Passed Presidents - # 6 – John Quincy Adams

Back to the Dead Presidents.  We are more than halfway through presenting this ten-year quest of mine to visit and photograph the last resting places of our nation’s Chief Executives.

On this day 166 years ago, our sixth president, John Quincy Adams, the son of the second president, passed away.  He was the first president to be photographed.  His wife, Louisa Catherine, is the only First Lady born outside the United States [England]. 

 

Statue of Young Quincy with his mother, Abigail Adams [15 November 2007]

The bronze, by Lloyd Lillie, stands beside the church

where the two are buried.  It depicts the protective

mother and her son as they might have witnessed the

Battle of Bunker Hill from the top of Penn’s Hill in 1775.

In 2012, I posted John Adams’ story with pictures of his grave.  The president rests in a basement room in the United First Parish Church in Quincy, MA.  John Quincy, his second child, lies alongside wife, Louisa Catherine just a few feet away.  Before the space was prepared for the sixth president, he was interred in the family vault across the street in Hancock Cemetery.

The Adams Family Vault in Hancock Cemetery,

Quincy, MA [15 November 2007]

Across the street is the United First Parish Church,

where the 6^th president currently resides.

Regarding Quincy Adams’ career highlights, his presidency was the distant third among his achievements.  He had a most distinguished record in foreign affairs.  His experience began at a remarkably early age.  At age 11, father John took him to France during his mission to persuade the French to recognize our new nation.  By age 14, fluent in French...the language of diplomacy, he served as the secretary and translator to our Minister to Russia.  By age 18, he was also fluent in Latin, Greek and Dutch.  Beginning in his 20’s, he served as Washington’s Minister to the Netherlands, his father’s Minister to Prussia, Madison’s Minster to Russia and Great Britain and Monroe’s Secretary of State.  Adams wrote the speech that became the Monroe Doctrine, where we asserted the freedom of the American continents from colonization [and interference] by the European powers.  After all that, he became president. 

In 1824, four guys vied for the job including House Speaker Henry Clay and Andrew Jackson.  When none of them gained a majority of electoral votes, the decision was given to the House of Representatives.  Once Clay threw his support to Adams, the election was won.  Adams made Clay his Secretary of State.  This was called the “corrupt bargain” and it frosted the Jackson supporters in Congress so much, they opposed everything the president wanted to do.  Hardly anything Adams proposed was passed.  What is old is new again.  With little to show for his first term, Adams was soundly defeated by Jackson in 1828.  Up to that time, Quincy and his dad were the only presidents who were not re-elected. 

Plaques by the entrance to the President’s tomb [9 October 2009]

One of my favorite things about Adams was that he returned to serve in Congress AFTER leaving the White House.  No cushy appointments and six-figure speaking gigs for him.  He was elected at age 63 and served the last 17 years of his life in the House of Representatives...the only former president to do so.  It was in the House Speaker’s Room where he died two days after having a stroke in the chamber.

Adams was much more effective as a legislator than president.  He was the leading opponent of slavery in the House.  At a time when the slave state representatives had an official rule that forbade taking up questions regarding slavery (our original “gag rule”), Adams opposed it and worked for years to abolish it.  Before the Supreme Court, he won the freedom of the Amistad slaves who commandeered the Spanish ship that stole them from Africa.

John Quincy Adams

6^th president; served 1825-1829

Born: July 11, 1767, Braintree MA

Died February 23, 1848, Washington, D.C.

Grave Location: United First Parish Church, Quincy, Ma

Dates Visited: 7/24/99; 10/9/2009

Just because he was not an accomplished president doesn’t mean he wasn’t a great American.

He served this country well.

The Right Place at the Right Time - 4 – Prague Rooftops

It’s snowing as I write this and I’m reminded of a shot I believe fits into this recurring theme.  Besides, we need a break from this blitz of Dead President stories.  While I like the discipline and productivity that came from adopting the anniversary date schedule, winter was a killer season on the old boys.  Since the next body won’t show up until February 23^rd, we can talk about something else.

In 2009, Beck and I had a wonderful winter visit to Prague, the historic capitol of the Bohemian Kingdom and the current capitol of the Czech Republic.  We arrived in the morning and true to our practice after an overnight flight, hit the streets for the day so we could acclimate to the local time.  Our room was on the high ground above the old city...on the west side of the Vltava River...the same high ground that holds the Prague Castle and St. Vitus Cathedral.  One way to get to the old quarters of the city was to walk through the castle grounds and down a steep path toward the river. 

Prague [22 December 2009]

Looking east from the Strahov Monastery

on the Prague Castle grounds.

St. Vitus Cathedral is on the left.

The area had received a light snowfall that morning. As we emerged from behind the high castle walls and looked toward the city, we were above this block of quaint buildings.

