in the life of john quincy adams. even people in massachusetts tend to not remember that john quincy adams as a young man served in the u.s. senate representing massachusetts. elected here as a senator, and this was back when members of the senate were elected by the legislature. the massachusetts legislature elected to john quincy adams as a senator with the understanding that he was a good federalist like his father. being a man on his own, john quincy adams went to washington being a nationalist, was being somewhat sympathetic to thomas jefferson, supporting the louisiana purchase, the embargo. so john quincy adams has the peculiar honor, if it is one, having his elector elected by the legislature of massachusetts during his term. massachusetts basically fired him before his term was up. he resides at that point. that point. at that is how much he was resistant. james: i was surprised that historians only ranked john adams two places ahead. i think of john quincy adams as a terrible president. john adams was not a g

john adams's political life. of what we the idea think of as political parties. adamsk that john quincy inherited some of that sensibility but, at the same time, had of course, of age in was veryepublic and so much a product of that system. one of the problems that john -- that john adams had in his presidency, you could see the indicators for these things in the life of john quincy adams. even people in massachusetts tend to not remember that john quincy adams as a young man served in the u.s. senate representing massachusetts. senator, --re as a elected here as a senator, and this was back when members of the senate were elected by the legislature. the massachusetts legislator -- legislature elected to john quincy adams as a senator with the understanding that he was a good federalist like his father. being a man on his own, john quincy adams went to washington , was beingionalist somewhat sympathetic to thomas jefferson, supporting the louisiana purchase, the embargo. theohn quincy adams has peculiar honor, if

ideologies of father and son presidents john adams and john quincy adams. thank you. welcome, everyone. good afternoon. i am president of the massachusetts historical society and i'm so happy you could be with us today as we welcome the two celebrated historians as they present their books the problem with democracy president adams confronts the personality. as many of you here in the room no it's home to the papers and extensive manuscript collections largely comprised of the correspondences and the diaries and the manuscripts speeches, legal and business papers of both senior and junior president adams as well as all the members of this preeminent political dynasty. these documents remain so vital in the efforts to understand the evolution of american democracy, diplomacy and identity. they strive to make the papers and the entire 14 million item collections available to anyone with an interest in american life, culture and history and give it for free. if you value of this and enjoy y programming like today's talks and you are not a supporter, i would encourage you

her influence on raising john quincy adams? >> john quincy lived with her until 11 years old at which point he went to europe with john and she didn't see him again until he was 17 or 18. he became a man. >> under the tutelage of his father? >> but she was very influential in those first 11 years. i balk at this tendency to blame the mother every time something goes wrong with the children. circumstances happen. there are genes. there's possibly a disposition to alcoholism in that family. it was in the family. a revolution happened when her children grew up. they grew up in war time. that could be very damaging to children's psyches. the year 1800 was a very difficult year for the adamss. a campaign for re-election, hard fought against a big political rival in thomas jefferson, they lost that. it was a year they moved to the white house and they also lost their son in that year. let's talk about all of those individually for a little bitp the decision to run for the office again, did abigail support john's interest in continuing

the books of john adams of the works of john quincy adams. changing exhibits of the letters were literary accomplishments of other people of other americans a few times. very tacky doctor billington and direct erica massachusetts historical society as conceivably library of congress. willing to have some of those treasures alone. northerners cases of these wonderful spirited documents and you browse look. living with the card not to be partly one of the kind that i have some fruit trees. the kind they had. remember you heard it here first. [laughter]. [applause]. guest: you have a building by the name of the adams building help. for mr. adams. and we talk about how he helped, he was the beginning of the library of congress. and wondered if in fact, reading, did you find letters about how he wanted this library to me. david: i think it was always for it. last night, i read the letter that he wrote to jefferson when jefferson sold this library to replace the library of congress that had been destroyed by the british during the war of 1812. and

