Guest these are characteristics captured. Host we are wrapping it up quickly. We just had a president ial election. The winner he was president already so hes been filtered for four years, but mitt romney. Was he extremely filtered . Guest unfiltered without a doubt. In historical is not a lot of time in politics. Had he won the presidency, he wouldve been second second only to wilson and arguably Grover Cleveland in terms of the shortness of his political career before he became president. Host well, listen, thank you. This is a fascinating books. Alexis totino, the toes he says he dont know about it. Guest thank you very much. The fact that was, but tv signature programs in which authors are interviewed by policymakers, legislators and others familiar with their material. After words errors at 10 00 p. M. On saturday, 12 00 p. M. And 9 00 p. M. On monday. You can also watch after words online. Go to booktv. Org and click on the booktv series and topics list on the upper right side of the page. Historian Harlow Giles Unger recounts the life of the six president , John Quincy Adams who died in 1840. Quincy adams, second president had a long career, which aside from his presidency 10 years as secretary of state, senator, congressman administered six countries. This is a little under an hour. [applause] thank you very much. I will start with a fairly simple question. Was very moment when he said to yourself i need to write a biography of John Quincy Adams . Yes, indeed there was. It took place a couple years ago when i ran out of ideas for any more books on the Founding Fathers. Others have written on washington, jefferson, madison and i had written on patrick henry, james monroe, john hancock. So i pulled out john f. Kennedys pulitzer prizewinning book, profiles in courage and daring chapter one was John Quincy Adams. So i thought his name begins begins with a comma on the season chapter one. But i was not the reason. John kennedy himself a war hero had listed these characters in order of the degree of coverage and he placed John Quincy Adams first among the most courageous senators and congressmen in american has terry. He was not just the sixth president of the United States. He was a congressman as well for 16 years and a senator for four. Most americans dont realize he was a congressman. Many dont even know he was president. Well, youre going to change that. Yes. He was this enormously courageous congressmen, the first congressman to stand up and call for emancipation before linking even knew how to spell the word. Will get back to institution in a moment. A friend of mine who is a lawyer said to mean the other day, i read two biographies of John Quincy Adams. Heres his question. What is needed to be said . Lots of things are new to be said. Few people have read his diary. His diary is one of the most marvelous document in american history. Its 14,000 pages. When he was 10 years old, his father urged him to start chronicling events in his daily life and he started it became an addict and one of the most literate diarists in history. His diary covers all of the events. He lived 90 years, so his diary starting at 10 covered all the formative years of american history. In his life, he served under George Washington and alongside Abraham Lincoln and house of representatives. So his life spanned from his public life started at the dawn of the American Revolution and continued to either the civil war. He knew of the great characters during that period aside from washington and lincoln he knew jefferson, lincoln, madison, monroe. He knew of the duke of wellington, frederick the great, jeremy benson, charles dickens. He knew them all. Their instrument and he speaks of them, right for them and tells of his life with them in this wonderful diary that few people have read from beginning to end. Have you quick yes. All 14,000 pages. Your book notes that its online. Its www. Just put john adams diaries or massachusetts historical society. John quincy adams diaries and that will pull the thing you can see every page is buried. And its handwritten. Has anyone typed it out . I dont know. I dont think so. The first to volume seven published in book form, but that low. Good penmanship. Yes, very good. Very readable. He kept it up until three weeks before his death. He died in the house of representatives that 80 years of age. To back up for people who are not history majors, just the political scene of the party, the federalists and democrats republicans and how we think of democrats and republicans dissociate totally different situation. We dont think of libertarians. Some do. Well given equal time. Socialist workers. I would hope so. Explained the political situation that John Quincy Adams went into as he was going into the white house. Actually come the beginning of these political situations really began after the revolutionary war set in this country and congress had no power. The cardinal had no power to tax, no power to raise troops. He was simply a debating society for leaders from the various states to argue different policies. The states were almost at war with each other. The states were independent, sovereign nations in effect and the leaders from various dates begin to realize they need a stronger federal government to reroute archons dictation. Many, Many Americans were posted to comp dictation and he became the antifederalist. They were the federalist and antifederalist, bitterly opposed to each other from the very beginning, from the signing of the constitution. The antifederalist gradually became no as republican and democrat republicans. So when John Quincy Adams was running for office, you now how the republicans or democrat republicans running against the federalist and he was the last of the federalists. The federalist rambis from the beginning, washington and the people who ran the country were really friendly elite. The constitution only other Property Owners. Gradually universal suffrage came in, not universal involving women. Dont get your hopes up too high it was white male suffrage, but she didnt have to be a Property Owner and that was what pushed to the elite out of power. Adams, jefferson, monroes, all these great plantation owners and Property Owners and elite leaders really permitted the growth of jacksonian democracy as we call it now. Your book opens with a scene thats worthy of a movie. 