How the Role of Secretary of State Pushed John Quincy Adams to the Presidency

A large portrait of John Quincy Adams. Gilbert Stuart painted his face and Thomas Sully, a young Philadelphia completed the rest of the portrait upon Stuart's death.

Harvard University Portrait Collection, Bequest of Ward Nicholas Boylston to Harvard College, 1828

John Quincy Adams had an impressive resume even before he became President of the United States. He started as a lawyer and a political commentator and was a diplomat to important European countries such as Russia and Great Britain. He even served as a U.S. Senator from 1803 to 1808. Yet, an important role that Adams held, which pushed him toward the presidency, was serving as Secretary of State in President James Monroe's cabinet.

Becoming Secretary of State

On April 16, 1816, only two days after his inauguration, President Monroe selected Adams as Secretary of State. Monroe saw Adams as a perfect fit for the role because he displayed eloquent skills during his seven years as an American diplomat in Europe and a readiness to take a stance on essential subjects. These attributes best fitted the role of Secretary of State, particularly in a young country with neighboring colonies owned by powerful European nations.

Upon hearing of his selection, Adams was uncertain about reentering public life, preferring a private life back in London where he was living. “The question whether I ought to accept the place…is not without difficulties in my mind,” Adams wrote in his diary on March 13, 1817. As the son of former President John Adams, the struggling John Quincy received guidance from his elderly father via letter:

“accept without hesitation and share the fortunes of your country whatever it may be. You are now fifty years of age. In my opinion, you must return to it or renounce it forever. I am well aware of the critical situation you will be in. I know you have not the command of your feelings or the immutable taciturnity of Franklin and Washington, but you must risk all.”.

—Former President John Quicky Adams, March 1817.

Adams left London on June 15, 1817, and made a return to the United States with his wife Louisa and their three sons. The family arrived in New York City on August 6. They stayed with his parents, John and Abigail, for a month, then traveled to Washington D.C, where Adams started his role as the new Secretary of State.

Early Struggles in the Role

Adams met President Monroe and the other cabinet members at the White House. Much to Adams' dissatisfaction, some cabinet members who were experienced politicians attempted to thwart him from gaining the presidency with their political agendas.

It wasn’t only cabinet members who wanted to stifle John Quincy’s political goals. As Speaker of the House in Congress, Henry Clay limited Adams’s duties by giving Adams a lower salary of only $3,500 a year, making it difficult for Adams to perform his job as he was not a wealthy man. Additionally, the Office of Secretary of State only received a budget of $124,000 a year, making it hard for Adams to carry out federal policies within his budget. This was a hardship that Adams faced, but luckily, he had President Monroe on his side. In 1819, Monroe pressured Congress to expand Adams’s salary to $6,000. Monroe believed in Adams's role in his cabinet and saw potential in his ability.

U.S. - Spanish Fight Over Florida

By the time Adams took on his role, the United States was encountering issues concerning both foreign and domestic threats.

In the South, Florida was still under Spanish colonial control. At the same time, the United States claimed that a part of West Florida belonged to them via the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Some enslaved people, having escaped to freedom, found refuge among the South's Indigenous Seminole tribes. The Seminole people, including both Indigenous members and Africans who had escaped enslavement, often resisted the efforts of slave hunters who sought to capture and reenslave them. In response to the continued threat of capture and violence from slave hunters, the Seminole people sought safety in Spanish-controlled Florida, where they could live with greater autonomy and safety from slave hunters.

The handling of relations with Spain was complex. President Monroe wanted troops in Spanish-controlled Florida to make it easier for the United States to acquire new territory. General Andrew Jackson was sent to Florida to capture any Spanish bases and raid Seminole villages. In 1818, General Jackson and his troops entered Florida and waged an attack against the Seminole people. On May 24, General Jackson's actions shocked the Monroe administration on May 24, when Jackson gained control of Pensacola and had two Englishmen Robert Armbriste and Alexander Arbuthnot executed. Jackson had charged Armriste and Arbuthnot with inciting the Seminole people into volence. Jackson used their executions as an excuse to justify his attacks on the Seminole people.

The land dispute and the presence of U.S. troops in Florida, along with issues resulting from Jackson’s actions, worsened potential negotiations between the United States and Spain. Spain demanded that Jackson, along with his troops, withdraw from Florida.

A Constitutional Question

Jackson's actions were met with outrage from everyone in Monroe's cabinet, except Adams. The American Constitution states that Congress must declare war. Jackson had never declared war; he was tired of waiting for Congress's approval, so he led his men to attack. Adams’s fellow cabinet members felt Jackson had infringed the Constitution by carrying out this attack. Adams, on the other hand, argued that Jackson had a right to attack Spanish territory because Spanish officials failed to restrain the Seminole people and capture the Africans who had escaped slavery.

While Adams was unsuccessful in convincing his cabinet members, he was able to convince Monroe that Jackson had strengthened the position of the United States in Florida. Monroe, in response, awarded Gen. Jackson the title of Governor of Florida.

