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John Quincy Adams #1
John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy
good condition given the age
588 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1949
2 people are currently reading
381 people want to read
About the author
Samuel Flagg Bemis
59 books2 followersSamuel Flagg Bemis was an American historian and biographer. He earned a bachelor's and master's degree at Clark University, and a second master's and a doctorate at Harvard University. He taught at several post-secondary institutions, including Colorado College, Whitman College, George Washington University, and Yale University, where he was Sterling Professor of Diplomatic History and Inter-American Relations. He was also President of the American Historical Association and a specialist in American diplomatic history.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 6, 2016
Holding off on a full review upon reading volume 2. A few things I don't want to forget:
- Adams writing and researching a book on weights and measures
- Adams trumping Jefferson and Madison in shaping Monroe's views in the eventual Monroe Doctrine
- Adams shifting his viewpoints based on changes in circumstances (and public opinion)
- Adams writing an entire book to bury a political opponent who faked a copy of a letter from their time together negotiating the Treaty of Ghent
- Adams efforts on shaping all of the country's borders
- Adams writing and researching a book on weights and measures
- Adams trumping Jefferson and Madison in shaping Monroe's views in the eventual Monroe Doctrine
- Adams shifting his viewpoints based on changes in circumstances (and public opinion)
- Adams writing an entire book to bury a political opponent who faked a copy of a letter from their time together negotiating the Treaty of Ghent
- Adams efforts on shaping all of the country's borders
October 6, 2016
update: I guess this is a sneaky book, because I'm realizing that I learned A LOT from this. I didn't think so immediately after reading, but I keep coming up on things and thinking "oh, I know this"
This is an extremely detailed synopsis of JQA's foreign policy only. But it says that in the title, so you shouldn't be surprised. I'm super happy to have read it, I wasn't aware that he had such an impact on so many pieces of early U.S. history, and how interconnected all the border issues were.
also, I need to remember the Bemis has the best writing style. Some of his sentences are almost humorous because they're so fancy!
This is an extremely detailed synopsis of JQA's foreign policy only. But it says that in the title, so you shouldn't be surprised. I'm super happy to have read it, I wasn't aware that he had such an impact on so many pieces of early U.S. history, and how interconnected all the border issues were.
also, I need to remember the Bemis has the best writing style. Some of his sentences are almost humorous because they're so fancy!
November 2, 2021
I originally became aware of this book from looking through past Pulitzer-winning biographies, and coming out of David McCullough's John Adams rather curious about JQA. I was somewhat concerned by the reviews on how dense it was, but found that I very much enjoy the discussions on foreign and national policy, as well as diplomacy and negotiations. Throughout the book, one gets little snippets of how Adams acted or short anecdotes, but the reader is primarily acquainted with JQA through his political stances and meditations on government. I enjoyed this book more than I expected, and it makes me want to read books of similar depth and density so as to have a better understanding of the underlying politics and power plays going on throughout history, as well as a picture of lesser known figures that most histories don't have the time to mention. Would recommend for anyone curious about political machinations or, in particular, the tentative relationship between the United States and Europe after the Revolution.
January 23, 2018
On December 2, 1823, President Monroe delivered to Congress an address containing three foreign policy principles which later came to be called the Monroe Doctrine. The President and his advisors believed this mere enunciation of principle would ward off European incursions in the New World under the aegis of the Holy Alliance which could be to the detriment of the United States. Since its enunciation, this Doctrine has been a key element in U.S. foreign relations. An examination of its origins should be useful to the student of policy.
President Monroe's address mentioned foreign policy issues in two distinct sections. The first section stated that European powers would no longer be allowed to establish colonies on the American continent. The above works are unanimous in their agreement that John Quincy Adams, at the time Monroe's Secretary of State, was the author of this Principle of Non-Colonization. With regard to the second foreign policy section of President Monroe's speech, there is no such unanimity as to origins.
