Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic

Abstract

Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic. Charles N. Edel. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2014. 392 pages. $29.95 (hardcover).Charles N. Edel, a professor at the US Naval War College, demonstrates why John Quincy Adams (1767-1848) remains one of the most fascinating figures in US history. Although interpreting Adams's political actions through the lens of nationalism is not unusual, Edel's biography manages to provide a fresh look at Adams as secretary of state (1817-1825), president (1825- 1829), and Massachusetts representative in the US Congress (1831-1848). The Grand Strategy of the Republic steers the reader through each phase of Adams' life and career, culminating in his final days as a congressman whose antislavery activism added a fiery end to an already illustrious career.The book's engaging narrative glistens most brightly in chapters 2 and 3, which focus on Adams' diplomacy, incomparable contribution to foreign relations, and participation in nation-shaping treaties and territorial acquisitions (136-154). Of special note is the detailed look at Adams' tenure as secretary of state. In these discussions, Edel offers a rare glimpse at Adams's relationship with James Monroe and his imprint on the momentous Monroe Doctrine, which would drive the nation to hemispheric prominence (116- 117, 178-183). In spite of his influence as a diplomat, Adams was not suited to govern, Edel insists. For that reason both Adams' presidency and postpresidential career as Massachusetts' representative in Congress, outside of his challenges to the perpetuation and extension of slavery, failed. Most historians would agree with the former interpretation, but because of his oversight of the funds bequeathed to the United States by James Smithson, which established the Smithsonian Institution, and his participation in the bill to outlaw dueling in the nation's capital, most would disagree that Adams's term in the House was a failure (288). In fact, Edel never elaborates on any of the fights that Adams lost in Congress, so this assessment remains unsubstantiated.Yet, what Edel sees as his protagonist's true legacy is his vision for the nation. Adams' grand strategy to help firmly establish a united, independent, and morally superior republic is the book's central theme. Adams facilitated national expansion as a way to safeguard the nation from foreign encroachments and the menacing sectional divisions that threatened national security. He provided presidents from Abraham Lincoln onward with the philosophical framework from which they fulfilled the nation's destiny. Lincoln was perhaps the chief beneficiary of Adams' antislavery activism and reliance on the Declaration of Independence as the founding document containing the founders' precepts and directions for creating a virtuous republic. Well into the twentieth century, Edel aptly demonstrates, national leaders relied on Adams' for guidance (290-305).To convey the evolution of Adams' grand strategy and efforts to strengthen the Union in a comprehensive but concise monograph, Edel had to limit discussions of Adams' personal life to his early years. The young John Quincy takes a backseat to his parents, whose influence often eclipses their son's nuanced development. As portrayed, his mother, Abigail, often played a more stifling and somewhat negative role in their son's development than his father, but the book says nothing about their influences in John Quincy's later life and career (47, 48). Their deaths go unremarked as Adams plunges headlong into national politics. This is a palpable omission since John Adams lived long enough to see John Quincy become president and died on July 4, 1826, the same day as his mentor Thomas Jefferson. …