John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams, son of the second president, was a brilliant diplomat who negotiated the end of the War of 1812 and drafted the Monroe Doctrine as secretary of state. He reached the presidency in 1824 through the House of Representatives after no candidate won an electoral majority.

His rivals branded the outcome a 'corrupt bargain,' crippling his presidency from the start. He proposed ambitious federal investments in roads, canals and a national university, but a hostile Congress blocked most of his agenda. After losing to Andrew Jackson in 1828, he returned to the House, where he served for years as a fierce opponent of slavery.

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