john adams was leaving office. we have some statistics will put on screen to give you some of the scope. for example, by that point the census in 1800 interestingly was done by john marshall who went to the supreme court and ultimately done by secretary of state james madison. familiar names from history and the job of the census. chief at that time. the population was 5.3 million across 16 states. there were 998,000 blacks, about 19% of the population. only 12% of them were free. that 5.3 million was a 35% growth just in ten years since the nine 1790 census. the average life expectancy if you were born in 1800 was just 39 years. the largest cities in the country were new york, philadelphia and baltimore. a change from ten years ago. what are sort of the things we can take away from the statistics of that snapshot of america? >> one of the things is there is an expansion going on. this is one of the things that is very difficult for the adams. politics are changing. the changing politics means they are new england o

john adams wins by three electoral votes only slightly more than have. now we never had a president that only had half the votes. we never had a president who had to really fight for an election and of course the other problem in those early days as if you come in second, you one vice president, which means the new president is one party, the new vice president is the other party. just picky any modern election you like. put the two opponents together for four years are the executive and you can see how neither them will be particularly happy. john adams and thomas jefferson are not happy to be standing in from the room together. this is a full house that day. the balcony, the seats, you got most of the government here. a lot of curiosity but you could also figure out about half of the men in this room are not very happy to see john adams standing up there. the other half of the men in the room are now very happy to see thomas jefferson standing up there and generally speaking, nobody is very happy that george washington is leaving us in this time. so jo

so he will step aside for john adams. now, we do not know if this works. we have never done this before. we have never actually changed our president. will the people accept this? we don't know. the other thing to remember is john adams was contested in his election. he had to fight a battle against his opponent, who was thomas jefferson. these two had been friends. obviously they wrote the declaration of independence will together. but now opposite sides of the fence, they don't even want to talk to each other. so the election is very ugly, it is very nasty, it is very close. it is kind of, for us today, a normal presidential election. we have never had a president who only got half the vote, we have never had a president who had to really fight for an election, and of course, the other problem in those early days is if you come in second, you are vice president, which means the new president is one party, the new vice president is the other party. just pick any modern election you like, put the two opponents together and you could see how neither of them

because the john adams election is a lot of firsts. it's different time we will not have george washington as our president. george washington is the only man to be unanimously elected president. which he was twice. he did not particularly run for office. i do one of his first, when he didn't even want a second term. he was dropped into it. guys on both sides talked him into another four years. he doesn't really run, he is unanimously reelected. at the end of that second term, people try to talk commit to a third, but he's not having it. he just wants to retire, at this point in time. it's somebody else this turn. so he will step aside for john adams. no, we don't know if this works. we've never done this before. with never actually changed our president. so will the people accept this? we don't know. the other thing to remember is john adams was contested in his election. he actually had to fight a battle against his opponent, who was joe thomas jefferson. now these two have been friends, obviously they wrote the declaration of indepe

and when he finally finishes, supreme court justice james eridell turns to vice president john adams and says, my god, isn't that man great? and adams says, yes, he is. so the treaty will end up passing by just a couple of votes. at one point there is a committee of the whole vote. the head of the committee as a whole was a man named fred muhlenberg who was the first speaker of the house, and he breaks the tie. he is ostensibly on the democratic republican, the jefferson side, and he accepts the treaty but says maybe going to war is not a good idea, so he passes the bill for tundi ifund this treaty and he is vilified that he voted for this treaty against his side to the point where he loses his seat in the next election to congress, but even worse in the short term, he is stabbed on the sidewalks of philadelphia by his brother-in-law because of his vote. he survives, but i'm sure family gatherings become a little awkward after a while. it tells us how high our political tensions can be in our early days. yet -- yet -- at the same time we're also proving that new constitution despite t

sarah is the series editor for "the papers of john adams," part of the adams papers editorial project in the building not too far away at the massachusetts historical society. she is the author of "household gods: the religious lives of the adams family." she is a cofounder and contributor to the -- how is it pronounced? junto? sara: sure. [laughter] fred: over at the end we have matt sheidley who is the ceo of revolutionary spaces, which was formed after the merger of the old bostonian society. he spent eight years at the bostonian society where he was the director of public history and later executive director. he was an associate professor at wellesley college before he entered the field of public history. i would like to start -- here we are in the replica of the united states senate. in the actual senate, the senators are as divided as washington, as the parties are. it seems like we are in a complete gridlock. were the founders ever this divided? feel free to answer -- maybe i will start with you, sara. sara: i think we have always faced moments in history where we felt great po

