By the standards that historians usually use to judge presidents, John Quincy Adams was a failure. Although better qualified for the office than any American of his generation, he served for only one term and was unable to accomplish any of the most cherished goals set forth so boldly at the beginning of his presidency. Yet John Quincy Adams has not shared the fate of other presidential "failures" that have faded almost entirely from the national memory. This book provides a concise, synthetic biography of Adams that seeks to integrate the themes of his life into an understandable whole that explains both the successes and failures of his extraordinary career. Using his published journals and writings as basic sources, the book presents a succinct narrative of Adams’ career that draws upon the best scholarship on his life and times.