John Quincy Adams was an interesting guy. He is the only president to have married a lady who was not born in America. He was famous for skinny-dipping in the Potomac River in Washington D.C. He was the first son-of-a-former-president to become president himself. He's the only president to go back to the House of Representatives after he left the White House. He is also the second president to only serve one term.
If you remember, Monroe's presidency was named the "Era of Good Feelings" (even though beneath the surface there was quite a bit going on) and he won both terms with very little opposition. So, isn't it strange that someone with the rich heritage of JQA would only stay in office for only one term? Especially since he was definitely suited for the job and had a strong political career (he wrote the Monroe Doctrine) before he was elected president.
For this week's blog, search the internet for information about the presidency of John Q. Adams. Begin your search with the 1824 Election and continue on until the 1828 Election. For the comment section, discuss why you think JQA only served one term. What troubles did he face as president that cost him a chance at reelection?
I think he only served one term because he got off to a bit of a rough start and then never recovered really. He was a candidate for president in 1824 and in the end, Andrew Jackson had more votes than him. But somehow the decision between the two was put up to the House of Representatives. The speaker of the House was very bitter towards Andrew Jackson and so he gained support for Adams and well... I guess you could say he rigged the decision. So it was kind of unfair but John Q. Adams did win the election and also received the hatred of every Jacksonian in America. I feel like he wasn't supposed to be president so his presidency was just awful altogether. Andrew Jackson started campaigning for the next election before Adams was even close to being out of office which kind of showed his feelings towards him. In the 1828 election, Jackson won easily. So what it comes down to is that Adams had all of the qualifications and education to be president but he was never who the people really wanted. (160)
ReplyDeleteJohn Q Addams was defiantly qualified to be the president. He, however, got off to should you say a ‘rough start’ because of the way he was elected. Because there was no majority vote (Jackson had the popular vote) the election went to the house and Hennery clay was a supporter of Adams and helped him get elected. Clay was then put in Adams cabinet. These suspicious coincidences (denied by both people of course) made Jackson supports determined to let Adams serve only one term. Other than that mess he was already in Adams….well…..wasn’t very good at making friends with the “right people”. He was also like his father in the way that he was aloof and stubborn. He did however have good ideas and they were ideas that would have been good for our country the problem was that they were far sighted. This made people nervous about too much federal power 155
ReplyDeleteAdams was really just like his dad. He got in, had a sucky presidency, then left after one term. The worst thing is, his dad didn't even wish him luck! I guess that wasn't very detailed. Well, here goes:
ReplyDeleteAdams wanted to make sure he won the three-way presidential election, so he went to Henry Clay (his ex-running opponent/ Speaker of the House) and struck a bargain with him. If Adams was made president, he'd make Clay secretary of state- a guaranteed ride to presidency. This, as expected, angered the man with the short temper- Andrew Jackson, leader of the popular vote and most likely would be the president first if Adams wasn't. So, he was a jerk about this "corrupt bargain" the whole time Adams was serving his term. Though it wasn't one-sided. They went back and forth throwing insults.
Adam's accusations: True
Jackson's accusations: False
Get the gist? Basically Jackson ruined Adams's presidency and his credibility. But, he went back to Congress and made a name for himself speaking out against slavery. So, though Jackson tainted his reputation, he redeemed himself with his time in Congress.
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john quincy adams did indeed have a sucky presidency. I honestly think its because he thought he was the best at everything. he carried on his father's ideas and was 100% his fathers child. he really needed to learn from his fathers mistakes if he wanted to have a better presidency than his father had. he had all the education that was needed. he really dug this hole from him. I also think he thought his presidency was going to be like Monroe's. Monroe's presidency was one of a kind though. I honestly doubt he knew what was happening to his time in office. he had a lot of trouble with Andrew Jackson. that may or may not have changed things in his presidency. (122)
ReplyDeleteThis was pretty interesting because of the way people think that John Q. Adams only won because of the corrupt bargain between him and Henry Clay. He then put Henry Clay as Speaker of the House. Adams did some good things during his presidency, but the corrupt bargain was coming back to haunt him. When the election of 1828 came around Jackson was even more determined to defeat Adams and get the Presidency he wanted. They both threw very harsh insults about the other to try to get votes. Jackson ended up winning the election and John Q. Adams was the second President to not get re-elected.
ReplyDelete(I guess he was trying to follow in his father’s footsteps.)