the vice president which we're going to start with john adams. and then he'll be succeeded by thomas jefferson. they would actually be here a good bit of the time probably a lot more than the vice president would be there today. today the vice president could sit in the senate any day they want. they made it clear to john adams they didn't want him talking. so he could sit there and run the meetings. which would leave him very disapointed. he's not the first or the last vice president to voice his disappointment. if there's a tie vote, the vice president is the tiebreaker. any big day, the vice president will be there. over than that, the vice president, you know, john adams would run a bunch of meetings where a bunch of guys that didn't let him talk. and for thomas jefferson, when he's vice president, his opponent is the president, so he doesn't necessarily agree with a lot of the policys that he has to be part of the executive over. it was a very different situation which leads to creating the system where we're going elect president and vice p

john adams is no longer very popular, he's been repudiated. ut john's martial is all those politics, and the personality there. second cousin from virginia, they're both connected to the random plan. marshals mother in law was the former fiancÉe by jefferson and there was some bad blood there. so there is that whole overlay on top of that. then, remember one final thing. it's marshall himself who, as secretary of state fails to effectuate the delivery of these things. now, as chief justice, he's hearing a lawsuit about that transaction of which he is a witness. the supreme court is sitting as a trial court and what is called the original jurisdiction. so there really is a question, truthfully of weather john marshall should be hearing this case at all, or if he shouldn't recuse himself, not because he's a federalist, because everyone is a federalist if your republican, everyone is friends with everyone else but he is a witness to the very transaction involved and, yet, he has shown no indication and is threatening that will issue his order to h

one of the -- so let's get back a little bit to how john adams -- john adams goes to philadelphia and he meets benjamin rush on his way to philadelphia. benjamin rush warns him about what he is about to encounter. stephen, do you want to pick up the story there? stephen: one of the amazing things about the story is that benjamin rush is like a 29-year-old doctor, not in the continental congress. he goes out to meet adams because he is one of the sons of liberty. he co-authored the proclamation that led to the boston tea party. so he went out there and they were out of there, the massachusetts delegation figured they were going to run the congress. rush said to them as did others in the pennsylvania delegation, if you don't put aside your belief that you think you should be in charge, even though you are right, and let the virginias virginias think they are running it, we are doomed. this is john adams first introduction to this. a young man, good-looking young doctor who talks a lot, very opinionated. rush make sure that they get in the same carriage together, they are in the same sub

because that john adams election is a lot of. first the first time we're not going to have church washington as our president. george washington is the only man to be unanimously elected president which he was twice. you didn't particularly run for office, at the end of his first term he did want to second term. he was talked into it. he had guys on both sides to come into another four years. he doesn't really run. he's unanimously reelected. at the end of the second term people try to talk him into a third but he's not having. it he wants to retire at this point of time. it someone else is turn. so he will step aside for john adams. now we don't know if this works. we've never done this before. we've never actually changed our president so will the people accept this? we don't know. the other thing to remember is that john adams contested his election. he actually had to fight a battle against his opponent who is thomas jefferson. now these two have been friends obviously, there was the declaration of independence together, but

and ultimately john adams does have to give way and george washington gets in. so so much of the former president not meddling with her successors. gen. petraeus: adams was so touchy as you will recall that later on he cuts off all communications with thomas jefferson. and he refuses to communicate directly with him and would only do so through abigail and i think this lasted up until just before the end. jonathan: a lot of the communications between people prefer and often by time george washington died, he was no longer on speaking terms with others, thomas jefferson, james madison and james monroe. oh wait, is the third and fourth and fifth president of the united states. [laughter]. and george washington is no longer in speaking terms with them and then he dies. so there's a variety of reasons for why that happened. there is personal really serious personal reasons behind each of the craft in their relationships. but to give you and i get an a- of all the founding fathers were not friends. gen. petraeus: i'm not glad there are i am sure glad there are no egos

