John Quincy Adams: The American Presidents Series: The 6th President 1825-1829

A vivid portrait of a man whose pre- and post-presidential careers overshadowed his presidency.. Chosen president by the House of Representatives after an inconclusive election against Andrew Jackson John Quincy Adams often failed to mesh with the ethos of his era pushing unsuccessfully for a strong consolidated national government. Historian Robert V. Remini recounts how in the years before his presidency Adams was a shrewd influential diplomat and later as a dynamic secretary of state under President James Monroe he solidified many basic aspects of American foreign policy including the Monroe Doctrine. . Undoubtedly his greatest triumph was the negotiation of the Transcontinental Treaty through which Spain acknowledged Florida to be part of the United States. After his term in office he earned the nickname Old Man Eloquent for his passionate antislavery speeches.