John Quincy Adams

John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth (1825-1829) President of the United States. He was the son of President John Adams and First Lady Abigail Smith. Adams's most important contributions to American history came before and after his relatively ineffective term as President. Before becoming President, he was the most experienced diplomat in the United States. While serving as Secretary of State under President James Monroe, Adams negotiated the Adams-Onís Treaty with Spain and devised the Monroe Doctrine, both of which were of long lasting importance. For these activities he has been called "the most influential American grand strategist of the nineteenth century" and "perhaps the greatest secretary of state in American history."{{fn|1}}

Notes

• {{fnb|1}} "Influential grand strategist": John Lewis Gaddis, Surprise, Security, and the American Experience (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 2004, ISBN 0674011740), p. 15. "Greatest secretary of state": Samuel Flagg Bemis.