In this second section Monroe enunciated two reciprocal aspects of the Doctrine of Two Spheres. These are the principles commonly known of as Abstention and Hands Off the New World. Abstention was the official restatement of the standing American policy of remaining free from involvement in European conflicts, in this case the conflicts referred to are those occasioned by the wars of the Holy Alliance. Hands Off the New World, potentially the most assertive of the three principles and the most highly contested as to its origins, adds the new demand that European powers not interfere with the concerns of governments in the Western Hemisphere. The Hands Off dictum was occasioned by fears that the Holy Alliance would intervene with military force against the recently independent nations of South America to re-establish divine right monarchies. The
above works constitute the definitive positions taken by historians during the first half of the 20th century on the authorship of these two principles.
Taking full advantage of the Adams papers, Bemis uses letters to and from Adams, as well as Adams's diary, he argues for the more general Adamsonian contribution to the Doctrine of Two Spheres by demonstrating that in Adarns's mind Hands Off was merely another way of formulating Non-Colonization. Bemis is limited to showing this is true with respect to official and private diplomatic correspondence with the British and the Russians. He does not bring any new light on the November cabinet deliberations, however. In this regard he is forced to rely on Adams's memoirs.
Bemis points to the restraining influence of Adams upon Monroe at these meetings, without once referring to the importance of the Jefferson letter in these discussions. Bemis deprecates Jefferson's influence by stressing the fact that Jefferson had urged Monroe to make a joint declaration with Canning - - a declaration which was never made - - and by isolating his consideration of Jefferson at the beginning of his chapter entitled "Monroe's Message" (p. 383). Bemis argues that Adams was not directing Monroe's attention to the advice of Jefferson, as opposed to that of Madison, but rather arguing from his own convictions. Relying on Adams's memoirs, Bemis states that "John Quincy Adams' s views by the force of their reason had prevailed over everybody: over President Monroe, over ex-Presidents Jefferson and Madison, over all his colleagues in the Cabinet, Calhoun, Wirt, and Southard" (p. 390). Though Bemis does not attempt to refute the conclusion that the two former Presidents were the decisive influence in Monroe's decision to go public with a declaration of principle, he minimizes the fact that Adams was extremely unhappy about departing from the channels of private diplomacy.
President Monroe's address mentioned foreign policy issues in two distinct sections. The first section stated that European powers would no longer be allowed to establish colonies on the American continent. The above works are unanimous in their agreement that John Quincy Adams, at the time Monroe's Secretary of State, was the author of this Principle of Non-Colonization. With regard to the second foreign policy section of President Monroe's speech, there is no such unanimity as to origins.
In this second section Monroe enunciated two reciprocal aspects of the Doctrine of Two Spheres. These are the principles commonly known of as Abstention and Hands Off the New World. Abstention was the official restatement of the standing American policy of remaining free from involvement in European conflicts, in this case the conflicts referred to are those occasioned by the wars of the Holy Alliance. Hands Off the New World, potentially the most assertive of the three principles and the most highly contested as to its origins, adds the new demand that European powers not interfere with the concerns of governments in the Western Hemisphere. The Hands Off dictum was occasioned by fears that the Holy Alliance would intervene with military force against the recently independent nations of South America to re-establish divine right monarchies. The
above works constitute the definitive positions taken by historians during the first half of the 20th century on the authorship of these two principles.
Taking full advantage of the Adams papers, Bemis uses letters to and from Adams, as well as Adams's diary, he argues for the more general Adamsonian contribution to the Doctrine of Two Spheres by demonstrating that in Adarns's mind Hands Off was merely another way of formulating Non-Colonization. Bemis is limited to showing this is true with respect to official and private diplomatic correspondence with the British and the Russians. He does not bring any new light on the November cabinet deliberations, however. In this regard he is forced to rely on Adams's memoirs.