1777 i believe when John Quincy Adams is 10 years old i believe in him his father on a boat going to england. Could you describe that, being chased by the british . John adams had been a member of the cotton in the congress and was one of the coauthors and signers of the declaration of independence. What were running out of money, congress could not tax the American People, but i could borrow money and it appointed john adams to go to france to borrow, to try to raise money in france from the french government to pay for the revolution and he decided to take his 10yearold son John Quincy Adams with his firstborn son, the oldest of his three sons. John quincy adams i then was a devoted teacher yet at seven years old when his father was in the cotton of congress. His mother, Abigail Adams, she took her boy to the top of the hill behind their farmhouse in quincy, massachusetts and they could look across boston date and so the battle of bunker hill. And she took her boy by the hand became back down to the farmhouse and begin minting on the family pewter to make musket for the patriot and she told her son at that time, she said, you must rise to the height of your country. If you dont succeed, it will be because of your own laziness, slovenliness in austin and this you must make a Firm Resolution in favor of virtue, integrity and love of your country. That is how john and Abigail Adams raised her boy from the beginning, the oldest son to be virtue is, honest and to let him serve his country. So when john adams was sent to france, he decided to take his 10yearold firstborn son with him, to be with him, to be together, grow closer to each other because they had been separated. Jonathan said in the cotton of congress and the boy was that abigail in quincy. So he wanted to be assigned, but he also wanted to exposes them to a european education into the world of International Affairs in the world of diplomacy. And they went to sea with Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Franklins lavish chateau outside paris at the time and John Quincy Adams went to a French School with Benjamin Franklins grandson. Within several, he was speaking french folly. He was a gifted child. By the time he was 15 he could speak four languages fought late, had rd studied latin and greek. He was so gifted in Foreign Languages or when the family friend, Francis Daniel was appointed ambassador, minister to russia, our first minister to russia, he couldnt speak french at the time french was not the language of international diplomacy. Theres always the language spoken in the russian court. Francis couldnt speak french. Young john quincy could and asked john could he take John Quincy Adams within two st. Petersburg as secretary of litigation is 16 years of age. John quincy adams goes up two st. Petersburg and spends the europe they are. In the wintertime, it was too cold to really venture out. So John Quincy Adams on his son had the sensational appetite for learning. On his own he studied it lame history of england, six volumes of edward gibbons, decline and fall of the roman empire. Adam smiths two volume work on the wealth of nations, great economic word. He kept studying latin. He read the latin poets in cicero and avenue. He read the english poet. He had this insatiable appetite for learning. At 16 i was still studying uncle wiggly. But i read it in latin because i went to heal instead of harvard. I take it as a politician in our modern sense of the word female black the common touch. Very few of the leaders of this country did at the time. They were all University Graduates except for George Washington and George Washington was an autodidact commotion so fed 6000 books. This was an elite. Constitution did not give liberty to the ordinary man. All it did was replace the king with the president. But it Gave Congress the same right. Congress could tax. The constitution did not provide liberty for the American People. If the government into the hands of a property elite and was a white male that ran this country for the first year of our nation. House on to put it to slavery come from . He believed in justice and he felt this was a great evil, but most of the leaders did feel George Washington currently on said there was no man who most sincerely wants to see an end to slavery in this country. He called it a great evil. Slavery was not something the Founding Fathers invented. Slavery was invented by the english and spanish and french and early on in the 18th century before the Founding Fathers were born, when their fathers and grandfathers were alive, theyre only 15 to 20,000 slaves in this country and the people of virginia petitioned the claim to end slavery. They found slaves a burden. Saves a reader ray. They were