REVIEWS 153
A Maverick in the Age of Martyrs: John Quincy Adams and
Antebellum Radicalism
Joseph Wheelan. Mr. Adams’s Last Crusade: John Quincy Adams’s
Extraordinary Post-Presidential Life in Congress. New York: PublicAffairs, 2008.
Kentuckian Thomas Marshall complained in 1842 that fellow congressman and former president John Quincy Adams’s “indefatigable
obstinacy on this subject [slavery] would be incredible” to anyone
outside of Congress. Adams was so tenacious, and his speeches and
resolutions so stinging, Marshall concluded, that no one “could be
found hardy enough or bad enough to fill his place.”1 On several levels, Marshall’s comments capture the energy, controversial nature,
and historical significance of the final phase of Adams’s remarkable
political career. Arguably, no other American president has enjoyed
post-presidential notoriety or cultural impact comparable to that of
John Quincy Adams.
Adams’s post-presidential career is the focus of this attractively packaged biography by Joseph Wheelan. Wheelan, onetime
Associated Press reporter and editor, stitches together exciting aspects of Adams’s life and work, including his entrance into antislavery politics as a congressman, eight-year struggle to repeal the House
gag rule which prohibited the reading of antislavery petitions, defence of the Amistad Africans, and establishment of the Smithsonian
Institution. Wheelan opens a window through which readers gain access to Adams’s political accomplishments, intimate thoughts, scholarly pursuits, and personal relationships. Unlike recent film and book
biographies that overemphasize unattractive traits, failures, and the
most painful events in a subject’s life, Wheelan’s book counterpoises
1
Thomas Marshall, On the Resolutions to Censure John Q. Adams Delivered in
the House of Representatives of the U.S. (Washington: Blair & Rives, 1842), 3, 5. Dinah Mayo-Bobee, review of Mr Adams’s Last Crusade: John Quincy
Adams’s Extraordinary Post-Presidential Life in Congress, by Joseph
Wheelan, Journal of Historical Biography 5 (Spring 2009): 153-158,
www.ufv.ca/jhb. © Journal of Historical Biography 2009. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 License.
154 JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY
Adams’s many flaws and defeats with his personal assets and public
successes. This balanced approach introduces a complex, humanly
imperfect, and admirable John Quincy Adams, who experienced happiness and satisfaction, faced nagging doubts, and endured heartache,
loss, and tragedy.
Wheelan sets the stage for the post-presidential years by providing synoptic accounts of Adams’s earlier life and career. By his
mid-twenties Adams, whose political career began at age fourteen,
had mastered several languages, become a lawyer, and published important political commentary. At age thirty-five, when he entered the
U.S. Senate—he served from 1803 to 1808—Adams had more political experience than many of his older colleagues. Perspectives acquired through education and training, and the broad cultural
exposure gained by extensive travel, later influenced Adams’s term
as secretary of state (1817-1825), and the internationalism of the
“Liberty with Power” agenda that he promoted during his presidency
(1825-1829). Uncomfortable with party politics before and during his
term as president, Adams detached himself from the Federalist Party,
and developed a tenuous, strained relationship with the southernbased Democratic-Republican Party.(21-24) Wheelan argues that this
eschewal of nineteenth-century politics destroyed Adams’s presidency and his chances for re-election. The eighteenth-century sensibilities that kept Adams from engaging in or responding to partisan
mudslinging, coupled with the political naiveté that kept him from
recognizing the implications of his actions—for instance, his private
meeting with Henry Clay during congressional deliberations over the
election of 1824—strengthened the hand of his political enemies in
Congress, who defeated the agenda of the sixth president.(38-44)
Adams quickly identified former friends as the architects of
his failed presidency and bid for re-election.(50) Yet, Wheelan tells
us, despite his bitterness over the loss in 1828, by 1830 Adams was
compelled both by economic necessity and a sense of duty to accept
his state’s nomination and election to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he would spend the remainder of his life. Once in the
House, the former president, now the oldest man in Congress at age
REVIEWS 155
sixty-four, signalled his political rebirth: an unprecedented influx of
antislavery petitions was accompanied by a campaign to repeal the
gag rule.(65) It was undoubtedly criticism of the “slave power” that
earned Adams the support and admiration of abolitionists and likeminded politicians, as well as censure and death threats from southerners and proslavery sympathizers. Of all of his post-presidential
endeavours, the most infuriating and praiseworthy to colleagues and
fellow Americans were Adams’s unceasing opposition to the House
gag rule (1836-1844), to the annexation of Texas (1844), and to war
with Mexico (1846-1848). His fight against the westward spread of
slavery became emblematic of a heated debate that was already gripping a divided nation. In his defence of the Amistad Africans before
the Supreme Court in 1841, Adams reserved his sharpest criticism for
President Martin Van Buren and northern politicians who, by promoting proslavery policies, were deepening the sectional hostilities
that threatened the Union. (179-183)
It is here that Wheelan misses an opportunity to provide new
insights into Adams’s antislavery politics. Wheelan dismisses personal ambition as a factor behind Adams’s earlier reticence toward
slavery, and partisan revenge as part of his newfound antislavery
posture, but in so doing creates complications that the biography does