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Poor John Q. Adams. The man was destined to have no hope just like his father. But, he was a very smart man, he just didn't have the best reputation. Even from the start in the election of 1824, to the election of 1828, he was never looked at as a hero. First of all, he wone the presidency because of Mr. Henry Clay. The Jacksonians were furious in this "corrupt bargain" scandal. Second, what he wanted to do while in office wasn't necessarily a bad idea, he just didn't have that much power to do all of those things. Also, he was stubborn, and failed to develop relationships needed with the members of his party. His ideas that he had were financially not possible, from new roads and canals to astronomical observatories. I believe he didn't win reelection because of the "corrupt bargain" scandal. He got off to a bad start, and people wouldn't let it go. (158)
ReplyDeleteAdams really did not even win the president election of 1824. Andrew Jackson had more votes, but it went to the House of Representatives and Henry Clay helped Adams win. Jackson accused them of cheating, but they both denied it. It looks kinda obvious that they did cheat but we were not there. Anyways, after that, Jackson pretty much hated both of them, especially Adams. So Andrew Jackson was preparing for the next of election of 1828. During Adams’ presidency, it sucked anyways. He had a terrible presidency because everybody was scared that his ideas would give too much federal power so none of his ideas were put into action. So by the time it came to the next election, Jackson was prepared and Adams’ presidency wasn’t even good so who the heck do you think is going to win? Obviously Andrew Jackson, he easily won. (147)
ReplyDeleteJohn q Adams did not have a good election. Which made very one hate him. John and a lot her candidate, Henry Clay, had this deal called the Corrupt bargain. This was the election of 1824. I don't really understand why Jackson had more electoral votes but what ever. So Jackson started preparing for the next election of 1828. Jackson did win the election and Adams did not even come to the inauguration. Which shows his hard head. I mean I am pretty sure that no one wanted Adams has president, duh. Adams why doesn't Adams just go cry on his pillow just like his dad. (105)
ReplyDeleteI think that he was not re-elected because after the whole Henry Clay thing. I think that maybe some people felt like that they could not trust him. Also the first time he did not really even win the election! Henry Clay helped him win. They claimed that they had done nothing wrong. I think that all together he just had a rough presidency that began with a rough start. He followed in his father's footsteps... almost exactly. They both had pretty Suckish presidency. He also, just like his dad, only served one term. Also, when Jackson was being inaugurated, Adams did not even come!(105)
ReplyDeleteI think John Quincy Adams presidency failed for 2 reasons. When he was president he had no support in Congress because most of the people in Congress supported Jackson. When he wanted to pass a bill that Jackson did not like they would restrict him from doing that. He wanted to find land for native Americans in the West but he could not find support in the Congress. In 1828 Adams was hurt by accusations of corruption and criticisms of his unpopular domestic program. He lost badly to Jackson, who captured most of the southern and western votes Adams became only the 2nd president in US history failed to win a 2nd term, the 1st had been his father.
ReplyDeleteThere was only one main reason why John Quincy Adams was not reelected in 1828 and that was the infamous "Corrupt Bargain." He and Henry Clay teamed up together when the vote went to the House and the American people were already Pro-Jackson and this just added to it. Jackson used this as motivation and a tool to expose him in the next election. American people do not like it when people deceive them into something and then fail at their task (cough cough Lane Kiffin) and this was no different. Once that trust was gone Adams could never get it back and his presidency, along with his father's, was a flop. (109)
ReplyDeleteObviously, Andrew Jackson was the favorite choice in the election of 1824, but he didn’t have a majority vote. So, the House of Representatives had to choose the president. Henry clay was the speaker of the house, and Adams made a deal with him: clay would help make Adams become president, and clay would become his secretary of state; (former secretaries of state became president). So many people were suspicious about the whole thing. They both denied any kind of deal, but Jackson felt gyped and called it a “corrupt bargain.” This is a big part of why Adams presidency didn’t go well. Many congressmen felt that he cheated his way into the presidency too, so they wouldn’t pass almost any idea that Adams put forth. This helped him not really fix up the country like he wanted (ex. internal improvements). Next, the 1828 election was probably the dirtiest in history. Jackson vs. Adams. Each side tried to stain the other’s reputation. In the end, Jackson kicked Adams butt, and he didn’t attend the inauguration (sound familiar?). I think that Adams could have done well in office, but since he cheated, people didn’t really like him. (196)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite....no, wait... the misconception that stood out to me most was that there were survivors of the Alamo. I always thought that all the men died and only the woman and children were spared. Of course, this was partially true.
ReplyDeleteAmericans tend to prefer the legends and old wive’s tales to facts because fabricating makes thing interesting! Who wants to be known as the plain-Jane country that was unworthy of the stories written about it? I mean, have you ever heard the true story of Betsie Ross? She didn’t actually sew the first American flag; her great-grandson, I believe, spread the lasting rumor that she did. Mary Pickersgill was the actual first creator. Why did the legend stick? Probably because Betsie’s name was shorter and easier to remember.
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