illiterate in their unskilled and tobacco farmers needed skilled hands and they knew that northern firms were more efficient with paying workers by the peace. The slavery was the basis of the english and spanish and French Economy good queen and rejected titian from virginians as did the three king george is the ability of our Founding Fathers came along, you had half a million slaves. What are they going to go . What could you do with them quiet they were largely unskilled and there were no opportunities in the south and went into another plantation. There were no villages and towns and cities in the north. In the north people could free slaves with opportunities in manufacturing where they could learn skills and trades. Couldnt do that in the south. The only opportunity for work or for field hands and when the cotton gin was invented, and that absorbed all the slaves unskilled laborer and you now have i plantation owner, this rather cruel lower middle income people buying property in planting cotton prior to that, most of the poor whites in the south were against slavery because the slaves competed with them for jobs. But unlike most politicians come he put his political career on the line in favor of abolition. He was the first to stand up and he led the fight turned his congressional career, which really began after his presidency. He failed to be really did to the presidency. You brought this up before because he didnt have the common touch. He believed it was the need for dignity of a president ial candidate to go stumping out in the countryside and make promises to people he knew he couldnt keep and unfortunately candidates today dont do that. Johnny quincy adams set an example for them. But his pledge was to do what was best for the country. The people to not reelect him. He went to congress and started fighting for justice, always voting, never voting for either political party. He rejected both parties and started fighting for justice for the entire country. It is a gifted lawyer, one of the great lawyers in american history, leading many precedent cases before the Supreme Court, including the one that freed the 36 cap is on board the slave ship amistad commend those of you who saw the film for Anthony Hopkins is the role of John Quincy Adams. It didnt make it clear in the film how important a case this was because his plea, his argument put a whole new complexion on the slave trade. It made the slave trade illegal because his argument was these africans were for human who had been kidnapped and simply rose up in selfdefense to kill their kidnappers, captain and mate of the ship. So the slave trade was no longer a slave trade. It is a kidnapping ring and therefore illegal. They made the slave trade illegal and was the first step in our Movement Towards emancipation and people began rallying around him as the southerners and house of representatives tried to shut him out as he pleaded for emancipation. That aroused northerners. The quakers at first and others who realized john quincy on this was a devout christian is that this goes against all fundamentals of christianity. Patrick henry said the same thing and soon you have this Abolition Movement beginning to grow and grow. The more they try to silence John Quincy Adams, the more he spoke out. They passed a categorical, making it against the rules of the house to use the word slavery. Anytime you trade the essay, the speaker of the house from tennessee to my future president polk city is out of order and southerners would shout them down saying order, order. So he started pulling out petitions from his constituents at first, but then over the country because citizens have a right to Petition Congress for regressive grievances. So he asked for the abolition of slavery. They would shout shut him up, shut him up. Im simply reading it from the petitions. Wouldnt you love to have cspan be around then . And i believe you rate the origin of the term gag rule came about because of atoms. He also had a friendship that jefferson was a slave owner more than that. How did that work . It didnt work well at all. It started out when he was very young in paris. Jefferson had lost one of his daughters and his wife and when jefferson got to paris as our ambassador there, he was really forewarned and quite lonely and he started hanging out at john adams house for john adams appurtenant and john quincy was a youngster is it taking john quincy to museums and concert coming up are a. John adams later wrote to jefferson. John adams and jefferson later in life had wonderful correspondence between two of them and john adams wrote Thomas Jefferson to john quincy had become more of a sent to you think jimmy. So that so close he was to jefferson as a boy. Later on jefferson comes to power in the kittens against the grain as far as John Quincy Adams was concerned. He was a strict constitutionalists. Jefferson pretended to, but he was a hypocrite in so many ways. He rates the declaration of independence that all men are created equal, urges and doesnt fire a shot in the war and goes to monticello to watch his slaves from the plantation. And more than that. So they fell out later on in the political lives. Later when both jefferson and john adams father had retired, they began corresponding with each other and formed a warm friendship a meal. John quincy adams, who voted for jefferson. He was the only federalist to vote for jefferson Louisiana Purchase and John Quincy Adams was senator. But then turned around and five jeffersons attend to impeach and remove samuel chase from t