adams didn't matter as much until after the second world war. >> abigail or john? >> either of them, as characters in the public domain. we grew up during the adams chronicles on pbs. but in the history of history, there is like a hundred years were so much of the writing about the revolution is about what did washington do? what did franklin do? now we are getting more parity. people are going to look more about benjamin rush, which is nice but it is ridiculous. if you told the story of the founders without benjamin rush, i think they would be genuinely surprised. >> there is a reason for that? >> part of the reason is that the letters between adams, jefferson, and rush, were so unbelievably personal. when rush died, they came to the families and said please don't let anybody read these letters. jefferson had written about his feelings on religion. the letters about their separation of church and state. a lot of criticism of washington, also a lot of personal things. the letter written to rush asking to be the medical guide for lewis and clark. which he was. anothe

is john adams first introduction to this. get inke sure that they the same carriage together, they are in the same suburb of philly. so rush could talk his ear off. rush and many of the other doctors in philadelphia took care of the congressman. they would have them over for dinner. adams originally thought rush was a good place to have food. he wrote them a letter they serve good melons at russia's house, a good view of the delaware. -- rush's house. rush finds himself signing the declaration of independence. then him and adams become friends. their friendship becomes wonderful because their letters back and forth are terrific. they are doctors. the she got cancer, rush is one that forced her to have surgery. their letters are unbelievably personal. it is crushing when they are the same town of philadelphia for 10 years because there are no letters. after the election of 1800, they don't speak for five years. then he reached out to rush and said we should have some communication before one of us dies. then on, they write hun

so ultimately john adams does have to give way, and george washington gets his man. again, so much for former presidents not meddling with their successors. >> just as an aside, of course, adams was so touchy, as you will recall, that later on he cuts off all communications with thomas jefferson and refuses to communicate directly with taylor and would only do so through abigail. and this lasted think right up until just for the deaf. >> right. innocence was interesting is a lot of the founding fathers were touchy and a lot of the communications broke off. by the time george washington died, he was no longer on speaking terms with all jews throughout three needs, thomas jefferson, james madison and james monroe. wait, that is your third, fourth and fifth presidents of the united states. george washington is no longer speaking terms with them whenh e dies. there's a variety ofth reasons y that happened and there's personal, really serious personal reasons behind each of the collapse of those relationships but to give an idea and remind us all our founding fathers were

>> when i was writing john adams.e was in philadelphia and they get reports of what was happening in new york. when it comes back the battle of long island is a fiasco. 1000 americans taken prisoner and 300 killed washington has been outflanked and outsmarted and then they escape from brooklyn when i read all of that which was happening and writing a biography you cannot stray off ten pages he has no involvement in i thought i would like to write about all that was going on besides and independence hall in philadelphia and how much of what was happening and that depended on this ragtag army under washington and how they were performing and how much of a chance they had. >> when did you decide to call it that? >> people say the revolutionary war in the year 1776 what is your theme? i have no idea what my theme is. i hope by the time i finish writing the book i would know what it is but also that i can step back and look at it and that this might be the title. >> what is your reaction? >> it took my breath away. it was

he's going to vany hand over the president to samz madison and john quincy addles, john adams son was secretary of state. this might be good news for hillary clinton today but remember john kerry didn't quite prevail. john marshal is john adams ally but he's also the the new incoming chief justice. and for a month he -- what happens if the deadline goes on and on and on and come inauguration day they're still deadlocked? well, here's one possibility. maybe there's this anonymous newspaper essay that kpz out maybe the person should occupy the white house in that circumstance is none other than the secretary of state john marshal. so john marshal is even mentioned as one of the possible people trying to sort of nose himself into this really complicated situation. but right as adam's administration is ending, yes, john marshal is both the secretary of state and the new incoming chief justice. >> one point very important to emphasis down there is adams nominates marshal and gets confirmed in late january, 1801, becomes chief justice in 1801. and john marshal himself has a lame duck appoin

