The first president who was the son of a president, John Quincy Adams in many respects paralleled the career, as well as the temperament and viewpoints, of his illustrious father. Born in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1767, Adams watched the Battle of Bunker Hill as a young boy from the top of Penn's Hill above the family farm. As secretary to his father in Europe, he became an accomplished linguist and assiduous diarist.

After graduating from Harvard College, he became a lawyer. At age 26 he was appointed minister to the Netherlands, and was later part of the Berlin Legation. In 1802 he was elected to the United States Senate. Six years later President Madison appointed him minister to Russia.

Serving under President Monroe, Adams was one of America's great secretaries of state, arranging with England for the joint occupation of the Oregon country, obtaining from Spain the cession of the Floridas, and formulating with the president the Monroe Doctrine.

Upon becoming president, Adams appointed Henry Clay secretary of state. Andrew Jackson and his angry followers charged that a "corrupt bargain" had taken place and immediately began their campaign to wrest the presidency from Adams in 1828.

Well aware that he would face hostility in Congress, Adams nevertheless proclaimed in his first Annual Message a spectacular national program. He proposed that the Federal Government bring the sections together with a network of highways and canals, and that it develop and conserve the public domain, using funds from the sale of public lands.

The campaign of 1828, in which his Jacksonian opponents charged him with corruption and public plunder, was an ordeal Adams did not endure easily. After his defeat he returned to Massachusetts, expecting to spend the remainder of his life enjoying his farm and his books.

Unexpectedly, in 1830, the Plymouth district elected him to the House of Representatives, and there for the remainder of his life he served as a powerful leader. Above all, he fought against circumscription of civil liberties. He fought against the gag rule which had been adopted by the House of Representatives to stop the flood of anti-slavery petitions being introduced by him.

In 1848, he collapsed on the floor of the House from a stroke and was carried to the Speaker's Room, where two days later he died. He was buried—as were his father, mother, and wife—at First Parish Church in Quincy. To the end, "Old Man Eloquent" had fought for what he considered right.

Adapted from the whitehouse.gov biography

Both John Quincy Adams and John C. Calhoun were founders of All Souls Unitarian Church in Washington, D.C.