Adams claimed to be “a man of my whole country,” and indeed he was. When he returned to Boston, Adams sought to become an attorney, and attended Harvard University. Through this experience, he was able to pursue studies of history, science, and language, and participated in the negotiation of the Treaty of Paris that concluded the Revolutionary War. Great necessities call out great virtues." This opportunity to express “great virtue” finally presented itself in 1781.Īlthough only 14 years of age, Adams was sent to Russia as the private secretary and French interpreter for the U.S. It is not in the still calm of life, or the repose of a pacific station, that great characters are formed. His mother implored John Quincy to take great advantage of these opportunities, saying: "These are the times in which a genius would wish to live. There, John Quincy learned about international relations, became close with mentors Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, and perfected his French by teaching English to the new French minister to the United States. These experiences made John Quincy Adams literally a child of the American Revolution: sharing a sense of destiny with the new nation, its consolidation, and its expansion.Īt the age of 10, John Quincy traveled to France with his father, who was on a diplomatic mission to negotiate peace with Great Britain. When war broke out, John Quincy and Abigail watched battles in the distance from a hill near their farm outside of Boston. Through their example, he learned to value the sacrifices necessary to preserve and protect democracy, and the level-headed temperment required to be an effective leader.Īs an 8 year-old Adams received letters from his father at the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, which reflected on the ongoing debate for independence. He was the son of the second president of the United States, John Adams, and his mother, Abigail Adams, was a fervent revolutionary patriot in her own right. No American was better prepared to be president than John Quincy Adams.
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