Bemis points to the restraining influence of Adams upon Monroe at these meetings, without once referring to the importance of the Jefferson letter in these discussions. Bemis deprecates Jefferson's influence by stressing the fact that Jefferson had urged Monroe to make a joint declaration with Canning - - a declaration which was never made - - and by isolating his consideration of Jefferson at the beginning of his chapter entitled "Monroe's Message" (p. 383). Bemis argues that Adams was not directing Monroe's attention to the advice of Jefferson, as opposed to that of Madison, but rather arguing from his own convictions. Relying on Adams's memoirs, Bemis states that "John Quincy Adams' s views by the force of their reason had prevailed over everybody: over President Monroe, over ex-Presidents Jefferson and Madison, over all his colleagues in the Cabinet, Calhoun, Wirt, and Southard" (p. 390). Though Bemis does not attempt to refute the conclusion that the two former Presidents were the decisive influence in Monroe's decision to go public with a declaration of principle, he minimizes the fact that Adams was extremely unhappy about departing from the channels of private diplomacy.
July 30, 2014
This is a dense read - written much more for a scholarly audience than the casual reader, or even for a devoted history buff. Bemis writes a diplomatic history of John Quincy Adams from birth up to roughly when he became President in 1825. It is a well-researched book, and certainly one to consult if you are interested in researching early American diplomatic history. Bemis describes how Adams consistently fought to protect the rights and integrity of his country - a very daunting task in those years as the U.S. was still weak in terms of world power. One comes away with a good understanding of just how talented Adams was: minister plenipotentiary (basically, Ambassador) to The Netherlands, Russia, France, Portugal, Great Britain, and Germany. Secretary of State, Senator, Congressman, and President. Fluent in English, Russian, French, Latin, Dutch, and German; a high level of competency in Greek and Spanish. WOW!! What a resume. Certainly one of the most qualified men ever to occupy the White House.
But, this book is dry. There is almost no personal side of Adams presented here. This is close to exclusively devoted to his diplomatic adventures, missions, policies, and thoughts. Very little about his wife, almost nothing about his children. And basically nothing about Adams the person. I enjoy reading history more for the personalities than the events because I believe that the personalities make and shape the events. Overall, a good book, but not one that I would recommend to most people to read.
But, this book is dry. There is almost no personal side of Adams presented here. This is close to exclusively devoted to his diplomatic adventures, missions, policies, and thoughts. Very little about his wife, almost nothing about his children. And basically nothing about Adams the person. I enjoy reading history more for the personalities than the events because I believe that the personalities make and shape the events. Overall, a good book, but not one that I would recommend to most people to read.
March 3, 2013
This is not a book for those searching for a casual history of our sixth president. In fact, if you're looking for a work about JQA's four years in office, you should search elsewhere, for this focuses almost exclusively on his years as ambassador to Russia, and later, England, and his seven years as Secretary of State in the Monroe administration. The good: throughout this work, Samuel Flagg Bemis illustrates how Adams' skill in foreign relations charted a course for Western expansion during the early tumultuous years of the 19th century. When Bemis takes a few liberties and indulges his admiration of Adams, he also takes the time to outline exactly how JQA's strategy was a success, and his competitors' were ultimately fruitless. The occasional failure on Adams' part is also explained, giving the book a sense of weight, and not just another blind love letter to a deceased forefather. The bad: despite the thoroughness of Bemis' research, the book tends to plod on after a while, referring constantly (and without reminders) to principles, practices and treaties introduced hundreds of pages earlier. I'm still not sure what the technical definition of Freedom of the Seas is! It's a minor complaint, though, as Adams' statesmanship and finesse with a parade of greedy ambassadors is highlighted for future generations to honor. Bonus: the book won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1950. Not a bad resume.
January 27, 2018
This Pulitzer Prize-winning volume 1 by Bemis covers the life of John Quincy Adams, son of the 2nd U.S. President, John Adams, from his birth to 1848; more extensive coverage of his presidency (1825-1829) will be found in another volume. The first volume details Adams' roles as diplomat, Congressman, U.S. Senator, and Secretary of State.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews