Pieter Van Huffel (1769–1844)
Oil on canvas, 1815
As the son of John Adams, John Quincy Adams was groomed as a diplomat. In 1809 President Madison appointed him America’s first minister to Russia. Adams was still in Russia when he was appointed to the peace delegation at Ghent. There, he clashed with the other commissioners, particularly Henry Clay, whose card parties lasting until 4:00 a.m. incensed the studious Adams. After the treaty was completed, the two men fought again over which of them would take the delegation’s official papers back to Washington.
The presidential election of 1824 pitted “Johnny Q,” the diplomat, against Andrew Jackson, the war hero. Jackson won the popular vote; however, Adams’s old nemesis Henry Clay gave Adams the majority of electoral votes to win the presidency. When Adams appointed Clay secretary of state, Jackson supporters declared that a “corrupt bargain” had been made. Four years later, Jackson defeated Adams for the presidency.