John Quincy Adams

Adams was a remarkable man and the most able member of America's most celebrated political dynasty. He was a polymath, second only to Jefferson as the most intellectually gifted American President. As Maldwyn A. Jones explains, his presidency was to prove short and frustrating; his contribution to American political life, outstanding.

John Quincy Adams painted by George Peter Alexander HealyJohn Anderson, who is running as an Independent for the presidency of the United States, made a now famous remark, 'the American voters are not faced with choice; they are faced with a dilemma'. His low opinion of the official party candidates, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter led Anderson to intervene in the race for president. The result of the three-cornered fight this month might be close; it could even be inconclusive and then Congress would be called upon to elect the President of the United States. There was a precedent for this in the election of 1824. A four-sided contest produced no candidate with an electoral majority, and under the terms of the American Constitution the House of Representatives was required to choose a president. Their choice was John Quincy Adams.

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