John Quincy Adams

by James Traub

  157“He also thinks: Ibid., May 10, 1808.

  157“a peculiar species: Samuel Eliot Morison, Harrison Gray Otis, 1765–1848: The Urbane Federalist (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1969), 190.

  157“an adder in my path.”: Ibid., 191.

  157“I have felt on this occasion: JQA to William Branch Giles, November 15, 1808, in Writings.

  157In a later letter: JQA to Giles, December 26, 1808, in Writings.

  158leading Republicans visited him: Diaries, September 26, 1808.

  158he admitted, “unhinged”: Ibid., July 10, 1808.

  158Louisa won: Judith S. Graham, Beth Luey, Margaret Hogan, and James C. Taylor, eds., Diary and Autobiographical Writings of Louisa Catherine Adams (Boston: Belknap, 2013), vol. 1, 280.

  158Adams wrote to Louisa: JQA to Louisa Catherine Adams (hereafter LCA), March 5, 1809.

  159“dull and tedious: Diaries, March 2, 1809.

  159Congress repealed the embargo: Adams, History of the United States, vol. 4, 451.

  159On March 6, President Madison: Diaries, March 6, 1809.

  160Now he wrote to Louisa: JQA to LCA, March 9, 1809.

  160Then, on July 4, he attended: Diaries, July 4, 1809.

  160“O it was too hard!”: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 283.

  161“My personal motives: Diaries, July 5, 1809.

  CHAPTER 13: A BULL-DOG AMONG SPANIELS (1809–1812)

  163“We had in half a minute: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to Thomas Boylston Adams (hereafter TBA), September 24, 1809, in Adams Papers Microfilm (APM), Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. All letters cited in this chapter are from APM unless otherwise noted.

  163The British captain demanded: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), September 25, 1809, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.

  163Captain Bickford quickly rigged: Ibid., September 27, 1809.

  163in his journal made a sketch: Ibid., in original, volume 28, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston.

  163“absolutely despaired: JQA to TBA, October 16, 1809.

  164Bickford wanted to turn around: Ibid., November ?, 1809 (no date given).

  164“I cannot but reproach: Ibid., October 16, 1809, and Diaries, October 10–22, 1809.

  164“a stone hole: Judith S. Graham, Beth Luey, Margaret Hogan, and James C. Taylor, eds., Diary and Autobiographical Writings of Louisa Catherine Adams (Boston: Belknap, 2013), vol. 1, 293.

  164On his first day in town: Diaries, October 24, 1809.

  164Louisa wrote to Abigail: Louisa Catherine Adams (hereafter LCA) to Abigail Adams (hereafter AA), October 28, 1809.

  165A lunch “sans ceremonie”: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 303.

  165At the bal masqué d’enfants: Diaries, December 14, 1809.

  165He was a tall, handsome man: Robert Kerr Porter, Traveling Sketches of Sweden and Russia During the Years 1805, 1806, 1807, 1808 (Philadelphia: Hopkins and Earle, 1809), 190.

  165“spirit of benevolence: JQA to TBA, February 14, 1810.

  165described her elegant figure as “lilylike”: Porter, Traveling Sketches, 107.

  165the empress had done her best: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 298.

  165“His Majesty told Mr. A: LCA to AA, June 2, 1810.

  166“He sat in the frivolous assemblies: George Dangerfield, The Era of Good Feelings (London: Methuen, 1953), 7.

  166the so-called Continental System: George C. Daughan, 1812: The Navy’s War (New York: Basic Books, 2011), 10–12.

  166on his passage through Denmark: Diaries, September 19, 1809.

  167Adams pressed on: Ibid., December 27, 1809.

  167Two months later: Ibid., February 27, 1810.

  167“beneath all his natural benevolence: Alan Palmer, Alexander I: Tsar of War and Peace (New York: Harper and Row, 1974), 178–179.

  167In that first winter of 1809–1810: Porter, Traveling Sketches, 23ff.

  167Adams, of course, stayed: Diaries, December 29, 1809.

  168Louisa, who was both mildly: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 308.

  168She wrote desperate-sounding letters to Abigail: LCA to AA, January 7, 1810; February 8, 1810.

  168she wrote to Louisa’s mother: AA to Catherine Johnson, May 4, 1810.

  168she wrote to President Madison: AA to President James Madison, August 1, 1810.

