Though John Adams was old and ill when he died, the curious timing of his demise sparked countless unusual theories.

With the 1824 election approaching, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams probably thought he was President James Monroe’s likely successor. Both James Madison in 1808, and Monroe in 1816, had ...

John Quincy Adams really wanted to be a poet, what was then called a man of letters. ... He was the secretary of state in the Monroe administration (1817-25).

John Quincy’s principal biographer, Samuel Flagg Bemis of Yale University, deemed him the greatest secretary of state in American history. His victory in the bitter election of 1824 led to a ...

Click to open image viewer. CC0 Usage Conditions ApplyClick for more information. Following his distinguished political career as an ambassador, senator, secretary of state, and U.S. president, John ...

Following his Russian stint, Adams’ study of the heavens took a back seat to his duties as President James Monroe’s secretary of state; his attachment to the stars resurfaced when he entered ...

John Quincy Adams's path to the presidency was shaped significantly by his parents. At 11 years of age, ... As secretary of state under President James Monroe, ...