not overcome. Ascribing Adams’s antislavery agitation to external
forces, such as the increased number of antislavery petitions and the
unconstitutionality of the gag rule, does not convincingly explain the
apparently profound change in Adams’s approach to issues involving
slavery. This is especially troubling when we look at Adams’s fight,
following the Revolution and the War of 1812, for the principle that
slaveholders were entitled to remuneration for slaves that escaped
with the British, or when we consider his leadership in the annexation
of Florida (which always involved the protection of slavery). Thus,
the grating antislavery harangues that earned congressman Adams the
affectionate sobriquet “Old Man Eloquent” merit further evaluation.(134)
Wheelan explains that Adams abhorred but accepted southern
slavery as “an immutable fact,” until the Missouri Compromise de-
156 JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY
bates, which is why it took him forty years to act on his convictions.(98) Yet a deeper exploration of Adams’s earlier positions
would have given the narrative the depth it lacks in this area. For example, when debates began in 1807 over ending the Atlantic slave
trade, then-Senator Adams wrote in his diary, “I took and intend to
take, no part in debates on this subject.” Later, however, during the
1820 crisis over Missouri, Adams vehemently opposed clauses in the
Missouri constitution that barred free African-Americans from residing in the state. Granting Missouri statehood with laws disenfranchising the black citizens of free states, he argued, was a violation of the
U.S. Constitution. Adams also suggested that white Missourians
traveling into a free state receive the same maltreatment and isolation
that free African-Americans would receive in Missouri.2 These comments clearly reveal the sophistication of Adams’s pre-presidency
perspectives regarding politics, slavery, and race. Yet, although he
researched Adams’s diary, Wheelan does not analyze these important
entries. A closer investigation of Adams’s writings during these and
other controversies over slavery would have allowed Wheelan to
question the conventional interpretation (which he supports) and construct an updated explanation of how and why Adams evolved—if
indeed that is what happened—from an apathetic politico into the
champion of free African-Americans, abolitionists, and antislavery
members of Congress.
On the other hand, much to his credit, Wheelan pays close attention to features of Adams’s post-presidential life and congressional career that many writers overlook. In descriptive prose that
sometimes borders on the hagiographic, Wheelan portrays Adams as
a prescient supporter of human rights, a champion of equality for
women and minorities, and a modernist who, through his sponsorship
of the Prentiss-Adams Act (1839), played a leading role in ending
duels in the halls of Congress.(139, 140) Moreover, Adams’s interest
2
John Quincy Adams, The Diary of John Quincy Adams 1794-1845, edited by
Allan Nevins (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1951), 42, 246; for discussion of the Missouri constitution also see Adams Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Diary #31, 456.
REVIEWS 157
and work in science contributed much to his oversight of the bequest
that would establish the Smithsonian Institution.(117-128)
Wheelan’s admiration for Adams is evident, and for this reviewer, provided a welcome alternative to biographies that tilt objectivity toward the negative and dramatic. In several instances, the
book exposes gems of history that bring lesser-known events in Adams’s life and career to light. For example, in addition to Adams’s
political publications, the book tells us much about his responses to
the loss of his parents and son, as well as providing information about
his translation of the works of Catullus and Rousseau, his published
poetry, and other scholarly endeavours.(62- 64)
Wheelan’s book will appeal to a general audience, but the lack
of comprehensive citations and inconsistency when it comes to establishing the chronology of key events and legislation might discourage
academics, graduate students, and other serious researchers who hope
to locate Wheelan’s references in congressional debates and other
public records. Also problematic is the fact that in several instances
the narrative unexpectedly shifts focus. One example occurs in the
chapter dealing with Adams’s struggle over proper allocation of the
Smithsonian funds. After introducing details surrounding Englishman
James Smithson’s bequest to the American government and Adams’s
appointment to the special committee to allocate the funds, the chapter veers off, without segue, into Adams’s penchant for astronomy, a
discourse on weights and measures, and discussion of Adams’s failed
attempt to create a national conservatory while president. After eight
pages, the chapter finally returns to Adams’s work with the Smithsonian Fund.(111-128)
Despite these serious shortcomings, this book provides a fresh
look at John Quincy Adams, who remains such an important figure in
early American political history that we should attempt to glean as
much as we can from Wheelan’s research. It also contains valuable
details that may provide a springboard for scholarly work in the future. Most important is the fact that Wheelan delivers a generally
lively and engaging account of Adams’s long life and remarkable political career, including an intimate account of his death at the House
158 JOURNAL OF HISTORICAL BIOGRAPHY
of Representatives, that will enrich our knowledge of antebellum
politics. Increasing our appreciation of the post-presidential life and
career of John Quincy Adams, particularly of his fascinating “last
crusade,” is worth all the time and effort.
Dinah Mayo-Bobee
University of Massachusetts-Amherst