John Quincy Adams

Term: 1825-1829

Party: Whig

Nickname: Old Man Eloquent

Short Bio: There is not much to say about John Quincy Adam's presidency. He was extremely smart, knew many languages, helped with the treaty for peace with Britain, made the Monroe Doctrine, and had Florida ceded into the U.S., but for all that, he was one lousy president. All of these great things were done when he was secretary of state for Monroe. In fact, Adams is regarded as the best secretary of state in U.S. history. The first person to follow their dad's footsteps into the presidency, he was socially awkward and only had one term...just like his dad. Adams had a problem from the get-go. He won the 1824 election even though Andrew Jackson had secured more popular votes than he had. Through supposed back door dealings, Adams had won the presidency, and Jackson and his supporters would make Adams pay for it his whole term. Adams' biggest mistake was not getting his supporters into the administration. He kept all of Jackson's supporters for some reason, and wondered why he couldn't get anything passed! Adams became extremely ineffective and was trounced by Jackson in the 1828 election.

Grade:D+
Adams was a great person, don't get me wrong, but a terrible president. He, like others I will talk about later, hated being the president due to the stress and national attention and jeering. Adams was ineffective, and wasn't smart enough to surround himself with friends.