U.S. - Spanish Relations Worsen

The Spanish king and European leaders were outraged by these actions and saw them as an act of imperialism. Adams knew that more work needed to be done with Spain. In early 1818, while the conflict over Jackson’s attacks was still happening, Adams and Ambassador of Spain Luis de Onís began discussing the possibility of a treaty. The discussions were tricky, with both Adams and de Onís going back and forth on where to divide American and Spanish territory. Jackson’s attacks in Florida made the decision-making trickier. Finally, both diplomats would form an agreement, with Adams writing a response for President Monroe to address Spain and any opposing members of Congress, deeply reflecting his thoughts

The United States stand justified in ordering their troops into Florida in the pursuit of their enemy. They have this right by the law of nations if the Seminoles were inhabitants of another country and had entered Florida to elude pursuit. It is not an act of hostility to Spain. It is less so, because her government is bound by treaty to restrain… the Indians were from committing hostilities against the United States

—President James Monroe, CITATION

Monroe then added that Gen. Jackson also had a right to attack based on a survivor's testimony of a native attack on a settler's camp and the hanging of the Englishmen due to their aid in these attacks. Using Adams's words from his negotiations with Spanish Ambassador de Ónis, Monroe called out the Spanish Empire for their lack of restraint when it came to preventing any more attacks on settlers, and that the United States government had a right to defend its people in such attacks.

The Treaty of Adams-Onis

Feeling the pressure from the United States government and concurrent revolts occurring in parts of South America, the Spanish government negotiated with Adams to retain Spanish control of the Florida panhandle and Texas. In turn, Spain would give up the Eastern and Western portions of the Florida penninsula to the United States. This would be known as the Adams-Ónis agreement, an act that placed limitations on the Louisiana Territory while surrending Spanish claims in the Pacific Northwest. Adams would later list this as one of his triumphs.

Adams Negotiates With Other European Nations

The presence of European nations in North America made Adams and the rest of the nation worry about the potential restoration of colonial regimes in American territory.

U.S. - British Relations

At the same time as Adams was negotiating with Spain, the British prevented Americans from accessing permanent fisheries at the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, between Newfoundland and the Canadian coast. . With the help of Adams's skills, many negotiations were made to solve these issues.

In concerns with the British, Adams negotiated with Lord Castlereagh, the 2nd Marquess of Londonderry, and England’s Foreign Secretary. Both hoped Great Britain would handle European affairs without generating tensions with the United States and that the United States would handle Spain without British intervention. After months of discussion, Adams and the American Minister to London in 1818 developed an arrangement that solved and postponed a number of these issues and created a lasting peace between the United States and Great Britain. Some of these solutions involved the restoration of American fishing rights along the Canadian coast that spread the American-Canadian frontier from the Great Lakes area to the Rocky Mountains. This was known as the Adams Strip, which let the United States gain territory along present-day Northern Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. This would expand America towards the Pacific Ocean.

Adams Influences The Monroe Doctrine

While multiple issues with European nations were solved, one issue still stood. The case of claims on American land. Russia and England made claims in parts of North America, close to the United States. Adams saw this as a threat. He urged President Monroe to enforce more measures to prevent any more European influence in the United States. Monroe asked his cabinet members for any opinions on the matter. Adams submitted his written proposal to Monroe, stating “the American continents by the free and independent condition which they have assumed, and maintain, are henceforth not to be considered as subject for future colonization by any European power.” Monroe would include Adams’s proposal in his annual message to Congress on December 2, 1823. This address would be known as the Monroe Doctrine.

This wasn’t enough for Monroe, he wanted to let Congress and the rest of the world know the United States' stance on European intervention. Warships were sent out to mark parts of North and South America before England made any claim, while other warships were sent out to different parts of the world to demonstrate the United States’s power. Through the use of the doctrine, Monroe embraced Adams's ideals and political views and called for the prevention of European colonization of North America. Upon hearing of the doctrine and seeing their demonstration through warships, European leaders began to realize that rather than trying to control the Americans, it was less risky to simply trade with them. After the release of the doctrine, Americans were less fearful of outside intervention and began to increase construction. Soon, towns were connected by roads, and the United States grew as a nation.

A Hesitant Path to the Presidency

The remainder of Monroe's second term was without any more major issues. Monroe decided not to run for reelection on November 1, 1824, because he chose to serve two terms like his predecessors. Most of Monroe’s cabinet decided to pursue their political careers in hopes of obtaining the presidency. Adams was the only cabinet member not actively seeking the position.

Monroe saw his cabinet’s attempts at furthering their political career and believed only one of them would be an adequate fit for the office, Adams. Throughout his time as Secretary of State, Adams had been a reliable consultant to the president. He and Monroe had operated excellently together, with Adams’s written words used in many of Monroe's written statements. Adams was not afraid to communicate his views, even if it meant disagreements with his fellow cabinet members.

Monroe wasn’t the only one who saw Adams as a potential candidate. Adams’s wife Louisa and other lawmakers also saw him as a worthy candidate. However, Adams saw himself as unworthy of the Presidency and decided at the end of Monroe’s presidency to return to Quincy to spend time with his aging father and work on the family farm.

The Presidency and Adams' Legacy

After years in diplomacy, Adams soon realized he was not suited for farm life. He also didn’t want to return to his law practice in Boston. He decided that the Presidency was the only other option and started his campaign in 1824, which would lead him to become the sixth president of the United States.

John Quincy Adams’s legacy as Secretary of State would live on in American History, even outshining his Presidency. His negotiation skills with other country representatives would lead to the solving of many foreign conflicts, yet his most memorable achievement was his drafting of the Monroe Doctrine. Not only did it assert the United States as a powerful nation, but it also led the way toward its imperialist policy. Time and time again, leaders would use the doctrine to reassure the United States’ power without foreign interference. Most notable was the Roosevelt Corollary, a firm restatement of the Monroe Doctrine by President Roosevelt in 1904, when Roosevelt grew concerned about the possibility of the European invasion of Venezuela due to a crisis between the country and its creditors. The Statement firmly restated the doctrine, telling European powers the United States would only intervene in foreign affairs to ensure that the Western Hemispheric powers were fulfilling obligations towards creditors and that the rights of the United States were not violated.