the books of john adams of the works of john quincy adams.nging exhibits of the letters were literary accomplishments of other people of other americans a few times. very tacky doctor billington and direct erica massachusetts historical society as conceivably library of congress. willing to have some of those treasures alone. northerners cases of these wonderful spirited documents and you browse look. living with the card not to be partly one of the kind that i have some fruit trees. the kind they had. remember you heard it here first. [laughter]. [applause]. guest: you have a building by the name of the adams building help. for mr. adams. and we talk about how he helped, he was the beginning of the library of congress. and wondered if in fact, reading, did you find letters about how he wanted this library to me. david: i think it was always for it. last night, i read the letter that he wrote to jefferson when jefferson sold this library to replace the library of congress that had been destroyed by the british during the war of 1812. and adam

it wasn't just john adams. other delegates too were starting to get this message from their own constituents and on friday, june 7, 1776 1776, this man richard henry lee, a member of the virginia delegation, introduced to the continental congress the first formal proposal for american's independence for that body's history, a resolution to declare that these united colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent states, that they are ab solved of all allegiance to the british claim and all political connection between them and the state of britain ought to be finally dissolved. two days of intense debate followed richard henry lee's resolution. though the outcome of that debate may not be the result you are expecting. richard henry lee, john adams and other delegate it's in favor of independence didn't have the votes to carry the day. at least not yet. so the members did what congress has always done best, they kicked the can the road. they delayed a final vote and they agreed instead to set up a com

france has been seizing american ships at sea and john adams has sent envoys to france to negotiate a settlement is a long period of time everybody's waiting to find out you can see washington getting more and more agitated. what happened to the envoys they said were they guillotined? the answer comes it will up and his peaceful retirement. >> we will get to that but first we hear a lot these days about the relationship between presidents and the press what was thatpr relationship like back in washington's days? did he read the press to supplement what he was getting directly from the former appointees in w office? >> that's a great question. if you look back at this. it was always a difficult relationship. george washington, one of the reasons he so eager to leave is he is attacked by newspaper editors by the emerging opposition party they say the even forged letters to suggest he was a lukewarm patriot during the american revolution. to give you an idea how far this goes washington spends is also they in office putting documentation down those letters are not true not only he wastr

so ultimately john adams does have to give way in washington gets his man. so much for the former presidents not meddling. >> as the aside, adams was so touchy as you will recall that later on he cuts off all communication with thomas jefferson and refuses to communicate directly with him and would only go through abigail. this lasted right up until just before the death. >> yes. what is interesting a lot of the communications between these people by the time washington died, he was no longer on speaking terms with jefferson, james madison and james monroe. that is the third and fourth and fifth president of the united states. [laughter] he was no longer on speaking terms with them when he died. there is a variety of reasons why that happened and serious personal reasons behind the collapse of each of those relationships but you get the idea that all founding fathers were not friends. >> or just like egos in the oval office. [laughter] so nowadays the presidents leaving office do you think about george h.w. bush who defeated him for a variety of good causes a

to be here to talk about john adams, to remember john adams is altogether particularly appropriate at this occasion. he was a man of genuine brilliance. he was also a great man of great heart, great humor, devoted to his country, truthful, devoted to his wife, to his family, hard-working, god-fearing. and altogether one of the bravest patriots in our history. he was abrasive, sometimes temperamental, sometime tactless, sometimes overly concerned with his own position or place in the estimate of his friends or of posterity. and he was also a man coming to his credit but to his disadvantage, who as he said, never considered popularity his mistress. he never accorded popularity. he was a man of principle. his courage was the courage of his convictions. and i think one of the most vivid and important examples of his principal behavior and conduct and life was he is the only founding father who never owned a slave as a matter of principle. now we know it is important to judge those who did not own slaves in the context of their own time. that is correct and fair and historically the sensib

twice won the pulitzer prize for truman and then john adams. pulled them out of the relative neglect they had received compared to the presidents preceded and succeeded them. adams was president between washington and jefferson truman between franklin roosevelt and eisenhower. these are all iconic figures but with new narratives to humanize history and more than that, also celebrating the human stories and great events like the building of the panama canal, brooklyn bridge and historic tragedies. david mccullough is our citizen chronicler his latest book is the greater journey. nineteenth century story of americans journeying back across the atlantic to discover the learning of the old world even at a time when other americans word journey to the pacific to discover national resources and natural beauty of the american frontier. america was opening a new world physically in the west while enriching itself culturally and intellectually in the great city of light in the journey east across the sea. ladies and gentlemen since mccullough came into m

