John Quincy Adams was born in 1767 in Braintree, Massachusetts. His father John Adams and his wife Abigail took strict care that from childhood the children prepared themselves for their future duties in the service of their country. Without doubt, John Quincy was the more talented of their sons. To him Adams wrote in a letter: "You will ever remember that all the end of study is to make you a good man and a useful citizen."

To France
When Adams was appointed to Paris,  John Quincy went with him. In France he learned to speak French fluently. When he moved to Amsterdam together with his father, his younger brother Charles joined them. After a short period at the Latin School in Amsterdam  John Quincy and Charles departed for Leiden. There they were educated privately and went to university.

To Russia
At the age of fourteen, John Quincy travelled with Francis Dana, a friend of his father, to the court of the Russian tsar in Saint Petersburg. There he worked as a secretary and translator for the American delegation. At that time, French was still an important language of diplomacy, spoken at various European courts.

On his way to the presidency
In 1785 he returned to the United States to finish his law degree at Harvard University. He had only just started to practice law in Boston, when president George Washington asked him to serve as ambassador to the Netherlands (like his father before him). John Quincy was ambassador from 1794 until 1797. This was to be the beginning of a long and successful diplomatic career, which finally brought him (again just like his father) to the highest position. This happened in 1825 when he was nominated as the 6e President of the United States. His presidency was not a great success and he was not re-elected after he finished his first term. A year later he returned to Capitol Hill, this time as an elected member of Congress.

The Amistad affair
In 1841 he was involved as a lawyer in the court case regarding the slave ship Amistad. Adams was not an abolitionist, but in the case that the owners had brought against the release of the rebellious slaves he nevertheless pleaded for their right to self-determination and freedom. Finally the case was won before the Supreme Court and the surviving Africans could return to Africa.

During a debate in the House of Congress he suddenly collapsed from a heart attack. Two days later, on 23 February 1848, he died.