He’s the only former president later to serve in the House of Representatives where he earned the nickname “Old Man Eloquent,” in reference to a John Milton sonnet. As a child, he watched the Battle of Bunker Hill and he’s the first son of president to become president. Today, we wish a very happy birthday John Quincy Adams, born July 11, 1767.
Of course, I associate John Quincy Adams with Anthony Hopkins who portrayed JQA in the 1997 Steven Spielberg movie “Amistad.” If you don’t remember, Adams defended the mutineering slaves and won their freedom.
In honor of his 245th birthday, here are some other random facts about our sixth president:
John Quincy Adams, from White House website
He married an English woman, which irked his father. Louisa Catherine Johnson is our only foreign-born first lady, although her father was American from Maryland.
John Quincy Adams drafted whole portions of the Monroe Doctrine (he was Monroe’s Secretary of State).
He was ambassador to the Netherlands, Prussia, Russia and Great Britain.
He named his son George Washington in honor 0f you know who.
Although he may have an image of being intellectual and cold, he let it all hang out by swimming naked in the Potomac River for exercise!
There is much to learn about John Quincy Adams, so we’ll need to plan a trip to Quincy, Massachusetts and the Adams’ homestead. With two presidents there, I suppose we could count it as a double Nerd Trip!
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