  168Madison wrote back to say: Madison to AA, August 15, 1810.

  168he then wrote directly to Adams: Madison to JQA, October 16, 1810, in Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed., Writings of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Writings) (New York: Macmillan, 1913).

  169The conversation between tsar: Diaries, April 24, 1810.

  169At the ball, Alexander asked: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 316–319.

  170“Any occupation to which: Diaries, July 25, 1810.

  170Perhaps, Adams wrote: JQA to Secretary of State Robert Smith, September 5, 1810, in Writings.

  170“The Emperor Napoleon may do: Diaries, August 6, 1810.

  171“were as strong and fixed: Ibid., October 9, 1810.

  171On December 31, 1810, the emperor: Henry Adams, History of the United States of America During the Administration of James Madison (New York: Antiquarian, 1962), vol. 1, 419–423.

  171“We have a Maitre d’Hotel: Diaries, December 7, 1810.

  172“a call of Providence”: AA to JQA, March 4, 1811.

  172“both parties vie: JA to JQA, March 4, 1811.

  173“I am also, and always: JQA to TBA, April 10, 1811.

  173“Shall you retire: JA to JQA, February 19, 1812.

  173In May 1811 a letter: Diaries, May 23, 1811.

  174St. Petersburg became: Porter, Traveling Sketches, 89ff.

  174the governor of the province offered: Diaries, May 12, 1810.

  174“From my Cabinet windows,”: Ibid., July 13, 1811.

  175“We are daily seeking: JQA to AA, October 25, 1811.

  175He found much to agree: Diaries, April 20, 1812.

  175“but when George was born: JQA to TBA, April 10, 1811.

  175“He comes to me: Diaries, February 9, 1810.

  176who raved about his “capacious mind,”: Mary Cranch to JQA, January 21, 1811.

  176“nothing delicate or effeminate.”: JQA to TBA, September 8, 1810.

  176“I hope to always hear: JQA to George Washington Adams, September 3, 1810.

  176“In the present condition: JQA to AA, January 1, 1812.

  176he wrote that the United States: JQA to JA, October 14, 1811.

  176On a walk in mid-March: Diaries, March 14, 1812.

  177Madison was convinced that Napoleon: Daughan, 1812, 31.

  178he and Louisa received a letter from Abigail: AA to JQA, November 17, 1811.

  178The next few days were almost: Diaries, August 20–September 15, 1812.

  179“My heart is buried: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 359.

  179“usurp the space: Ibid., vol. 1, 367.

  CHAPTER 14: RESTORING THE PEACE OF THE WORLD (1812–1814)

  181“The honor of my country!”: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), October 27, 1812, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.

  181“Occasional War is one: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to Thomas Boylston Adams, August 7, 1813, in APM.

  181“he would assent to nothing: JQA to Secretary of State James Monroe (hereafter JM), December 11, 1812, in Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed., Writings of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Writings) (New York: Macmillan, 1913).

  181In September 1812, Rumiantsev approached: Diaries, September 21, 1812.

  182“has derived much useful: JM to JQA, April 26, 1813, in Writings.

  182“I had a long and very serious: Diaries, January 18, 1813.

  183“The most painful s
truggle,”: Ibid., November 3, 1812.

  183he explained to George: JQA to George Washington Adams (hereafter GWA), September 1, 1811, in Adams Papers Microfilm (hereafter APM), Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston.

  183“it is so obvious: JQA to GWA, September 15, 1811.

  184“we see a tenderness: JQA to GWA, March 7, 1813.

  184“a lassitude which has almost: Diaries, March 8, 1814.

  184“and has acquired so great: Louisa Catherine Adams (hereafter LCA) to Abigail Adams (AA), September 2, 1813, in APM.

  185“I was grieved: AA to LCA, December 6, 1813, in APM.

  186He wrote his father to say: JQA to John Adams, February 17, 1814, in APM.

  186It was here that the social Passion: Diaries, June 22, 1814.

  187Gallatin had been born: Nicholas Dungan, Gallatin: America’s Swiss Founding Father (New York: New York University Press, 2010), 97.

  187“I had several opportunities: JQA to AA, March 30, 1814, in APM.

  187Clay was every inch: Robert Remini, Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union (New York: Norton, 1991).

  188Adams was a man of settled habits: Diaries, July 8, 1814.