Prague Rooftops [22 December 2009]

The scene has an exotic and antique look about it.  The picture is filled with buildings of a similar and interesting design.  A few cars are visible but they are minor features and you are not drawn to them.  Thankfully, the roof tops were not strewn with TV antennas and satellite dishes.

The roofs are not snow-covered...plenty of red in the terra cotta tiles is visible.  It would have looked less appealing with more snow.  It was an overcast day and the light was diffused.  A sunny day with bright areas and shadow would definitely have changed the flavor of the scene.

Why was it the Right Place and Right Time?  On no other day during that visit did the rooftops look this way.  The snow melted.  There were no more snowfalls during our stay.  We could have taken another route to downtown and missed this view.  The weather or time of day could have been different. 

Some of you have complimented my work and I am always appreciative.  While I believe there are many who are much better at this craft, there is one thing I can do as well as anyone else...get lucky. 

We can all stumble into the right place at the right time...when a subject is presenting its best side and the light is magical and the mood is palpable...and there are no wires, road signs or other distractions in the way.  Of course, you might hasten to add, one has to be able to recognize what’s before them... that they really are in the right place at the right time.  A valid point.  I’m sure I have missed many but am grateful for the ones I’ve caught.  Consider this a reminder to keep your eyes open so that when opportunity knocks, you are able to answer.

Happy Valentine’s Day.

Passed Presidents - #28 – Woodrow Wilson

Trivia question of the day – What do Steven Cleveland, John Coolidge and Thomas Wilson have in common?  They are American presidents who are known by their middle names. 

The only president with a PhD, Woodrow Wilson gave up his law practice after one year so he could pursue the academic life.  He earned a national reputation and rose to become the popular and successful president of Princeton University before he was elected governor of New Jersey. 

 

Woodrow Wilson’s Bust in the Virginia Capitol [30 June 2008]

One of 19 presidents who were state governors, he was encouraged by the New Jersey Democratic machine to run for president - because he was too much of a reformer for their corrupt ways.  The 1912 election was a three horse race since Teddy Roosevelt broke with the Republicans and ran for another term on the Progressive/’Bull Moose’ ticket.  This allowed Wilson to beat the incumbent Taft and Roosevelt with only 42 percent of the vote.

Woodrow Wilson was president during a tumultuous time in American and world history.  A progressive, reforming Democrat, he oversaw many changes that are still in place today.  Congress and his administration created the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Trade Commission, the progressive income tax and the National Park Service.  State militias became the National Guard, the eight-hour work day was instituted [for railroad workers] and women won the right to vote.  He appointed the first Jewish justice [Louis Brandeis] to the Supreme Court.

Woodrow Wilson’s Sarcophagus in the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. [22 April 2007]

However, he was not all liberal.  Born before the Civil War and raised in the South, he was a white supremacist who believed African-Americans were unsuitable for citizenship and unable to assimilate into American society.  He appointed old line southerners to important positions and they reinstituted official segregation in Washington government.  This action reversed racial hiring and workplace practices that had existed in some offices since 1863.

Of all the graves visited in this Quest, Wilson’s is the closest to my home.  He is buried in the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.  When the Cathedral was planned, it was envisioned as a place like Westminster Abbey in London, where so many of England’s most famous and accomplished citizens can be found in the walls and under the floors.  The idea has not caught on the same way here but a few notables can be found in the Cathedral, including Helen Keller and Admiral Dewey. 

Washington National Cathedral [15 October 2006]

Reelected in 1916 with the slogan, “He kept us out of War”, the second term was highlighted by our entry into World War I.  While it seems like an arrogant, political ploy, it was hard to avoid involvement when Germany was sinking anything that sailed the Atlantic AND encouraging Mexico to declare war on the U.S.  So, we entered the “War to End All Wars” in order to “make the world safe for democracy.”  How’s that working so far?

 

The former First Lady some called ‘The Secret President’ is

buried with her husband in the National Cathedral

Some believe that Edith Wilson essentially ran the White House for the last 21 months of her husband’s second term after he was incapacitated by a stroke.  She permitted no visitors other than his doctor and personally screened all matters that required the Executive’s decision.  This serious case of presidential disability prompted the adoption of the 25^th Amendment, 47 years later...we’re not ones to rush things.

Woodrow Wilson never fully recovered from the stroke.  He and Edith moved to a home in Washington, D.C. and he died 90 years ago today, less than three years after leaving office.

 Woodrow Wilson

28th President; Served 1913-1921

Born: December 28, 1856, Staunton, VA

Died: February 3, 1924, Washington, D.C.

Grave Location: Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C.

Dates Visited: 4/22/2007; 3/20/2010