old john adams was struck to her. abigail never really did, but john did. >> she was born in england and educated in france and remained a foreign personality to many of the adams, but not to henry as a world traveler himself. >> she was very well educated, very sophisticated, socially i would say, and she sort of entertained john quincy's road to the white house. >> she was not happy about returning to washington as the weight of a congressman. we >> p) >> louisa catherine a ams essentially became the campaign manager for her husband john quincy adams run for the presidency in 182 by dominating the capital ci y's social circuit. cr> following a conte ted election, the adams'our years in the white house ere a turbulent perio in american politic in washington society. cr> >> we'll look at lo isa adams'relationship with ohn quincy adams and his pare ts, abigail and john at a ife that encompassed diplom tic posts in berlin and russi on the road to 1600 pennsylv nia avenue. cr> >> good evening and wel ome very much to our

news and founder of media i don't co-author 'd of the new book john adams under fire we'll talk about that later can't wait to talk about that john adams the founding fathers fight for justice in the boston massacre murder trial then is like everybody else holds up a new york dam for some other things what do you make a measurement connel asking for more liability protection. well look this is kind of like tort reform right what mcconnell saying is that in exchange for this next round he wants to make sure there are protections in place for companies so let's take a step back and talk about if that doesn't happen where are we and so the standard then becomes like in any other case which is negligence and there are going to be a lot of lawsuits there are going to be people who are going to say that they were exposed to the virus either by going to work or being at a particular place etc but the standard still requires a level of irresponsibility on the part of the person being sued meaning if you just go to work and you happen to get the virus from someone else at work that doesn't mea

john quincy adams diary is one of the great treasures in american literature, not just a treasure in erican history. john quincy, i think also to be said and fairly so, was a man anything more brilliant than his father or thomas jefferson. i think all of the president of the united states were given an iq test, john quincy would comed in first. he wasn't a particularly successful president but his heroic time was when he came back to washington after the presidency to serve in congresses. something no other president has ever done or has done since. and he died on the floor of congress which is now then congress which is now statuary hall. penny died with his boots on battling slavery. the same theme that runs through the adams family. and hate wanted to be there because he wanted to serve. he saw no stepping down from the presidency to congress. none. nor i don't think john adams father sees the presidency as the ultimate objective of his career. he did not sea life is climbing a mountain or a ladder of success. that is not the way they saw things. more closely i think would be the e

up next he discusses his biography, "john adams," the recipient of the pulitzer prize. >> guest: john adams was born in 1735. he lived until 1826, the age of 91. he lived longer than any president in our history. he has been commonly thought of as a rich boston blueblood. he was none of those. he wasn't rich, wasn't a bostonian it wasn't a blueblood. he was a farmer's son who because of his scholarship to harvard discovered books, he said, read forever. john adams most deeply and broadly read american of his bookish time, and let's please today remember it was john adams, the second president in nine state to sign the legislation that created the library of congress. to talk about john adams, to remember john adams is altogether particularly appropriate on this occasion. he was a man of genuine brilliance and great heart, great humor, devoted to his country, truthful, devoted to his wife, to his family, hard-working, god-fearing and altogether one of the bravest patriot in our history. he was abrasive, sometimes temperamental, sometimes tactless, sometimes overly concerned with his ow

john adams for example advice john quincy don't try to write literature when you write a letter. don't strain for thrills and fancy effect. write the way you talk. it's a letter, remember that. write the way you talk so when you read his letters of john quincy you were hearing them talk. one of the things that i have done in my books and particularly in this book one of the ways i approach biographies simply my way is to let them talk as much as possible. most of life is talk if you think about it. how they talk in the words they use and the figures of speech and expression and the cadence all at their reflection of personality, style, the person. abigail was usually influenced by the writings of samuel richardson particularly the great novel clarissa which was one of the most popular novels of the 18th century and she wrote a very interesting letter to her knees saying you want to read colors and you ought to write your letters the way they are in that novel. the whole novel as many of you know are just letters. it's people writing letters back and forth to each other and they a

