Pizzarello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not an easy read for me, but the history is well worth the effort. A fascinating and inspiring story.

[Caroline B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very succinct overview of JQA, I personally would have enjoyed more focus on the presidency years. The book is not referenced, so I had to do my own fact checking

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://bestpresidentialbios.com/2013/...

“Mr. Adams’s Last Crusade: John Quincy Adams’s Extraordinary Post-Presidential Life in Congress” is author Joseph Wheelan’s 2008 biography of our sixth president. Wheelan, an Associated Press reporter for over two decades, is the author of six books including two on Thomas Jefferson.

Unlike most John Quincy Adams biographies, Wheelan focuses not on Adams’s unsuccessful term as president but, instead, on his unique and remarkably successful post-presidential career in Congress. Most authors have chosen the more natural story – focusing on his precocious youth and his productive years as a public servant leading to his one term as president. Wheelan chose to focus on possibly the more compelling, and interesting, storyline.

While previous presidents retired to lives of farming and philosophizing, John Quincy Adams was convinced by his Massachusetts neighbors to run for a seat in Congress following his departure from the White House (much to the chagrin of his family). What he assumed would be a short-lived stint in the House – and a chance to regain his good standing and reputation – resulted in an unprecedented, and still unmatched, record of public service following his service as president.

Despite the book’s almost exclusive focus on JQA’s final two decades of life and public service, the author does endeavor to familiarize the reader with Adams’s first sixty-two years in order to set the background and provide historical context. Wheelan does this with perhaps too much efficiency, covering Adams’s life up through his time as secretary of state in fewer than forty pages. Adams’s presidency is handled in only twenty or so pages. The remaining 80% of the book is devoted to his post-presidential public (but not private) life.

Wheelan does a nice job writing the book in “plain English,” devoid of fancy words and complex sentence structures. He efficiently summarizes complex historical events, making them both interesting and comprehensible to even a casual reader. Well-described are Adams’s key projects during his time in Congress including removing the Gag Rule and ensuring the right of petition (particularly as it concerned slavery) and establishing the Smithsonian Institution. During these years, Adams also agreed to argue the Amistad case before the Supreme Court. His efforts in this case were successful, and Wheelan’s summary of the case was the sharpest and clearest I’ve read.

What this biography does not accomplish is clear from its title: it is not a comprehensive recounting of Adams’s life; it does not examine or diagnose his failed presidency (not in detail, anyway). For the most part, the book does not explore his personal life including his relationship with his parents, his wife or his children. These facets of his life are touched upon, so as not to be ignored, but not dealt with in any real detail. As a result, the reader comes away with a fuller appreciation (and respect) for Adams’s post-presidential public life, but no real sense of who he was as a private person.

Strictly judged as a presidential biography, Wheelan’s book is somewhat lacking. But as a examination of Adams’s final years, a time when he sought and largely received redemption in the eyes of his contemporaries (if not history), this book is highly successful. In hindsight, I cannot imagine really understanding John Quincy Adams without having read “Mr. Adams’s Last Crusade.”

Overall Rating: 4 stars

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Quincy Adams “had demonstrated a rare willingness for someone of his years to challenge his own assumptions and fixed opinions about slavery and then to make a last, great ideological leap to an abolition position. It had been a long journey spanning decades—one that began in obliviousness and then progressed to a dawning awareness of the implications of the 1820 Missouri Compromise; thence to a moral revulsion tempered by fears that pushing too hard for abolition might shatter the Union; and finally, to a conviction that civil war was inevitable, with the alternative being a surrender of constitutional liberties to the South… [I]t was Adams who took risks by choosing to steer by his moral principles.”

That excerpt captures the essences of Joseph Wheelan’s fine historical biography of John Quincy Adams’s post-presidential career as a member of the House of Representatives. A failed president who, drafted into Congress by constituents in his district, Adams evolved to become the leading antebellum anti-slavery advocate in the federal government. Adams waged a courageous, multi-decade crusade against slavery, the end of which he predicted—even to the point of envisaging a future U.S. President’s use of constitutional war powers to emancipate slaves—but, sadly, didn’t live long enough to witness the War that heralded its passing.

There are other nuggets contained in this short volume—for example, Adams’s crucial role in ensuring the establishment of the Smithsonian Institution—but its focus remains on Adams’s antislavery work, ranging from his forceful representation of the Amistad mutineers before the Supreme Court to his successful campaign to end the “Gag rule” that suppressed the First Amendment right to petition Congress against slavery.

