JOHN QUINCY ADAMS,

THE SIXTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,

Was born at Quincy, Massachusetts, July 11, 1767, and received the advantages of a pretty thorough education before entering Harvard College, which was not until the year 1786. After graduating with marked credit, he commenced the study of law at Newburyport, in the office of the Hon. Theophilus Parsons, for many years Chief Justice of Massachusetts. While pursuing his studies he found leisure to write several newspaper essays, which attracted much attention, and displayed a maturity of taste and judgment seldom attained so early in life. In 1794, Washington appointed him minister to the Netherlands, and subsequently transferred him to Portugal. He was afterward, at different periods, minister to Prussia, Russia, and England; and was one of the commissioners who negotiated the treaty of peace with Great Britain, at Ghent, in 1815. In 1817, he was appointed Secretary of State, in which office he continued during Mr. Monroe’s administration, eight years; when he was elected by the House of Representatives President of the United States—the people having failed in making a choice. Like his father, he encountered strong opposition, and only served one term in this office, being defeated in a reëlection by General Jackson. He then retired to his farm at Quincy, but did not remain long in private life; for, two years afterward, he was chosen Representative in Congress, and continued to be reëlected until his death, which occurred in the Capitol, at Washington, February 23, 1848. Two days previous to this sad event, while engaged in his duties in the House of Representatives, he received a paralytic stroke, which apparently deprived him of all consciousness. He was borne to the Speaker’s room, where he received every attention that could be bestowed by anxious and devoted friends, but all in vain—his hour was come. The last words he was heard to utter were, “This is the last of earth.”

Mr. Adams was a man of rare gifts and rich acquisitions. A diligent student, and economical of his time, he found opportunity, amid all his public cares, to cultivate his tastes for literature and the sciences. He was one of the finest classical and belles-lettres scholars of his time, and filled the chair of Professor of Rhetoric and Belles-lettres in Harvard College for several years. Even in his old age, he often astonished his hearers with the elegant classical allusions and rhetorical tropes with which he enriched and embellished his own productions.

Election for the Tenth Term, commencing March 4, 1825, and terminating March 3, 1829.

A STATES. PRESIDENT. VICE-PRESIDENT.

B C D E F G H J K L

8 New Hampshire 8 7 1

15 Massachusetts 15 15

4 Rhode Island 4 4

8 Connecticut 8 8

7 Vermont 7 7

36 New York 1 26 5 4 29 7

8 New Jersey 8 8

28 Pennsylvania 28 28

3 Delaware 1 2 1 2

11 Maryland 7 3 1 10 1

24 Virginia 24 24

15 North Carolina 15 15

11 South Carolina 11 11

9 Georgia 9 9

14 Kentucky 14 7 7

11 Tennessee 11 11

16 Ohio 16 16

5 Louisiana 3 2 5

5 Indiana 5 5

3 Mississippi 3 3

3 Illinois 2 1 3

5 Alabama 5 5

9 Maine 9 9

3 Missouri 3 3

261 Whole No. of Electors 99 84 41 37 183 30 24 13 9 2

Majority131

COLUMN HEADINGS:

(A) = No. of Electors from each State.

(B) = Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee.

(C) = John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts.

(D) = Wm. H. Crawford, of Georgia.

(E) = Henry Clay, of Kentucky.

(F) = John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina.

(G) = Nathan Sanford, of New York.

(H) = Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina.

(J) = Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee.

(K) = Henry Clay, of Kentucky.

(L) = Martin Van Buren, of New York.

Neither candidate for the Presidency having received a majority of the electoral votes, it devolved upon the House of Representatives to choose a President from the three highest on the list of those voted for, which three were Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and William H. Crawford. Twenty-four tellers (one member from each State) were appointed, who, after examining the ballots, announced that the votes of thirteen States had been given for John Quincy Adams; the votes of seven States for Andrew Jackson; and the votes of four States for William H. Crawford. The Speaker then declared that John Quincy Adams, having received a majority of the votes of all the States, was duly elected President of the United States for four years, commencing on the 4th of March, 1825; on which day Mr. Adams took the oath of office, and entered upon his duties.

John C. Calhoun, having been elected Vice-President, took the oath of office, and attended in the Senate, March 4, 1825.