  188“Mr. Adams in a very bad: James Gallatin, The Diary of James Gallatin, Secretary to Albert Gallatin, a Great Peace-Maker, 1813–1827 (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1920), 27.

  188Lord Golbourn, the leader: Diaries, August 7, 1814; AA to JM, September 5, 1814.

  189“with the sole view: Writings, vol. 5, 110n.

  189Adams replied indignantly: JQA to JM, September 5, 1814, in Writings.

  189“To condemn vast regions: Diaries, September 1, 1814.

  190“They are certainly not mean: JQA to LCA, September 9, 1814, in Writings.

  190“He is always perfectly: JQA to LCA, September 27, 1814.

  190“the moral and religious duty: Diaries, September 25, 1814.

  191“Almost every thing written: Ibid., September 23, 1814.

  191“they must in the first instance: JQA to William Harris Crawford, October 5, 1814, in Writings.

  191“Never, since the national existence: JQA to LCA, October 4, 1814, in Writings.

  192“I blush to think: LCA to JQA, November 8, 1814, in APM.

  192“If from want of judgement: LCA to JQA, December 6, 1814, in APM.

  192“I am so sick and weary: LCA to JQA, November 22, 1814, in APM.

  192In a famous note, Wellington: Writings, vol. 5, 179n.

  193Liverpool concluded: Daughan, 1812, 357.

  193the British “game of duplicity,”: JQA to LCA, December 13, 1814, in Writings.

  194“walked to and fro: Diaries, December 11, 1814.

  194“I consider the day: JQA to LCA, December 30, 1814, in Writings.

  194The American negotiators parted: Diaries, December 27 and 31, 1814.

  194“You dare not: Ibid., January 6, 1815.

  CHAPTER 15: A CARD OF INVITATION TO A DRESS PARTY AT THE PRINCE REGENT’S (1815–1817)

  196Fair maid of Ghent!: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), January 6, 1815, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.

  197“Mrs. Betancourt has taken: Charles Francis Adams to John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA), January 10, 1815, in Adams Papers Microfilm (APM), Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston. All subsequent letters cited in this chapter are from APM unless otherwise noted.

  197“I feel so isolated: Louisa Catherine Adams (hereafter LCA) to JQA, November 22, 1814.

  197“There is,” he wrote: Diaries, February 12, 1815.

  198“the walls of all the public: JQA to John Adams (hereafter JA), March 31, 1815.

  199Louisa had endured an ordeal: Louisa tells the story in Judith S. Graham, Beth Luey, Margaret Hogan, and James C. Taylor, eds., Narrative of Journey from Russia to France, in Diary and Autobiographical Writings (Boston: Belknap, 2013), vol. 1, 375ff.

  201“Remember your youth: JA to George Washington Adams and John Adams II, May 3, 1815.

  201On May 25, John Quincy: Diaries, May 25, July 4, August 5, 1815.

  202“My son!: JA to JQA, March 24, 1815.

  202Adams passionately insisted: Diaries, July 2, 1815.

  203he was able to recreate: Ibid., January 24, 1816.

  203“the first instance: Samuel Flagg Bemis, John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy (New York: Norton, 1949), 231.

  203Adams had been fascinated: Diaries, July 10 and December 1, 1815; February 24, 1816.

  204“a machine or Carriage: Ibid., May 5, 1817.

  204“The house we have: Ibid., June 1816 (“Day”).

  205“It seemed to me,”: Ibid., October 27, 1815.

  205“Before leaving home: Ibid., July 5, 1816.

  206“Gentlemen, the sublime: Ibid., June 5, 1816.

  206“The great and constant: JQA to Abigail Adams, June 6, 1816.

  206now caught the poetry bug: Diaries, October 15 to December 27, 1816.

  207“Could I have chosen: Ibid., October 16, 1816.

  208Adams reported: JQA to Secretary of State James Monroe, April 9, 1816, in Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed., Writings of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Writings) (New York: Macmillan, 1913).

  208Monroe would later write: W. Cresson, James Monroe (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1946), 290–291.

  208“The moral application: Diaries, September 7, 1816.

  209“My system of politics: JQA to JA, August 1, 1816, in Writings.

  209“I have seldom,: Diaries, April 28, 1817.

  209His Majesty, said the viscount: Ibid., May 5, 1817.

  210“for American ministers: Ibid., May 14, 1817.

  210“I considered him: Ibid., June 8, 1817 (added July 23).