This book is an informative and easy read. In the end, I can’t help but think that John Quincy Adams’s father, President John Adams, would have been proud.

[Nathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

If John Quincy Adam's Presidency was marked by the less-than-engrossing minutiae of internal improvements and infrastructure development, his post-presidential career makes up for it. The first 3 quarters of Wheelan's book are unfortunately entangled in the rather mundane and confusing details of a man navigating a new and complicated life in politicking. It's difficult and tedious work keeping up with this section of the narrative; there is little clarity or humanity given to the characters involved, not least Adams himself. His pugnacity seems
mere ill-will; the weighty issues at hand seem arcane and irrelevant. The lighter side of Adams's personal life is rather more deftly handled, as we catch a glimpse of his deep and enduring interests in science and literature, in poetry and moral philosophy.

Then, abruptly: slavery. The issue explodes on the scene, propelling both Adam's and the pace of the book into high gear. Formerly an accommodationist, Adams is transformed, seemingly overnight, into a fiery abolitionist warrior. His Congressional campaign, tireless yet dogged by a repressive congress and the mounting effects of old age, is a thrilling story. The last section of this narrative is almost a new book- far outstripping the first in energy, importance and readability.

Wheelan could have used an editor, but his story, when he finally gets around to it, is well worth telling.

[Iowa City Public Library]

John Quincy Adams was destined to be president. The son of a founding father /president, an experience diplomat, a successful Secretary of State, and a man full of ambitious ideas for America, Adams was extremely qualified for the job. Unfortunately, his presidency is viewed as an utter failure, the victim of partisan politics (as well as the fact that he didn’t win either the popular or electoral vote…but no one did in the 1824 election).

However, he was able to make it all up during his post-presidency, which is the focus of Joseph Wheeler’s Mr. Adams’s Last Crusade. It’s an interesting read that covers Adams’s seventeen-year term in the US House of Representatives and his fight against censorship and the expansion of slavery into US territories. A vocal critic of the Jackson and Van Buren presidencies, Adams sought to protect the Constitution from expanding presidential power. On top of his moral crusades, he also argued the Amistad case in front of the US Supreme Court, as well as had a large hand in creating the Smithsonian Institution. If you enjoy biographies, politics, and/or American history, I highly recommend Mr. Adams’s Last Crusade. --Anne

From ICPL Staff Picks Blog

[Pete Iseppi · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Quincy Adams was an amazing man. Considered by most to be a failure as our sixth President(and son of our second President) he refused to withdraw from the service of his country, and served as a congress man for 17 years after his presidency. He is the only ex-president to serve in Congress. And serve he did. An ardent abolitionist, Adams was a thorn (a very sharp thorn) in the side of the southern states, constantly badgering about the "peculiar institution", slavery.
For over eight years, Adams battled in Congress to overturn the "gag rule" the the Southern Congressmen had passed, so that issues regarding the abolition of slavery could not be brought to the floor and debated. Adams was also the Chairman of the committee that received and allocated the funds willed to the United States by James Smithson. These funds were the seed money that launched the Smithsonian Institution. John Quincy Adams served his country for 50 years.
A tablet in the church where Adams is buried, contains two lines (of the several inscribed) that accurately summarize his life:

"A son, worthy of his Father
A Citizen shedding glory on his Country"

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you learned about John Quincy Adams in history class at all, it was probably in the context of his one-term presidency, the Corrupt Bargain, and his much more famous father. But it turns out Adams had a pretty distinguished post-presidential career in the House of Representatives. This book chronicles that career, including Adams' staunch opposition to slavery, his sponsorship of the Smithsonian Institute, and his attempts to get native people better treatment.

I really like the Adams clan (especially Abigail), and this book gave me a whole new appreciation for this one. Adams, it turns out, never really stopped working, and indeed actually died at work. He did his best, and while he was pretty anti-populist, he was on the right side of history for most of his work. The actual writing of the book could use some work; I had trouble following the timeline sometimes, and the author repeated himself a lot. But I still enjoyed learning more about John Quincy Adams and his neverending fight for... well, justice. And also his fight for fuck Andrew Jackson. But I sympathize with him on that one. Fuck Andrew Jackson.