john adams and john quincy adams and there was 24 years, nearly a quarter of a century to the presidencies of those two men area john adams was in his last 15 months of life when john quincy adams was in office. he was in quincymassachusetts . three days stagecoach ride, a six days stagecoach ride away from washington so he really wasn't able to be in washington to be an economy of influence on his son's presidency but george hw bush was a spry 76 years old when his son took the office.he had just been there eight years before and he was in a position to be a real influence around on his son's life so this is a story that needed to be told . and 41 agreed to do it if 43 which george w. bush agreed to do the book, i wasn't sure whether he would say yes, sir no republic of the dallas and i knew george w. bush alittle bit . the meeting and i was shocked that it would the beginning of the meeting he said i've decided this story needs to be told thatyou're the guy can do it . iwas so unprepared i didn't have a tape recording device . and he sat there and he put his feet up on the desk and he ha

but ultimately john adams does have to give way. so much for presidents not meddling with their successors. adams was so touchy that later he cuts off all communications with thomas jefferson and refuses to communicate directly with him. >> but by the time george washington dies he is no longer on speaking terms jefferson, james madison and james monroe. that is the third fourth and fifth president of the united states. [laughter] there is a variety of reasons why that happened and there is a personal reason behind the collapse but you get an idea all founding fathers were not friends. >>. >> nowadays presidents leaving office can be less partisan course those who defeated them. and almost all the presidents with a variety of causes. but you suggest leaving office made washington more partisan. >> that's true i do think he did after he left the presidency and have a perception day that is up the partisan feud but he involves himself and congressional engineering and he supported the alien and sedition act those that were associated w

and then the incumbent adams was overly cerebral. john quincy adams concluded that johnson's followers of seek we as champions of executive power. and that was a worrier cult of conduct democracy was a smokescreen western expansion drove politics slaveholders would expand to the pacific. it was a union of land speculators and southern slaveholders. john quincy adams elected to congress 1830 after the one term presidency ended. it was an unusual move never to be repeated. remained in the house until his death in 1848. parties ruled. it was quite design military was sanctimonious calls with southern democrats to purchase auxiliary support from the men of the north. jackson, head of the democratic party jefferson small government party now with executive power. and john quincy adams as a princely air comfortable with titles and rituals and long serve as a diplomat. somehow like his father before him with a secret promoter of monarchy. the cult of personality and often voters didn't care. but a slaveholding oligarchy took hold of the presiden

and it wasn't just john adams. others were also starting to get this message from their own constituents. and a man of the virginia delegation introduced the first formal, a revolution to declare that these united colonies ought to be free and independent states. but them and the state of great britain and they ought to be finally dissolved. two days of intense debate but the outcome of that debate may not be the result that you're expecting. others in favor of independence didn't have the votes to carry the day, at least not yet. so the members did what congress has always done best, they kicked the can down the road. they declared a final vote and they agreed instead to set up a committee to study the issue. resolved that the first revolution be postponed, and in the meantime, lest any time should be lost, in case the congress does agree, a committee to be apounced to prepare a declaration to the revolution. this is hardly the rousing nation birthing moment that patriots miegtt have been ho-- have been hoping for

the famous adams family and particularly the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of president john adams . this expectations shape the adams family and through them american history happiness was not a quality they achieved often, but they spoke their minds were good or for bad. i don't have to speak my mind about heirs and on her name because the book recommends itself. please join me in welcoming douglas egerton. >> thank you for that lovely introduction and thank you for altering out on a sunny but cold day. we're all here and i know the cold has done something interesting so i got my water. i've been also told to seek slowly which is not something anybody in my family does so lousy what i can do about that. my story begins where most books on the adams family and . this is the prologue, the and in september or february 1848 of 80-year-old congressman john quincy adams. he had just been one of a few congressmen to vote no on a resolution backing american soldiers for their service in mexico and of course in the war with mexico was and most unjust war. and if the husband of kate. stefa