March 4, 1825 - March 4, 1829

Characteristic: Ambitious

While it would have been great to have all the things Adams tried to get, it would have been very difficult to do them in the 1820's.

John Q. Adams

Promotion of Science - In his first year of office, Q. Adams had very ambitious goals for his first year, such as: building highways and canals to connect parts of the country, setting aside public land for conservation, surveying the entirety of the U.S. coastline, and building astronomical observatories. He also saw the need to solve practical problems, so he made a uniform scale of weights and measures, and also improved the patent system. While all in all, these were good goals to strive for, it was unrealistic for a nation in the 1820's to strive for. Some people thought that it would increase the power of the federal government, disregarding the power of state and local government. As so, either the ideas were not passed, or were underfunded greatly. There were also accusations of these policies would enhance the elite society while neglecting the common folk.

Election of 1828 - During the election of 1828, neither Q. Adams nor his opponent personally campaigned, but there was plenty of slander being driven up by supported on each side. His election reached a low point when a newspaper accused his wife of bigamy, or marrying one person while still married to another. He lost the election.