  CHAPTER 16: A LINE STRAIGHT TO THE PACIFIC OCEAN (1817–1819)

  217“We finish here: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), September 17, 1817, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.

  217Adams took the oath: Samuel Flagg Bemis, John Quincy Adams and the Foundations of American Foreign Policy (New York: Norton, 1949), 255–258.

  217State occupied five rooms: “Buildings of the Department of State,” Office of the Historian, US Department of State, https://history.state.gov/departmenthistory/buildings/section24.

  217Adams, a devoted systematizer, began: Diaries, September 22, October 2, October 17, 1817; May 20, 1818.

  218within days of arriving Adams: Ibid., September 26 and September 28, 1817.

  219“Has the executive power: Ibid., October 25, 1817.

  219“as at the early stages: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to John Adams, December 21, 1817, in Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed., Writings of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Writings) (New York: Macmillan, 1913). All subsequent letters cited in this chapter are from Writings.

  219Monroe’s next question: W. Cresson, James Monroe (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1946), 297–299.

  220At a cabinet meeting on January 6: Diaries, January 6, 1818.

  220In late 1817, American troops: Robert Remini, Andrew Jackson, vol. 1: The Course of American Empire, 1767–1821 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998), 344.

  220Days after news: Ibid., 346–350.

  221“there was something tragical: Diaries, July 15, 1818.

  222“But if the question: Ibid., July 19, 1818.

  222“transcending the limit: James Monroe to Andrew Jackson, July 19, 1818, in Stanislaus Murray Hamilton, ed., The Writings of James Monroe (New York: G. Putnam’s Sons, 1898–1903), vol. 6, 54–61.

  223The United States had been negotiating with Spain: This history is recounted in William Earl Weeks, John Quincy Adams and American Global Empire (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1992).

  224Cold calculating, wily, always: Diaries, March 18, 1819.

  224Adams demanded an additional: Ibid., July 11, 1818.

  224“Here are their views, clear:
Bemis, John Quincy Adams, 318–319.

  225Adams’ project of extending: Ibid., 283–285.

  225Louisa was a polished hostess: Judith S. Graham, Beth Luey, Margaret Hogan, and James C. Taylor, eds., Diary and Autobiographical Writings of Louisa Catherine Adams (Boston: Belknap, 2013), vol. 2, 455–458.

  226“I went out this Evening: See William Earl Weeks, John Quincy Adams and American Global Empire (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1992), 16.

  226“on the subject of dancing girls: Philip Hone, The Diary of Philip Hone, 1828–51 (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1889), 342.

  226“I am scarcely ever satisfied: Diaries, end of December (“Day”), 1818.

  226her husband’s “habits of study: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 2, 416.

  226“You boast of your studying: JQA to John Adams II, November 17, 1817.

  227accusing him of “a propensity: JQA to George Washington Adams, December 26, 1817.

  227“he ruled his children: Graham et al., Diary and Autobiographical Writings, vol. 1, 103.

  227“None of them will: Diaries, September 6, 1818.

  228“My mother was an Angel: Ibid., November 1, 1818.

  228Don Luis de Onis had been making: Bemis, John Quincy Adams, 321–322.

  229he sent diplomatic instructions: JQA to George Erving, November 28, 1818.

  229Jefferson wrote to Monroe: Thomas Jefferson to James Monroe, January 18, 1819, in Writings, vol. 5, 502n.

  230“if Mr. Onis was not prepared: Diaries, January 3, 1819.

  230“were always setting up: Ibid., February 15, 1819.

  231“He is a man of: Ibid., March 17, 1819.

  231He would later write: JQA to Richard Rush, May 2, 1819.

  CHAPTER 17: THE BARGAIN BETWEEN FREEDOM AND SLAVERY IS MORALLY AND POLITICALLY VICIOUS (1819–1820)

  232The president came with a healing message: William Earl Weeks, John Quincy Adams and American Global Empire (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1992), 52.

  232“party spirit has indeed subsided: John Quincy Adams (hereafter JQA) to John Adams Smith, October 8, 1817, in Worthington Chauncey Ford, ed., Writings of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Writings) (New York: Macmillan, 1913).

  234“These Cabinet Councils open: The Diaries of John Quincy Adams (hereafter Diaries), January 9, 1818, Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, http://www.masshist.org/jqadiaries/php.